The Number Of Suicide Convicts Increases, Italian Authorities Will Improve Prison Conditions

Prison illustration. (Unsplash/Hédi Benyounes)

JAKARTA - The Italian Parliament has approved legislation to improve prison conditions in the country, amid congestion and a spike in the number of inmates committing suicide.

Density and chronic staff shortages, coupled with the hot summer of this year, left at least 65 inmates committing suicide so far since the start of the year.

The latest case of suicide convicts occurred on Wednesday. In comparison, the number of inmates who committed suicide throughout 2023 was 70 cases.

The bill was passed in parliament with a vote acquisition of 153 to 89 on Wednesday night.

The Italian authorities' decision to hire more prison personnel has allowed inmates to make more phone calls, simplifying procedures for them to obtain early release, improving community care facilities after they are outside.

Justice Minister Carlo Nordic told reporters the purpose of the law is "what we can call prison humanization".

Meanwhile, Patrizio Gonella, president of the welfare organization inmate Antigone, said the law was "minimized" and did little to help address the main problem of population density.

Prisons in Italy house about 61,000 inmates by the end of June, about 10,000 more than the official capacity, according to data from Antigone. At the same time, there was a consistent shortage of nearly 7,000, or 16 percent, in the designated guards' labor, which was exacerbated in the summer due to staff holidays.

The problem has been exacerbated by heat waves that have caused temperatures to reach 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees f) in many cities in Italy in recent weeks, which led to a series of protests in prison.

"We haven't seen tensions like this since the COVID-19 epidemic," said Claudia Clementi, director of Regina Coeli prison in Rome, which has housed more than 1,100 prisoners since 2023 of its capacity of only 628 people and, like many other Italian prisons, does not have air conditioning.

Italy is not the only European Union country that has a prison problem. With a weak economy and a tight budget, the prison system often has difficulty getting funds even as more people are imprisoned.

Prisons in France, Greece, Romania and Cyprus all have more inmates than their official capacities, according to Eurostat data.