Testimonials
Interviews
Prison Insider reaches out to individuals with expertise on prison. Researchers, members of associations and institutions, decision-makers, stakeholders and individuals called to intervene in prisons: they all offer diverse viewpoints on imprisonment. This section offers untold insights and specialist opinions exploring various prison-related issues.
Germany: neither incarcerated nor free
Interview
Belgium: a tough journey
Interview
Europe
Health
Mental health
Drugs
Belgium
Prisons often act as a conduit for worsening drug use, yet prisoners are confronted with numerous barriers when trying to access help.Ambulatoire Forest discussed its psychosocial support programme specifically designed for offenders struggling with substance use.
Read more
Switzerland: detect, treat and support
Interview
France: beyond the stigma
Interview
Europe
Discipline
Health
Mental health
Drugs
France
They are banned, but present nonetheless; denying the presence of illicit substances inside prison walls is dangerous from a medical and health point of view. Doctors of the World explained its approach.
Read more
France: drugs in prison, an open secret
Interview
France: on camera
Interview
Central America and the Caribbean
Activities
Rehabilitation
France
Basse-Terre prison in Guadeloupe provides prisoner rehabilitation programmes. Film director Mark Alexandre Montout visited the prison to film a cookery competition. Interview.
Read more
Ukraine: 107 Mothers
Interview
Russia: prisoners of the battlefield
Interview
Europe
Violence
Russia
The conflict in Ukraine also impacts the individuals incarcerated in Russia. Many of them have been recruited by the Wagner Group over the past few months to participate in the fighting. Dmitry Gurin from EPLN shared with us what they know about this recruitment campaign.
Read more
Canada: bringing law into prisons
Interview
France: "a change of tactics"
Interview
Europe
Justice
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
Alternatives
France
In 2020, the French government was found to have violated the European Convention on Human Rights, due to demeaning detention conditions in French prisons. What is the state of affairs today? The National Human Rights Advisory Commission speaks on the issue.
Read more
USA: The Holmesburg prison experiments
Interview
Africa
Coronavirus
Pre-trial detention
Minors
Access to legal rights
Health
Material conditions
Social ties
Togo
What is the response to offences committed by minors? In many cases, it is detention. Civil society actors express concern over the situation of minors in conflict with the law. Three key questions shed light on this issue.
Read more
Africa
Culture
Asia
Europe
Middle East
Access to legal rights
Justice
Health
Drugs
Overcrowding
Rehabilitation
Dr. Dreisinger is the founder of the Incarceration Nations Network (INN), an international community that works to support, instigate and popularize prison reform efforts around the world. Prison Insider met her in Lyon during a joint screening of the docuseries. We asked her three questions in a v…
Read more
Pakistan: submerged and forgotten
Interview
Asia
Access to legal rights
Health
Material conditions
Pakistan
Pakistan experienced torrential rains between June and September 2022. The floods submerged a third of the country. What about prisons? Zainab Mahboob and Fakhra Irshad from Justice Project Pakistan shared with us what they know about the current situation. Interview.
Read more
Culture
LGBTI
Death penalty
Germany
The fight to end capital punishment is far from over but progress continues to be made. Over a thousand attendees are expected to converge on the German capital in November 2022 for the 8th World Congress against the Death Penalty. The assembly aims to unite individuals around the global issue of a…
Read more
Ukraine: news from the front lines
Interview
Africa
Minors
Access to legal rights
Justice
Guinea
Nordine Drici is a historian and legal expert on prisoners’ rights. He wrote an overview of the penitentiary situation in Guinea, examining access to justice in the country. This expert evaluation formed part of a training programme (under the RESPECT project) that he provided for Lawyers Without B…
Read more
Africa: the threat of punishment
Interview
Africa
Justice
Alternatives
Rehabilitation
The prison and criminal justice systems established on the African continent during the colonisation raise many questions.The book « L’Afrique en prisons » proposes to distinguish and rethink a coercive system based on the threat of punishment. Interview.
Read more
Denmark: on behalf of prisoners
Interview
Canada: "a drop in the ocean"
Interview
Coronavirus
North America
Health
Facilities
Overcrowding
Canada
“Since prisons are such confined and notoriously unsanitary places, vaccinating the prisoners was an urgent matter. At the very least, vaccinating the oldest and most vulnerable among them was a top priority.”
Read more
Pre-trial detention
Asia
Middle East
Overcrowding
Death penalty
Human rights organisations in the region feel like they are fighting alone against capital punishment. People are still sentenced to death and executed regularly. What is the situation in Palestine?
Read more