prisons

Urgent action needed to end ‘inhumane conditions’ facing Haiti prisoners: UN rights chief

Extreme overcrowding and lack of access to food, water and health, are among the ‘inhumane conditions’ that prisoners in Haiti must endure, often over the course of many years, according to a new UN report.

Impact of COVID-19 ‘heavily felt’ by prisoners globally: UN expert

People incarcerated across the world are being “disproportionately affected” by the COVID-19 pandemic according to a UN expert on prison reform.

US should end use of private ‘for profit’ detention centres, urge human rights experts

A group of UN independent human rights experts on Thursday welcomed the United States’ decision to stop using privately run federal prisons, and urged the Government to also end the outsourcing of all detention centres, including those holding migrants and asylum seekers.

News in Brief 16 July 2020

  • Yemen: 11 dead in second airstrike in three days
  • Nuclear testing legacy is ‘cruellest’ environmental injustice, warns rights expert
  • Alarm over rise in women prisoners; mental health effects of COVID measures
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4'11"

Take ‘all appropriate public health measures’ to protect detainees from coronavirus, UN urges

UN agency chiefs on Wednesday highlighted the heightened vulnerability to COVID-19 of detainees, and others in confinement, urging Governments to take “all appropriate public health measures” to keep them safe from the deadly disease. 

News in Brief 3 April 2020

  • Political prisoners should be among first released, says UN rights chief
  • Relief supplies boost for Sudan, to COVID-proof vulnerable populations
  • UN General Assembly adopts first resolution since COVID-19 emerged
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3'58"

News in Brief 25 March 2020

  • Massive humanitarian response plan mobilized to aid ‘ultra-vulnerable’ in COVID-19 fight
  • Protect health and safety of prisoners, urges UN rights chief
  • Immediate ceasefire needed in Yemen, urges UN chief
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2'32"

Friday’s Daily Brief: Syria war update as talks continue, ‘credible evidence’ Morsi death due to prison conditions, force condemned in Chile protests

A recap of Friday’s stories in brief: Ongoing upheaval threatens civilians in Syria; ‘Brutal’ prison conditions may have prompted Morsi’s death; Rights experts condemn use of force in Chile protests; ICJ will hear claims by Ukraine; 60,000 youth refugees who travelled alone, in need across Italy. 

Art project exposes the life of women in Bolivian prisons

A new audio visual project to raise awareness about the situation of woman prisoners in Bolivia was launched recently, by the UN’s office on drugs and c

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Benin authorities urged to tackle “inhumane” prison conditions

Authorities in Benin have been urged to tackle what have been described by UN human rights experts as “inhumane” conditions in one of the West African country’s prisons.

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