Essay: Detaining migrants in prisons violates human rights and risks abuses
JESSICA EVANS and LINDA MUSSELL, in an article first published on The Conversation, look at Canada’s plan to allow federal prisons to be used to detain “high-risk” immigrants…
Essay: Many prisoners go years without touching a smartphone. It means they struggle to navigate life on the outside
In an article first published on The Conversation, YE IN (JANE) HWANG looks ay how digital exclusion affects prisoners as they re-enter society…
Ecuador’s President Noboa seeks approval for security measures in Sunday vote
Quito, Ecaudor Reuters Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa is seeking voter support on Sunday for a raft of security measures in a national referendum, as he battles spiking violence that has made international headlines and left a man dead even as voters went to the polls. Ecuador’s prisons agency said on Sunday afternoon that the director […]
Essay: During Second Chance Month, let’s take a second look at who remains in prison
CHERYL BURKE, associate conference minister for the Michigan Conference United Church of Christ, says Second Look legislation aims to create a process for courts to reevaluate lengthy prison sentences, particularly for individuals who were incarcerated at a young age…
Over 100 inmates die in DR Congo prisons since start of year, UN says
Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo Reuters More than 100 inmates have died so far this year in Democratic Republic of Congo’s underfunded and chronically overcrowded prisons, a UN human rights official said on Wednesday. The main cause of the deaths was contagious diseases such as tuberculosis, which spread easily in crowded facilities and require unavailable […]
Thousands march in Colombia to protest government reforms
Bogota, Colombia Reuters Thousands of people marched through Colombia’s biggest cities on Wednesday to protest political, economic and social reforms backed by President Gustavo Petro, as well as to demand action against deteriorating security. Leftist Petro was elected in 2022 on ambitious promises to fight poverty and inequality, and end Colombia’s six decades of internal […]
Dozens of prisoners escape Ecuador jail amid continued military operations
Quito, Ecuador Reuters Forty-three prisoners remain at large after escaping a prison in northern Ecuador, the SNAI prisons agency said on Monday, as security forces continued operations throughout the country. President Daniel Noboa declared a 60-day state of emergency last week, including a nighttime curfew, and designated 22 criminal groups as terrorists. Members of the […]
Essay: How Ecuador went from being Latin America’s model of stability to a nation in crisis
EDUARDO GAMARRA, a professor of politics and international relations at Florida International University, looks – in an article first piblished on The Conversation – at recent events in Ecuador…
Ecuador cracks down on prisons to restore order after hostage crisis
Quito, Ecuador Reuters Ecuador’s police and military on Sunday were aiming to restore order inside the country’s dangerous prisons where dozens of staff were held hostage by inmates amid an uptick in violence in the Andean nation. Prisoners sit huddled, guarded by police and armed forces, during an operation said to be at Turi prison […]
Eleven prison guards held hostage by inmates in Ecuador freed
Quito, Ecuador Reuters Eleven prison staff members who had been held by inmates at the Esmeraldas prison in Ecuador were freed on Saturday, police said. They were among 158 guards and 20 administrative staffers taken hostage since Monday in at least seven prisons amid a sharp increase in violence in the South American country. Eight […]