— My sessions are going real good thanks to all of you. I feel a lot of my burdens have been lifted. Especially when I opened up about my crime. Because of that I may never get out, but it brings a lot of peace to my life. —
James Bettis, Clarinda Correctional Facility, Iowa
— Develop the mind, transform the situation into happiness, then it becomes a beautiful island, pure land, heaven. —
Lama Zopa Rinpoche
World Watch
Syrian prison riot shrouded in silence
The unrest in the facility, which holds more than 10,000 Islamists, democracy activists, and intellectuals, in addition to regular criminals, comes as the West moves to reengage with Damascus.
By Liam Stack, The Christian Science Monitor, July 11, 2008
A riot by political prisoners at Syria's Sedneya prison was violently put down this week under the cover of a media blackout, leaving human rights organizations scrambling to discover the extent of the casualties.
The fighting and its media coverup began just days before President Bashar al-Assad is due to attend a Paris summit on the creation of a Mediterranean Union, a major step toward Western reengagement with Damascus.
The riot began on Saturday as a protest by prisoners against poor treatment in the jail, which holds more than 10,000 political prisoners, mostly Islamists, democracy activists, and Lebanese detained during the Syrian occupation of Lebanon, which ended in 2005. Days later, little is still known about what happened at Sednaya and the true extent of the casualties.
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- 2008
- NOVEMBER
- US: WSU students hear from death row innocent
- US: Aussie mathematician attempts to save death row inmate
- US: Criminals, advocates target Texas parole restrictions as unfair to low-level offenders
- US: Utah's high court issues death-penalty warning
- US: Schwarzenegger Risks Contempt On Prison Reform
- US: Exonerated inmates ask Texas to halt executions
- US: To Save Money, State to Scale Back Drug Abuse Programs for Ex-Convicts
- US: Can a troubled Colorado prison change the way inmates think?
- US: Green Prisons Farm, Recycle to Save Energy, Money
- US: Prisoners give abandoned dogs a 2nd chance
- OCTOBER
- US: Coalition helps former prisoners re-enter society
- US: Ballots behind bars: Inmates look to express themselves
- US: LA man cleared of murder after decade in prison
- Australia: NSW prison officers walk off the job
- Japan executes 2 convicted murderers
- US: State ready to defy judge on prison hospitals
- US: Doubts Arise About 1972 Angola Prison Murder
- US: More felons learning -- to their surprise -- that they can vote
- Nigerian death row prisoners forced to clean gallows, says Amnesty
- Nigerian Death Row Prisoners Denied Appeal, Despite Waiting 24 Years For One
- US: Wrongly Accused Man Set Free After Spending 24 Years In Prison!
- Where to buy prison art in the U.S. and abroad
- US: Getting Ronnie right
- US: Community gets together to help prisoners
- US: Daddy's on DVD: Indiana prisoners connect with their children through reading program
- US: White released after 18 years
- Art and peace in Mexican prison
- UK: Prison restaurant offers gourmet meals cooked by convicts
- US: The homecoming of prisoner 908B0643
- US: Inmate Leaves Prison After DNA Evidence Led To Dropping of Charges
- US: Bard's genius slips through prison bars
- Judge sets hearing on funding for California prison medical care
- Torture rampant in Jordan's prisons, report says
- Judge blames California officials for lack of prison health funds
- UK: Music boosts prisoners' learning
- US: McCloskey labors to exonerate innocent prisoners
- Australia: Inside stories for prisoners' children
- SEPTEMBER
- Mexican prison riot toll rises
- UK: Tens of thousands of prisoners to be freed early to ease prison overcrowding
- MEXICO: Police quell riot at Tijuana prison
- Longest-serving US death row prisoner dies despite pleas from British lawyers
- MEXICO: More violence breaks out at La Mesa prison
- MEXICO: 3 dead in riot at Tijuana prison
- US: Attorneys for Death Row Prisoner Troy Davis to Make Final Plea Before Georgia Parole Board
- Prisoners riot in Mexican border city of Tijuana
- New Zealand: Death shows prison system 'disgraceful'
- US: States Restore Voting Rights for Ex-Convicts
- US: From prison to Ivy League law school
- Australia: 'Human rights' prison has no bars
- US: ACLU launches campaign to get former prisoners to register to vote
- US: Sister of Death Row Prisoner: "There's No Gun, No DNA, No Case, But These People Say It's Okay to Kill Him"
- US: Prison guards threaten Schwarzenegger with recall
- Inmates tell of sexual abuse and beatings in Iraq's overcrowded juvenile prison system
