The Italian territorial guarantors of people deprived of personal liberty will chant aloud the names of the 31 suicides that occurred in 2024. The guarantors explain that "the majority of prisoners live for over 20 hours a day in overcrowded cells, from which they only leave during 'free air' This is a violation of the principles of the Constitutional Charter and of the penitentiary regulations.' In 32 years, there have been 1,754 suicides in prison.
In 2024, there will be 31 suicides in Italian prisons, the guarantors say. They will launch an appeal in front of Italian prisons tomorrow to launch a campaign against suicides in cells. They call for more cultural, work, sporting, and recreational activities to fill the time of detention with meaning. Family and volunteer relationships must also be strengthened by more interviews, telephone calls, video calls. Specialized personnel are needed (psychologists, educators, psychiatrists, pedagogists, social workers, linguistic mediators) who listen to prisoners and are able to grasp the reasons for intolerable suffering.