Waiting for the prison decree does not stop the massacre in Italian penitentiaries. Yesterday the number of suicides in cells reached 45 (46 if we include the migrant who hanged himself at the Ponte Galeria CPR). This time it happened to Novara where yesterday morning, around 11.30, penitentiary officers found a prisoner, aged just 20, dead hanging in his cell. The alarm was immediately raised, but there was nothing left for the young man to do. He was in prison for drug and property crimes. It is not even certain that he was Algerian. The guarantor of Piedmont Bruno Mellano he explained to Agi that at the moment his nationality is doubtful “because no family members or acquaintances have been found” capable of confirming his origins.
We are not yet halfway through 2004, the suicide figure is impressive and we expect to surpass the record of 2022 by the end of the year with 85 people taking their own lives in prison and 70 in 2023. Furthermore, the strong relationship between overcrowding rates and the number of critical events should also be underlined: in fact, of the ten penitentiaries with the highest number of suicides, nine have effective crowding rates above 130%.
Throughout Italy, according to the latest data from the Department of Penitentiary Administration ( Dap) released by the Ministry of Justice, the number of prisoners present as of 31 May 2024 is equal to 61,547: they have grown by 1,381 units since the beginning of the year (+2.3%). A trend also confirmed by the Istat study “Noi Italia – 100 statistics to understand the country”, according to which at the end of 2023, the inmates present in adult penitentiary facilities were over 60 thousand, increased by 7.1% compared to the previous year .
Almost all of the prisoners are male ( 95.8%) while foreigners make up 31.4% of the total number of prisoners. Given an unchanged capacity of penitentiary institutions (-0.3%), between 2022 and 2023, the increase in the number of prisoners present led to an increase in the prison crowding index, which went from 109.5 prisoners per percent of regular positions in 2022, to 117.6 in 2023. At the end of 2023, 69.3% of penitentiary institutions (131 out of 189) were found to be in overcrowded conditions. 80.2% of people detained in Italy are housed in overcrowded institutions. At the regional level, the greatest overcrowding is found in Puglia and in Lombardy (respectively 151.8 and 141.8 prisoners per 100 regular beds.
Three months ago on the topic, the President of the Republic had invited the Italian political class to urgently adopt immediate measures to ease the climate of tension that exists in Italian prisons, caused mainly by overcrowding, by staff shortages and inefficiency of intramural healthcare. But the government, for now, has not taken any initiative. The law decree against the prison emergency which was supposed to have the green light from the Council of Ministers yesterday also failed. It would not have alleviated the prison emergency, but it would have at least focused on increasing telephone interviews, a fundamental aspect to guarantee effectiveness.
But the measures that resolve the emergency mentioned by President Mattarella are very different, and where it is still not clear what the Meloni Government intends to do. The proposals, as the deputy recalled two days ago in the chamber Riccardo Magi from + Europa, there are: there is the proposal with the first signature of the deputy of Italia Viva Roberto Giachetti (together with Nobody Tocchi Caino) on the special early release and the proposal on the social reintegration homes presented from + Europe. Both proposals are also signed by the Democratic Party and the Greens and Left Alliance.
What we know so far is that the Giachetti proposal has been scheduled for next Monday, June 24th, at the Montecitorio Assembly. Rita Bernardini by Hands off Cain decided to resume his nonviolent action that day: «I will be on a total hunger and thirst strike in Montecitorio to affirm truth and justice against those who humiliate the penitentiary community, the President of the Republic, the Guarantors of the prisoners, the penal chambers, the associations that deal with prisoners. Spes contra Spem.” Who knows if the majority will be able to give a blow to its many detractors who, to counter the proposal on special early release, are talking about a pardon. When, in reality, it has nothing to do with it and is a clear hoax. Common sense actions, such as truly combating overcrowding, are always rewarded in the long term.
