CoE Annual Penal Statistics: Incarceration Rate Grew in Georgia in 2014-2015
Georgia is among the countries with the highest incarceration rates, according to the latest Council of Europe (CoE) Annual Penal Statistics (SPACE), published on Tuesday.
The survey says that the number of people held in European prisons decreased by 6.8% from 2014 to 2015, although prison overcrowding remained a problem in 15 countries, including Georgia.
The list of countries with the highest incarceration rates is led by Russia (439.2 inmates per 100,000 inhabitants), followed by Lithuania (277.7), Georgia (274.6), Azerbaijan (249.3), Latvia (223.4), Turkey (220.4) and the Republic of Moldova (219.9).
The Netherlands (53) and some Nordic countries – Finland (54.8), Denmark (56.1) and Sweden (58.6)—that use alternatives to prison, have the lowest rates.
Significant reductions in the incarceration rate were recorded in Greece (-18.8%), Croatia (-10.2%), Denmark (-11.9%), Northern Ireland (-9.7%), the Netherlands (-9.5%), Lithuania (-8.8%), Romania (- 8.6%) and Slovenia (-8.2%). On the other hand, the incarceration rate grew most in Georgia (+20.5%), “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” (+12%), Turkey (+11.6%), the Czech Republic (+11.4%) and Albania (+10.3%).
“Despite the overall reduction in the prison population in 2015, there was no progress at the pan-European level to reduce overcrowding, and the number of inmates remained above available places in one third of the prison administrations. The situation improved in some countries and deteriorated in others. The number of inmates for every 100 available spaces in European prisons was 93.7 (93.6 in 2014), but the number of prison administrations suffering from overcrowding grew from 13 to 15,” the report reads.
The report says that in 2015, inmates serving final sentences represented 73% of the total prison population. Among those prisoners, almost one in five (18.7%) was convicted for drug-related offenses. In Italy, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Montenegro and the Russian Federation this proportion was higher: 25% or more of inmates. The second most common offense for which inmates were serving time was theft (16.2%), followed by homicide (13.2%) and robbery (12.6%).
The Council of Europe Annual Penal Statistics, better known as SPACE (Statistiques PénalesAnnuelles du Conseil de l’Europe), reads that after natural causes, suicide was the most common cause of mortality in prisons, representing 25% of all deaths. One in every four suicides was committed in pre-trial detention.
Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland welcomed the drop in the overall number of people in prisons of Europe.
“Increasing the use of alternative sentences does not necessarily lead to higher crime rates but can help to reintegrate offenders and tackle overcrowding,” he said.
SPACE includes two related projects. SPACE I provides data on imprisonment and penal institutions in Council of Europe Member States. Information on non-custodial sanctions and measures are collected under the project SPACE II.
Data are collected by means of two questionnaires sent every year to the Penitentiary administrations and to the Probation authorities or equivalent bodies of the Ministries of Justice.
By Thea Morrison