In 2024, in Italy, at least 78 prisoners committed suicide (including one in a repatriation detention center), exceeding the 70 cases of 2023 and approaching the 85 of 2022. In Emilia-Romagna, seven suicides were recorded, a figure close to the nine of 2005.
Over the past 22 years, eighty people have committed suicide in prisons in the region. According to Gianpaolo Catanzariti, head of the Prison Observatory of the Union of Criminal Chambers, these figures could underestimate the phenomenon: “There are no official data on suicides, and we believe that the estimate of 78 is lower than the real figure.
Deaths from other causes are 114”. These numbers represent “the warning sign of a system failure”, aggravated by problems such as overcrowding and the recidivism rate. “The emergency is not the suicide, but the prison itself", highlights Catanzariti, who believes that "the failure of the prison system involves both politics and the judiciary".
Faced with this emergency, "no one can opt out" and "the government has not seriously addressed the issue". Catanzariti proposes a comprehensive reform of the system of execution of sentences, amnesty and above all pardon as possible solutions.
In Bologna, during a conference promoted by the Prison Observatory of the Criminal Chamber, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, president of the CEI and archbishop of Bologna, also expressed the hope of finding "a decision-making capacity resulting from a broader political convergence", in view of the Jubilee 2025 and recalling the pardon of 2006.
PD MP Debora Serracchiani also intervened, criticizing the government policies of "emotional pan-penalism", citing the case of Caivano and the security bill. Deputy Minister of Justice Francesco Paolo Sisto, connected remotely, underlined the need for alternative punishments to avoid prison being the only form of sanction.
Article published on 29 October 2024 - 20:18
