Prisons out of control: three deaths in a few hours

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Prisons Out of Control: Three Deaths in a Few Hours 2026 08 31

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A 23-year-old Egyptian prisoner committed suicide today in Biella prison. The young man, who had previously engaged in self-harm, allegedly used the gauze he had been treated with to construct the noose he used to hang himself.

At the same time, a 25-year-old Tunisian inmate died in Ferrara prison. According to initial reports, his death was caused by the improper use of gas from cooking canisters. The young man also had a history of self-harm, although he was not classified as a suicide risk.

In Rome, at the Rebibbia women's prison, an inmate was found dead in her bed, with traces of blood on her pillow. Examinations will determine the cause of death. If suicide is confirmed in this case as well, the CNPP-SPP's count would rise to 50 inmate suicides since the beginning of the year.

h3The union's complaint

"We can no longer talk about individual emergencies or isolated incidents. What is happening is a faithful reflection of the failure of the Italian penitentiary system. The state has lost control of prisons," says Aldo Di Giacomo, secretary of the CNPP-SPP.

"Suicides, inmates dying at a young age behind bars, riots, prison escapes, gang clashes, drugs and cell phones entering prisons, orders issued from outside, and daily attacks on prison officers. Virtually every indicator tells us that the system is no longer capable of fully guaranteeing either safety or legality," he adds.

h3Agents on the front line

According to data held by the union, since the beginning of the year, approximately 3.800 prison officers have required hospital treatment following assaults and critical incidents.

"Behind that number are men and women in uniform who enter prison every day without knowing the conditions they'll end their shift in," Di Giacomo emphasizes. "Police officers are now asked to simultaneously act as custodians, mediators, psychologists, nurses, and first responders, often understaffed and in overcrowded institutions. And when the system collapses, they're almost always the ones on the front lines."

h3The risk outside

The loss of control of prisons, according to Di Giacomo, has consequences beyond the institutions as well. "To think that what happens inside a prison remains confined behind a wall is a grave mistake. When the state retreats, that space is occupied by criminal organizations. If a member of a mafia organization manages to maintain contacts, issue orders, smuggle drugs, or maintain influence outside the prison, even from his cell, he demonstrates to his members that not even prison has been able to break his power. This is how mafias strengthen their prestige, consensus, and ability to control."

"And all of this also harms the vast majority of the prison population, who want to serve their sentences without being involved in violence, trafficking, and riots, and who have the right to a prison where they can undertake a genuine rehabilitation program," he adds.

h3The request

"Biella, Ferrara, and what we're learning from Rebibbia are three alarm bells ringing in the same hour," Di Giacomo concludes. "If Rebibbia were to be confirmed as a suicide, we would reach 50 since the beginning of the year. Added to this are thousands of injured police officers, riots, escapes, and institutions where the state struggles every day to assert its authority. We can't keep counting the dead and wounded while waiting for the next episode. The time has come for the state to act as a state again in Italian prisons."

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