- US: On Top of Jail Time, Prisoners Now Face Fees and Surcharges
- US: Alton Logan cleared after 26 years in prison
- US: As Texas Execution Nears, Hearing Is Set on a Claim That Judge and Prosecutor Had Affair
- US: Freed inmate hopes to help others who are innocent
- Ten dead in Venezuela prison revolt
- AUGUST
- US: Calif. prisons prepare for gay weddings
- US: Family ties - For mothers in prison, children can be key to rehabilitation, with parenting classes and visits paving way to self-improvement
- UK: Prison reformers condemn new 'Titan' jails as a 'gigantic mistake'
- UK: Prisons designed for 6,600 inmates now hold 8,013 – 'and it won't stop here'
- US: An Estimated 809,800 Inmates in the Nation's Prisons Were Parents to 1,706,600 Minor Children at Midyear 2007
- UK: Titan jails 'could be dangerous'
- US: Boy, 13, sentenced to 15 years in youth prison
- US: Sheriff goes to jail for an education
- US: Looking out for prisoners’ health
- US: Report advises how to prevent rapes in prison
- US: California Supreme Court ruling makes it easier for prisoners to win parole
- Pigeon in custody for smuggling drugs to Bosnian prisoners
- 9 inmates die trying to escape Cameroon prison
- Australia: Prisoners' health, Indigenous incarceration under scrutiny
- South Africa: Mthatha’s ‘hell hole’ to release prisoners
- Cameroon fire kills nine prisoners
- Australia: NSW prison overtime system faces reform
- US: Prosecutors get reports on prison brutality claims
- Australia: Prison officers put strike plans on hold
- US: Putting Prisoners To Work
- Australia: State plan to privatise prisons
- US: Ex-prisoner tries his hand at filmmaking
- US: Letters from federal prisoners going electronic
- US: Texas easing restrictions on regular phone access for prison inmates
- US: Texas Planning to Execute Another Prisoner for a Murder He Didn't Commit
- Pakistan: Govt releases 34 Indian juvenile prisoners
- US: Judge orders Schwarzenegger to testify on prisons
- US: Light from Inside: Prisoners' artwork on display
- US: First Texas prison pay phone system approved
- US: Prison workers protest governor
- US: $8 Billion Demand in California Prison Case
- Pakistan to release 35 Indian prisoners on Independence Day
- US: Texas executes triple murderer
- US: Inmate Firefighters Are on Front Lines in California
- US: Ill and in Pain, Detainee Dies in U.S. Hands
- US: Inmates Angry After Nevada Bans Typewriters in Jail
- US: OPINION: Mental health oversight still needed in state prison system
- US: Program aids children of prison inmates
- US: Judge frees convicted Ohio rapist after DNA test
- Nigeria: Senate Decries Prison Congestion
- US: David Pope, exonerated in Dallas County, still struggles to find his place
- US: Dallas County ex-parolees found steps to success after exonerations
- UK: Pregnant Prisoner 'Shackled 24/7'
- US: Judge will decide fate of prison conditions lawsuit first filed in early 1980s
- UK: Prison populations "out of control"
- JAPAN: Govt maps out program to help aged ex-prisoners
- UK: The 20 most overcrowded jails
- US: California Prisons Start Desegregating Inmates
- US: Texas Executes Mexican Despite Objections
- US: Judge tosses sex crime convictions of DNA exonoree
- India: Haryana police chained woman prisoner in Ambala civil hospital
- UK: Prison 'too harsh’ on inmates, says report
- US: No talking out of turn or horseplay in Wash prison
- UK: Prisoners to get personal telephones in £10.5m block
- Afghan mothers keep their kids with them in prison
- US: Inmate on death row now gets life in prison
- India: Ailing prisoners dumped to die at RIMS
- US: Judge: Reforms too slow in Calif.'s youth prisons
- US: Nebraska attorneys say DNA exonerates prisoners
- Rats, Disease Plague Prisoners in France's Overcrowded Jails
- US: Texas ranks first in juvenile prison sexual abuse
- South Africa: Ex-convict’s Mthatha Prison ‘nightmare’
- JULY
- US: Texas executes convicted murderer
- US: Program helps Arizona prisoners get ready for real life
- US: California Unlawfully Tranfers its Prisoners to Other States
- Bahrain's King Pardons 225 Prisoners
- US: Inmates To Get Free Condoms In Solano County
- Female inmates to benefit from Tunisian prison reform legislation
- US: Prisoner released from death row, but not exonerated
- US: Louisiana Police Officer Tasers Prisoner, Grand Jury Considering Murder Charge
- US: Ohio prisons see success with rehabilitation focus
- Iran: The mullahs' regime hanged 29 prisoners in Evin prison to suppress public protests
- US: Inmates and integration
- US: Prisoners find freedom in work
- US: Spared 7 weeks ago, condemned Texas prisoner heading back to death house
- US: What Do Prisoners Make for Victoria's Secret?
