• The overcrowding rate in Italian prisons stands at 133 per cent, with peaks of 220 per cent.
• Overcrowding also affects juvenile detention facilities, a consequence of measures such as the decreto Caivano.
• With 246 deaths, including 91 suicides, 2024 was the deadliest year on record in Italian prisons.

The new report by Antigone on Italian prisons, with the eloquent title "Senza respiro" ("Without Breath"), is as dramatic as — and more so than — those of previous years. Among the most critical issues is once again record overcrowding, with some prisons such as Milan's San Vittore holding more than double the available places. The problem now extends to juvenile detention facilities, where the population has doubled in just a few years. This is one of the effects of the government's punitive drift, which since taking office has introduced numerous new categories of criminal offences, swelling the flow of people entering prisons regardless of age.

Other problems in Italian prisons highlighted in the report include staff shortages and the erosion of rights. The result is a prison system in profound crisis, dominated by frustration and apathy, where people fall ill both physically and mentally. It is no coincidence that 2024 was the worst year on record for suicides since data collection began, with as many as 91 deaths.

Tg3 @Tg3web

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An overcrowding rate of 133 per cent, with thirty facilities where people are living in spaces smaller than three square metres. This is one of the findings from "Senza respiro", the report by Antigone on the situation in Italian prisons

♥ 14💬 4 29 mag 2025 · Apri su X →

Prison overcrowding

As of 30 April 2025, 62,445 people were being held in Italian prisons. This is an alarming figure, given that the capacity of the prison system is around 51,000 places, from which approximately 4,000 places must be subtracted as they are unusable due to renovation works. This leaves around 47,000 available places, meaning the current overcrowding rate stands at 133 per cent.

The worst-affected facility from this perspective is Milano San Vittore, with an overcrowding rate of 220 per cent. This means the number of inmates is more than double the available places, with people making do with makeshift cots and other improvised spaces, drastically reducing the already limited space available to detainees, as well as their ability to access basic services. The other prisons where the population exceeds double the available capacity are Foggia (212 per cent), Lucca (205 per cent) and Brescia (201 per cent).

Repressive drift

One of the most critical elements to emerge from Antigone's new report concerns juvenile detention facilities (Ipm). At the end of 2022, when the Meloni government took office, the number of residents stood at 381. It has now reached 611, almost double. And this is no coincidence.

A decisive factor in this regard has been the so-called "Decreto Caivano", which increased penalties for offences committed by minors and significantly expanded the use of pre-trial detention. This is just one of the many repressive measures introduced by the current government, which over the course of its mandate has created numerous new categories of criminal offence that have swelled the flow of people into prisons, even for minor offences, worsening the overcrowding situation. The latest security decree, currently under discussion in parliament, continues in this direction, providing among other things for a prison riot offence, which aims to suppress any voice of dissent among inmates and to further aggravate their sentences.

Dying in prison

2024 was the worst year on record for deaths in prisons, at least since data collection began. 246 people lost their lives during their detention, and in 91 cases the cause was suicide — also a negative record.

Il cavallo e la torre @CavalloTorre

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The XXI Antigone report on prisons has been released: overcrowding, structural and psychological deficiencies. What impact will the security decree approved by the Chamber have on Italian prisons?

Watch #ilcavalloelatorre on RaiPlay: raiplay.it/video/2025/05/…

♥ 19 29 mag 2025 · Apri su X →

There are many reasons behind these figures. Prison is a pathogenic environment, inhabited by people who come mostly from marginalised backgrounds and are therefore highly vulnerable to illness, both physical and mental. Overcrowding, scarce activities (on average there is one educator for every 64 inmates) and difficulties in accessing healthcare only make matters worse. In the survey conducted in 2024–2025 by Antigone, 27 incidents of self-harm per 100 inmates were recorded, an increase compared to the 21 recorded in the previous year's survey. And the figures are higher where overcrowding is greatest.

Antigone's solutions

Antigone points out that 51.2 per cent of inmates with a definitive sentence have fewer than three years left to serve. More than 1,370 people are in prison for sentences of less than one year. All of these individuals, at least in theory, could be eligible for alternative measures to imprisonment, which would help reduce pressure on facilities by bringing down overcrowding. Yet the only solution put forward by the Meloni government is to build new prisons — long-term measures that do nothing to resolve the current emergency and merely serve to justify and perpetuate the logic of repression into the future.

Faced with this emergency, Antigone has put forward three proposals that can be implemented immediately. An act of clemency for inmates with a remaining sentence of less than two years. Collective alternative measure provisions decided by Disciplinary Councils convened in extraordinary session to consider pardons and other measures for inmates with less than one year remaining on their sentence. A ban on new incarcerations, except in exceptional cases, where no standard place is available.