{"id":74558,"date":"2021-03-08T14:00:43","date_gmt":"2021-03-08T19:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=74558"},"modified":"2025-08-19T09:37:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T13:37:15","slug":"covid-19-prison-conditions-globally","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/covid-19-prison-conditions-globally\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 pandemic exposes how little we know about prison conditions globally"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n COVID-19 pandemic exposes how little we know about prison conditions globally\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

Novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky<\/a> once famously said:<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cThe degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

And yet most of us know very little about prisons. In fact, gaining entry or even insight into prisons as an outsider is quite rare. In Canada, only parliamentarians and judges cannot be denied access to federal prisons<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the measure of civil society is based on how it treats its most vulnerable members, why are we not only keeping people locked up in prisons, but keeping the community locked out? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transparency crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Prison Transparency Project<\/a> is a collaboration between researchers from Argentina, Spain and Canada intent on pushing for greater openness and accountability in prison systems around the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are existing national<\/a> and international<\/a> laws aimed at protecting prisoners\u2019 rights that set out basic standards of confinement. But in our work \u2014 along with our partners, including lawyers, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and advocates \u2014 we routinely hear about violations against human dignity<\/a> and breaches to some of the most basic human needs<\/a> of people in prison. There is a crisis of prison transparency that remains unexposed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Saint-Jerome
\n Saint-Jerome prison in Saint-Jerome, Que., where in January 2021, an outbreak of COVID-19 was reported. (THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Graham Hughes)<\/span><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The onset of the pandemic had an impact on almost every aspect of prison life, and has only reinforced the transparency crisis with lockdowns, visitor bans and delayed releases. COVID-19 has been especially worrying because prisons are closed, overcrowded and poorly ventilated and sanitized spaces. Many people held behind their walls face ongoing health concerns, including high rates of tuberculosis and HIV<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In all three countries during the pandemic, we observed people in prison, isolated in cells for 23 hours a day, cut off from visitors and denied personal protective equipment like soap and masks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Canada, some people in prison reported deteriorating mental health that resulted in suicide attempts and self-harm. With few other options available, people in prison have resorted to hunger strikes<\/a> as one way to protest the inhumane conditions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These conditions have persisted throughout the pandemic, even with varying watchdog organizations that have some oversight but little to no ability to intervene. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Like other European Countries<\/a>, Spain implemented release measures<\/a> to tackle the spread of the coronavirus inside prisons. However, against the background of a political controversy involving the Spanish Supreme Court and political prisoners<\/a>, the Spanish administration ignored accountability standards and did not disclose its release agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
\n Catalonia\u2019s outgoing regional president, Quim Torra, centre, waves to the crowd in Barcelona, Spain in September 2020. Spain\u2019s Supreme Court removed him from office for refusing to remove a banner from his office calling for the release of separatist leaders from prison.<\/span>
\n (AP Photo\/Joan Mateu)<\/span><\/span>
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These measures did not, however, prevent the epidemic from spreading across Spanish prisons<\/a>. This public health crisis gained particular momentum in late 2020 and early 2021 amid the so-called third wave<\/a> of the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spain\u2019s prison administration has been the only source of information on correctional infection rates so far. No watchdog or member of an NGO is able to actively monitor the pandemic in either the Spanish or Catalan systems, meaning COVID-19\u2019s impact on prisons is partly unknowable. Prisons in Spain and Catalonia in effect have become de facto dark sites, with no observers able to enter and no knowledge getting out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Argentina<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

People in prison in Argentina depend on visiting family members for food, clothing and connection. The pandemic has not only cut off family visits, but also access to basic necessities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a failing prison infrastructure, increasing prison rates and overcrowding, Argentina\u2019s diminished oversight due to COVID-19 is a grave concern. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike in Canada and Spain, prison conditions during COVID-19 and in general are a matter of great public concern in Argentina. Following public protests and demands by people in prison, NGOs and public watchdog visits were re-established, but with greater restrictions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Prisoners
\n Rioting inmates are seen on the roof of the Villa Devoto prison in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in April 2020. They accused authorities of not doing enough to prevent the spread of coronavirus. (AP Photo\/Natacha Pisarenko)<\/span><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In Argentina, prisons are overseen by the Procuraci\u00f3n Penitenciaria de la Naci\u00f3n<\/a> and the National Committee for the Prevention of Torture<\/a>. These offices generate information on prisons, producing regular reports crucial to transparency. However, these oversight bodies tell us that the capacity to oversee prisons during the pandemic has been significantly reduced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With little access or oversight, prisons run the gamut of human rights violations. The case for prison transparency and accountability around the world has been made abundantly clear with the pandemic. People in prison will eventually be released. It\u2019s critical we ensure they don\u2019t come out of prison far worse off than when they went in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Carleton University is a member of this unique digital journalism platform that launched in June 2017 to boost visibility of Canada\u2019s academic faculty and researchers. Interested in writing a piece? Please contact Steven Reid<\/a> or sign up to become an author<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All photos provided by The Conversation from various sources.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

—
\nCarleton Newsroom<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky once famously said: \u201cThe degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.\u201d And yet most of us know very little about prisons. In fact, gaining entry or even insight into prisons as an outsider is quite rare. In Canada, only parliamentarians and judges cannot be denied access […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":74559,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[1623],"cu_story_tag":[],"class_list":["post-74558","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-expert-perspectives"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/74558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/74558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74565,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/74558\/revisions\/74565"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=74558"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=74558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}