Testimonials
Interviews
Prison Insider reaches out to individuals with expertise on prison. This section offers untold insights and specialist opinions exploring various prison-related issues.
America
Crises
Women
Justice
Mental health
Facilities
Suicide
Social ties
Mexico
Designed as a maximum security facility, Cefereso No. 16 is Mexico’s only federal women’s prison, and concern over its living conditions is rising. Interview with Algaraza.
Gabon: existing and surviving in prison
Interview
Africa
Pre-trial detention
Access to legal rights
Justice
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Gabon has a particularly high rate of incarceration: 226 people are imprisoned per 100,000 inhabitants. Overcrowding is a flagrant issue, and the living conditions are considered extremely concerning. SOS Prisonniers Gabon provides an overview.
Ecuador: breaking down the prison crisis
Interview
America
Crises
Health
Drugs
Overcrowding
Torture
Violence
Social ties
Ecuador
Ecuador is facing a penitentiary crisis marked by massacres and the militarisation of its prison system, a combination that has brought the institution to its breaking point. The consequences are disastrous, both within and outside of prisons. Interview.
Burundi: forbidden to defend
Interview
Africa
Women
Minors
Justice
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Burundi
S. is a lawyer. She works to defend the rights of women and children. She was imprisoned from February 2023 to April 2024 because of her activism. We met her during her visit to Paris (France).
Nordic prisons, human prisons?
Interview
Europe
Material conditions
Alternatives
Rehabilitation
Nordic prison systems are often held up as models of respect for human rights and rehabilitation. Is this really the case, or do they mainly benefit from an idealised image? Answers.
Africa
Crises
Access to legal rights
Death penalty
Violence
Social ties
Congo - Kinshasa
The DRC has experienced a major political and economic crisis for decades, coupled with a civil war. What are the implications for detention? The League of Voluntary Sacrifices for Human Rights and the Environment (Ligue des Sacrifices Volontaires pour les Droits Humains et l’Environnement) answers…
Africa
Pre-trial detention
Access to legal rights
Justice
Material conditions
Alternatives
Maria Teresa Manuela is the Special Rapporteur on Prisons, Conditions of Detention and Policing in Africa. She shares insights into the African Commission’s efforts to uphold the rights of people deprived of their liberty.
Cameroon: still falling short
Interview
Africa
Access to legal rights
Justice
Death penalty
Cameroon
Access to justice is hindered. There is no mechanism to monitor prisons, and the death penalty remains part of the penal code. Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture in Cameroon is campaigning on all these fronts.
Haiti: the root cause of prison escapes
Interview
Crises
Central America and the Caribbean
Justice
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Haiti
Thousands of incarcerated people have escaped from Haitian prisons over recent months, but what sparked this trend? Roberson Édouard from the Centre for Research and Exchange on Security and Justice gives us the answer.
Crises
Minors
Middle East
Access to legal rights
Health
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
Torture
Violence
Social ties
Israel
Thousands of Palestinians are currently deprived of their liberty by the Israeli authorities, a figure that has risen sharply in the last year. What is the current situation? Answers from the Palestinian association Addameer.
Asia
Drugs
Death penalty
Indonesia
In 2015, the President of Indonesia declared a war on drugs. The death penalty became one of the major tools of this campaign. Albert Wirya works for LBH Masyarakat. We asked him about the use of the death penalty and the efforts being made to abolish it. Interview.
Africa
America
Crises
Asia
Europe
Access to legal rights
Justice
Mary Lawlor is the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders since 2020. She tells us how her work, despite its limits, can help them, and reflects on the criminalisation they face around the world.
Europe: criminalisation of existence
Interview
Europe
Foreign prisoners
Justice
How do security policies target migrants, the economically vulnerable, or racialised individuals? A workshop examined the decriminalisation of migration and poverty and the challenges civil society faces in presenting a counter-narrative. Lawyers Without Borders reflected on the discussions.
France: Olympic Games under control
Interview
"Making every death a public affair"
Interview
Europe
Mental health
Material conditions
Suicide
Deaths occurring in prison are frequent, but often kept quiet. Civil society groups are joining forces to draw attention, advocate for greater transparency and raise awareness of prison deaths. Discussion with two groups: one in France, the other in Switzerland.
Morocco: archaic sentencing
Interview
Africa
Justice
Mental health
Death penalty
Social ties
Morocco
Morocco has just celebrated 30 years of its death penalty moratorium, yet its courts continue to hand down death penalties. Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM), along with its partners, conducted a new fact-finding mission on the impact of the death penalty in Moroccan prisons. Interview.
The Flowers of the Penal Colony
Interview
America
Europe
Minors
Justice
Material conditions
Facilities
Prison left an indelible mark on the work of Jean Genet, who experienced prison first hand . His life journey and artistic output, deeply intertwined, serve as a source of inspiration for Patti Smith. An interview with Glória Alhinho and Samuel Tracol.
Iran: spreading fear
Interview
Middle East
Justice
Death penalty
Violence
Iran
More than 800 people sentenced to death in Iran were executed in 2023. The authorities have resumed carrying out death sentences in public, using it to instil fear in the population. Interview with Iran Human Rights and Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM).
Türkiye: a struggle for control
Interview
Europe
Justice
Material conditions
Facilities
Turkey
Turkish prisons underwent significant transformations in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The historical background to this development reflects a conflict between political groups and authorities. Interview with Arda İbikoğlu (Altinbaş University).
Türkiye: lawyers in danger
Interview
Europe
Access to legal rights
Justice
Social ties
Turkey
The Anti-Terror Law is used by the State to imprison lawyers who defend opponents. The Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD) has been specifically targeted on several occasions. One of its members, Güçlü Sevimli, explains why and under what conditions they are being held.
Badinter, "a beacon of light in the mist"
Insights
Interview
Europe
Access to legal rights
Justice
Material conditions
Death penalty
France
Robert Badinter, a leading figure in the abolition of the death penalty in France, passed away on 9 February. Raphaël Chenuil-Hazan, director of Together Against the Death Penalty, became close with the former minister over time through their mutual cause. Here’s the story.
Africa
America
Crises
Asia
Europe
Middle East
Access to legal rights
Justice
Material conditions
Facilities
Torture
Alice Jill Edwards was the first woman to be appointed as UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Prison Insider met with her to find out more about what she has to say to justice systems and prison administrations around the world.
Belgium: diverging pathways
Interview
Europe
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
Alternatives
Belgium
In recent years, authorities have followed a policy of constructing new ‘mega-prisons’. At the same time, the prison estate has welcomed the creation of smaller facilities. The simultaneous development of these opposing approaches raises a number of questions.