A prison system on the brink, overwhelmed by the numbers and incapable of guaranteeing fundamental rights. This is the picture emerging from the end-of-year assessment drawn up by the Campania region's Guarantor for Persons Deprived of Personal Liberty, Samuele Ciambriello, who openly speaks of an emergency.
"In Italy, 63.868 people are incarcerated, compared to 45 actual places available. In Campania, 7.844 people are incarcerated, compared to 5.500 actual places available," Ciambriello emphasizes, pointing to overcrowding that continues to grow "despite political announcements." This figure, he explains, equates to approximately 18 more people than the actual capacity of the institutions.
The Guarantor details an increasingly fragile and complex prison population. "In Italy, there are 2.772 women prisoners and 20.211 foreigners. In Campania, there are 401 women and 957 foreigners," he highlights, also noting the burden of pre-trial detention. "In Campania, 1.318 prisoners are awaiting initial trial, while 5.759 have final sentences."
The health situation is one of the most critical issues. "We need concrete answers, not announcements, not criminal, political, and media populism. There is a shortage of officers, social and educational staff, and the right to health is in a worrying state," says Ciambriello, who reaches a clear conclusion: "The Constitution has remained locked away in the cells."
The right to healthcare, the Guarantor denounces, is often sacrificed due to a lack of resources and personnel. "On average, in the Poggioreale and Secondigliano prisons, between 50 and 65 times a week, there is a lack of escorts to transfer inmates to healthcare facilities where specialist appointments and hospitalizations are scheduled," he explains, describing a system that fails to even guarantee access to already-scheduled services.
Looking ahead to 2026, Ciambriello makes a clear appeal. "I hope that important healthcare facilities within Campania's prisons will not be closed, and that services such as minor surgery, orthopedics, and analysis will be implemented to provide immediate care without long waiting lists."
Adding to the dramatic toll are the suicides. "Since the beginning of the year, 79 inmates have taken their own lives in Italy, including six in Campania and one in the San Nicola Baronia Rems prison," the Guarantor recalls, adding that "three prison officers, an educator, and an accountant have also committed suicide."
Prisons, Ciambriello concludes, remain "factories of recidivism, a social dumping ground," while the hopes kindled by the appeals of the Pope and the President of the Republic "have been crushed by a prison-centric vision of the penitentiary system."
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