{"id":470114,"date":"2026-11-04T12:17:45","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T11:17:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/11\/04\/carceri-in-italia-pochi-progressi-e-ancora-tanti-problemi-dal-consiglio-deuropa-nuove-bacchettate\/"},"modified":"2026-11-04T13:24:28","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T12:24:28","slug":"prisons-in-italy-little-progress-persistent-problems-fresh-criticism-from-the-council-of-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/11\/04\/prisons-in-italy-little-progress-persistent-problems-fresh-criticism-from-the-council-of-europe\/","title":{"rendered":"Prisons in Italy: little progress, persistent problems; fresh criticism from the Council of Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels \u2013 Prisons: In Italy, there are glimmers of progress in the overall situation of prisoners, but much remains to be improved. The report<\/a> by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) on the country\u2019s prisons paints a picture with few bright spots and many shadows. The government is commended for the measures implemented under the \u2018Prison Plan<\/a>\u2019 and for appointing a Special Commissioner for Prison Infrastructure. However, in the Committee\u2019s view, \u201c the plan’s implementation needs to be accelerated<\/strong>, given the chronic challenges facing the prison system.\u200b\u201d\u200b<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Similarly, the report drawn up by the Council of Europe body acknowledges the efforts made by the Italian authorities to promote further employment opportunities for prisoners in the institutions visited, including by granting tax relief under the Smuraglia Law. Here, too, however, reality does not match intentions. It is the Committee\u2019s view that \u201cthe range of activities offered to prisoners must be further expanded.<\/strong>\u201d According to the authors of the document, \u201call prisoners should be guaranteed a structured daily programme, comprising customised d activities supervised by a multidisciplinary team\u201d.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Cramped cells, violence among prisoners, solitary confinement: the issues to be resolved<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n

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In Italy, \u201cthe vast majority\u201d of prisoners report being treated fairly by prison staff. Prison officers are therefore not guilty of abuse of power. Still, the situation changes inside the cells: the report notes that \u201cinter-prisoner violence and intimidation persist within the Italian prison system<\/strong>.\u201d Problems such as the lack of call bells in most cells and the absence of prison officers in the detention wings are identified as factors contributing to violence among prisoners.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Hence, the call on the government for \u201ca comprehensive strategy for preventing inter-prisoner violence and intimidation,\u201d promoting an approach based on genuine \u201cdynamic security\u201d by prison staff.<\/p>\n

The Council of Europe\u2019s Committee against Torture therefore reiterates \u201cthe need to reform the stringent, restrictive measures applied to prisoners subject to various forms of solitary confinement,\u201d such as the “special surveillance” (sorveglianza particolare) regime and the court-imposed solitary confinement for lifers, or isolamento diurno. Italy should limit its use.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Another structural problem is space. At the time of the visits carried out in Italy, \u201calmost a quarter of prisoners\u201d were housed in cells offering each of them a living space of just 3-4 square metres.<\/strong> The report calls on the Italian authorities to ensure compliance with the Council of Europe\u2019s minimum standard, which provides for 4 square metres of living space per person in shared cells (excluding the toilet cubicle).\u200b<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The call for measures to \u2018empty the prisons\u2019<\/span><\/h4>\n

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\u201cPrison overcrowding is another characteristic of the Italian prison system\u201d, notes the new Council of Europe report. For this reason too, given that it is a phenomenon that has never been solved or overcome, the report stresses “the importance of promoting alternative sanctions <\/strong>to reduce the prison population, while also recognising the need to invest in upgrading the prison infrastructure and its capacity.\u201d In short: fewer arrests and prison sentences, alongside improvements to prisons.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The issue of women: prisons in Italy are no place for women<\/h4>\n
Judging by the observations and recommendations regarding the situation of women, the Italian system is falling apart at the seams. Female prisoners lack not only basic conditions but also basic rights. The CPT considers it necessary for the Italian authorities to adopt a specific gender-based approach and for women\u2019s sections within large male prisons to be managed separately.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/div>\n
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The report also raises further issues, including the need for more accurate reporting of incidents in which staff use force against prisoners, a review of the appropriateness and proportionality of body searches, and a reassessment of the use of pepper spray in prisons, particularly in enclosed and poorly ventilated spaces.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/div>\n
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Furthermore, \u201cthe Italian authorities should ensure that, upon admission to prison, all female prisoners are allowed to make a brief telephone call<\/strong> to a family member\u201d. Finally, it is necessary to strengthen probation officers’ capacity to cope with their workload, with particular reference to the examination of applications for access to alternative measures and of complaints lodged by prisoners.\u200b<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The new report by the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) calls on the government to accelerate the implementation of the “prison plan”. The issues of overcrowding, violence among prisoners and poor conditions for women remain<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":494,"featured_media":470096,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[29788],"tags":[26180,29890,26252,25830],"class_list":["post-470114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diritti-en","tag-carceri-en","tag-council-deuropa-en","tag-governo-meloni-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/494"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470114"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":470115,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470114\/revisions\/470115"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

 https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/07\/20\/italy-has-just-months-to-avert-a-clash-with-the-eu-over-prison-overcrowding\/<\/a><\/p>\n