- UK: Prisoners sleeping in cell toilets
- Congo prisoners 'starve to death'
- UK: Increase in prison knife attacks
- US: Behind the Scenes: Inside San Quentin's Prison University Project
- US: WA prisoners return from out of state
- US: Dallas County DNA exonerations come under microscope
- US: Prisoners use their own time, money to cultivate garden
- US: Mount Pleasant prisoners raise cash for charity
- VIDEO: Tour of Afghan cave paintings
- US: Federal report finds poor conditions at Cook County Jail
- Scotland: Plan for mixed-sex prisons to offer criminals home comfort
- US: MOVIE REVIEW: Felon
- Argentina: VIDEO: Evangelical prison experiment
- US: Ada mental health court offers an alternative to prison
- As California looks to expand death row, a flap over where to build it
- Canada: Give free needles to prisoners, health experts urge
- US: Youthful offenders restoring luster to diners of old
- Ireland: Prison officers say overcrowding is leading to tensions in prisons
- Prison Games: California can't afford to play them anymore
- Venezuala: Orchestral prisoners find freedom behind bars of music
- US: Get-tough policies cause more crime, deny inmates a future
- US: Budget cuts = less desirable menu for prisoners
- L.A. County's female inmates waited months for medical treatment, report says
- US: RADIO: Life After Prison
- US: Prison Medical Beds to Cost $7 Billion
- US: Tainted food likely behind illness of 543 Galveston inmates
- US: Prison Work Program May Have Put Hundreds of Prisoners and Workers at Risk
- US: Purdy prison inmates become Braille translators
- Syrian prison riot shrouded in silence
- US: New Prison Promises 500 Jobs
- UK: Older prisoners 'doubly punished'
- US: Female inmates doing time on Calif. fire lines
- New Zealand: Prisoners on the Housing NZ chain gang
- US: Prisons enlist dogs to keep out phones
- Riot at Syrian prison threatens to escalate
- US: Settlement with Michigan's Prison system
- Lawsuit alleges improper care of hepatitis C outbreak in California prisons
- UK: Prison food 'should be enjoyable'
- UK: Jail drugs crackdown targets prison officers
- Syria: Confusion clouds fate of prisoners in jail riot
- A ray of hope for Indian prisoners in Sri Lanka
- US: In prison world, officer a mentor, an enforcer
- UK: Prison Policy Was 'Ill Considered'
- Australia: Tackling the cause, not result, of crime
- US: San Quentin's Gym Becomes One Massive Cell
- Project aids female prisoners in Africa
- UK: Warning over jail unrest as prisoners face menu cutbacks
- Uganda: 3 inmates suffocate to death in Kiruhura prison
- Brazil prisoner's pigeon drug mules
- Police Kill 9 Inmates During Prison Riot in Syria
- China: Buddha’s Caves
- Aging inmates add to prison strain in California
- Pakistan: 7,000 death row prisoners are reprieved
- UK: Prison tea bar needs volunteers
- Texas man freed by DNA after 15 years in prison
- China rewards prisoners for quake-relief work
- US: Taste-Testing Nutraloaf: the prison food that just might be unconstitutionally bad
- US: Justice Dept. Admits Error in Not Briefing Court
- US: In Court Ruling on Executions, a Factual Flaw
- Segregation of prisoners ends in California
- US: Iowa prisons house fewer inmates
- US: Four state prison fights being investigated by DOC officials
- Canada: Prison gang mayhem at Max
- Scotland 'must cut prison population by a third to stop reoffending'
- US: N.Y. Man Exonerated After 17 Yrs. in Prison
- UK: Call to give councils control over youth jails
- Cameroon prison guards kill 16 escaping inmates
- UK: Judges scorn American-style sentencing to control prison overcrowding
- Egypt prison guards beat inmates to end hunger strike: lawyer
- US: Driver Dozes; 2 Inmates Die
- US: Help for suicidal prisoners
- Australia: Female prisoners hit record high
- Pakistan: Peshawar lock-ups: Lack of basic facilities adds to prisoners’ miseries
- US: Virginia executes 100th prisoner
- US: Lawsuits over California prison crowding head to trial
- US: Supreme Court Rejects Death Penalty for Child Rape
- India: Tihar prisoners have a 4-yr-old reason to smile
- Jamaican prisoners in Panama appeal for government aid
- Canada: Teen might still be alive if not for series of failures: prison investigator
- UK: BT and Siemens slammed over prisoner call rates
- Indian prisoner dies in Pak jail; Burney demands probe
- Pakistan decision on prisoners sends wave of relief in Punjab
- Pakistan prime minister urges president to commute death sentences in Bhutto tribute
