The incarceration rate, down 1.7% in 2020, "
continues to decline in Europe
", continuing a trend initiated in 2013 on the continent where Turkish prisons are the most overcrowded, according to a study by the Council of the Europe published Thursday April 8.
Read also: In detention, the ultraviolence of foreign minors destabilizes prison life
"
Since 2013, when it reached the record level of 131 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants, the incarceration rate has been decreasing every year
" in European prisons, with an "
overall
reduction
of 20% between 2013 and 2020
", notes a study carried out by the University of Lausanne on behalf of the pan-European organization.
As of January 31, 2020, there were 1,528,343 prisoners in the prisons of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe, indicates the study, which noted last year that the coronavirus epidemic and the confinements decided in the Most European countries had brought
about
a reduction in the incarceration rate
"
over a short period
".
"
In the fifty prison administrations for which data are available for 2019 and 2020, this rate fell from 106.1 to 104.3 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants
", down 1.7%, according to the University of Lausanne.
"
This decrease is partly explained by the decrease (...) in the number of traditional offenses, such as theft and burglaries, which is not offset by the increase in offenses committed in cyberspace
", including authors are more difficult to find and therefore to sanction, explains Professor Marcelo Aebi, head of the team of researchers who conducted the study.
High incarceration rates in Turkey and Russia
Among the countries with the highest incarceration rates (in January 2020): Turkey (357 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants), Russia (356), Georgia (264), Lithuania (220) and even Azerbaijan (209).
Conversely, Iceland (45), Finland (50), the Netherlands (59) and Norway (59) are among the good students, those with the lowest rate.
France's incarceration rate is 105.
Read also: Prison overcrowding: 849 inmates sleep on a mattress on the floor, according to Dupond-Moretti
Prison density in Europe has “
remained stable
”, with 90.3 inmates for 100 places in 2020 (89.5 in 2019).
As of January 31, 2020, fourteen prison administrations had a prison density greater than 100 inmates for 100 places, which is an indicator of prison overcrowding: again, Turkey is at the top (127 inmates for 100 places), ahead of Italy ( 120), Belgium (117), Cyprus (116) and France (116).
Moreover, according to data provided by 37 administrations, 1,608 children “
live with their mother in a penitentiary establishment
” where, in most administrations (21), they can stay up to 3 years, underlines the study, which recalls that "
more than 2 million children in Europe have a parent in prison
".
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