Prisons

Covid-19 and prisons: painful closures and encouraging innovations 

Friday 04 February 2022 | Lorenzo Ferrari
| OBC Transeuropa

An interview with Alessio Scandurra, director of the European Prison Observatory, to understand the impact of the pandemic on European prisons, in terms of both healthcare and opportunities for inmates. 

Covid and prisons in France: interview with Dominique Simonnot 

Wednesday 15 December 2021 | Alternatives Economiques

"The epidemic has been contained at the cost of enormous sacrifices for France’s prison population", says Dominique Simonnot, French chief prisons inspector.

How Europe’s prisons have fared in the Covid-19 pandemic 

Monday 06 December 2021 | Kira Schacht
| Deutsche Welle (DW)

Prisons make fertile breeding grounds for viruses, yet administrations have revealed little about Covid-19 cases, deaths and vaccinations in Europe’s prisons. Data from 32 countries show the pandemic’s impact on prisons.

inmate holding prison bars

"With the pandemic, it was a prison within a prison” 

Tuesday 14 December 2021 | Margot Hemmerich
| Alternatives Economiques

Aurélie, 27, spent several years in prison. Maxime, 35, was an inmate in the Paris region, where the overcrowding rate is 160%. Like 13,000 other prisoners, he got out thanks to early-release measures enacted between March and May 2020. They told us their stories. 

Pandemic has opened prisons across Europe 

Wednesday 24 February 2021 | Laszlo Arato
| EUrologus

The prison population fell in almost all European countries last year. Many detainees were released to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and meanwhile the crime rate also declined. The largest drop in prison numbers was in Turkey. However, in certain countries the incarcerated population increased.

Hungarian prisons are the most overcrowded in Europe 

Wednesday 10 July 2019 | Laszlo Arato
| EUrologus

Lithuania is the EU country with the highest rate of inmates in relation to the population, but prison overcrowding is the highest in Hungary.

Health in prisons (WHO)

Monday 02 September 2019 | Alternatives Economiques

Set up by the WHO, the European database on health in prisons (HIPED) includes data on prison mortality, disease screening, and the prevention and treatment of diseases.

People behind bars in Europe 

Friday 11 January 2019 | Alexander Damiano Ricci
| Voxeurop

Since the turn of the century, the Old Continent stands out as the only macro-region experiencing declining numbers in its prison population. However, positive developments in Russia are key in explaining the trend. The EU benefits from the positive dynamics in Eastern and Central Europe. Recent data for Italy are worrisome.

Why are there relatively fewer suicides in prison in the Balkans than elsewhere in Europe? 

Monday 14 May 2018 | Lorenzo Ferrari
| OBC Transeuropa

The suicide rate in Balkan prisons is low compared to the rest of Europe, in part because of the different composition of the prison population.