Crisis in British prisons
According to the Times, the latest reports indicate that the conditions in prisons in England continue to deteriorate, which has caused other countries to refuse to extradite criminals to this country.
In one of these reports, employees of the British Prison Service announced that fire alarms, CCTV cameras, security cameras and even security at the entrances to prisons have been destroyed and do not work.
The aforementioned report, prepared by the British Prison Officers Association, states that British prisons and even control rooms have been invaded by rodents.
According to the Independent, prisons across England are in a deep crisis; Rising rates of violence, self-harm and drug abuse in overcrowded prisons have pushed the country’s prisons to the brink of collapse for the third year in a row.
The latest figures from the UK’s Ministry of Justice reveal the extent of the crisis in the country’s prisons, as the Justice Secretary announced emergency measures to ease the pressure on the prisons.
Human rights campaigners warn that exposing prisoners to violence and psychological distress is damaging to efforts to rehabilitate them.
As a result of repeated reports of the dire state of prisons in the UK, courts in other countries are refusing to extradite criminals and defendants to the country.
Rights groups and organisations have called the situation an embarrassment for the UK.
For example, in the summer of 2023, a German court refused to extradite a drug trafficking suspect to the UK due to concerns about the critical state of prisons in the UK. The German court ruled that extradition was not possible given the current state of the UK prison system.
This decision came after the UK’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court issued an international arrest warrant for the suspect, demanding his return to the UK.
There are several similar decisions by European courts that indicate their reluctance to extradite criminals and defendants to the UK due to the poor conditions of the country’s prisons.