- US: Ronald Taylor says pardon brings new meaning to life
- US: Ex-Texas inmate exonerated in rape case pardoned
- US: EDITORIAL A Better System for Young Offenders
- US: Judge Orders Ohio to Alter Its Method of Execution
- US: EDITORIAL Mr. Lesniak Changes His Mind
- Beijing Suspends Licenses of 2 Lawyers Who Offered to Defend Tibetans in Court
- JUNE
- Myanmar: Monks Succeed in Cyclone Relief as Junta Falters
- US: EDITORIAL Children in Adult Jails
- China Earthquake Pushes Tibet to Sidelines
- US: New Tack on Straying Parolees Offers a Hand Instead of Cuffs
- US Planning Big New Prison in Afghanistan
- US: EDITORIAL Racial Inequity and Drug Arrests
- US: VIDEO The Death of Boubacar Bah
- US: EDITORIAL The Death Penalty Returns
- US: Executions Resume, as Do Questions of Fairness
- US: Heard Is Chasing Lost Time After Hard Time
- US: After Hiatus, States Set Wave of Executions
- First Tibetan Death in Unrest Reported by China
- China Sends 30 to Prison in Tibet Riots
- China Says It Is Ready to Meet Dalai Lama Envoys
- US: Cruel and Unusual History
- US: Inmate Count in U.S. Dwarfs Other Nations’
- US: Supreme Court Allows Lethal Injection for Execution
- Dalai Lama Says His Aides Are Talking to China
- US: Senate Clears Prisoner Bill
- Ethnic Unrest Continues in China
- Chinese Nationalism Fuels Tibet Crackdown
- US: Felons' Voting Requests Pile Up
- US: BOOK EXCERPT A Different Kind of Slavery
- US: Executives Teach Inmates How to Be Employees
- US: EDITORIAL Prison Nation
- US: Aversion to Death Penalty, but No Lack of Cases
- US: In Alabama, a Fight to Regain Voting Rights Some Felons Never Lost
- US: Imprisons One in 100 Adults, Report Finds
- UK: Calling ex-convicts - sing if you've done bird
- Thousands of New Prisoners Overwhelm Iraqi System
- US: The Heart Has Its Reasons
- US: Electrocution Is Banned in Last State to Rely on It
- US: Death in Georgia
- UK: Eat it up and be a good boy
- US: Prison Makes Way for Future, but Preserves Past
- China to Switch to Lethal Injections
- US: to Speed Deportation of Criminals in Jail
- US: Justices Chilly to Bid to Alter Death Penalty
- US: States Hesitate to Lead Change on Executions
- Morrocco: Jihadists in Jails Win Leverage Over Their Keepers
- US: Infection Hits a California Prison Hard
- US: At 60% of Total, Texas is Bucking Execution Trend
- Brazil: Rape of Girl, 15, Exposes Abuses in Brazil Prison System
- US: Vindicated by DNA, but a Lost Man on the Outside
- US: Trying to Break Cycle of Prison at Street Level
- US: California a leader in number of youths in prison for life
- US: Does Death Penalty Save Lives? A New Debate
- Myanmar: ‘They come at three in the morning’: A dawn meeting with fugitive monks in a safe house in Burma
- China: The terrible secrets of Beijing's 'black jails'
- US: Panel may cut thousands of prison terms
- US: Texas executions reap heavy toll on prison staff
- South Africa: Report Slates Prison Conditions
- US: Bard Behind Bars
- UK:Prison homework club for children
- Argentine prison fire kills 30
- As Japan Ages, Prisons Adapt to Going Gray
- US: Justices Stay Execution, a Signal to Lower Courts
- US: Supreme Court Blocks Lethal Injection Execution
- Norway: Inmates Saved Prison
- US: Lifers as Teenagers, Now Seeking Second Chance
- US: Troubles Mount Within Texas Youth Detention Agency
- US: Faith-based prison programs multiply
- Afghanistan executes 15 prisoners at Kabul prison
- US: Texas Ruling Signals Indefinite Halt to Executions
- US: Exoneration Using DNA Brings Change in Legal System
- US: Texas Planning New Execution Despite Ruling
- Australia: Kids go to playgroup as mums do jail time
- US: Deadly medical lapses in prison
- US: A Prisoner with a Paintbrush, A Legacy at Risk
- UK: An innovative programme at a pioneering prison helps long-stayers to write - and perform - their own poems
- August 23, 1927 New York Times: Sacco and Vanzetti Put to Death Early This Morning
- Iraq: Iraqi Sunni pledges prison improvements
- Australia: 'Super prison' planned for Perth
- West Bank and Gaza: Gaza prison offers unique incentives
- US: Prison program 'model for all of the states to follow'
- Myanmar: Art smuggled out of prison paints the silence of Myanmar
- US: 28 charged in April Riot at Indiana prison
- Zimbabwe: Former prison chaplain remembered
- US: Seven guards fired for using excessive force at prison
- US: Prison warning issued
- US: Prison pushes inmate education