Armenia among countries with highest pre-trial detention rates in Europe

Prison population

On 31 January 2023, there were 1,036,680 inmates in the 48 prison administrations of Council of Europe member states that participated in the SPACE I survey.

On 31 January 2023, the prison administrations with the largest prison populations were Türkiye (348,265 inmates), England and Wales (UK) (81,806), France (72,294), Poland (71,228), Germany (56,294), Italy (56,127), Spain (State Administration) (48,180) and Ukraine (42,708). In the UK, taking into account the prison administrations of England and Wales (81,806), Scotland (7,408) and Northern Ireland (1,750), there were 90,964 inmates in total. In Spain, taking into account the State administration (48,180) and the Catalan prison administration (7,729), there were 55,909 inmates.

For Armenia, the total number of inmates was 2,357 persons.

Incarceration rates (number of inmates per 100,000 inhabitants)

From 31 January 2022 to 31 January 2023, the median incarceration rate grew by 2.4% in countries exceeding one million inhabitants.

The countries with the highest incarceration rates were Türkiye (408 inmates per 100,000 inhabitants), Georgia (256), Azerbaijan (244), the Republic of Moldova (242), Hungary (211), Poland (194), the Slovak Republic (183), Albania (179), Czechia (176), Lithuania (174) and Latvia (172). Other countries with high incarceration rates were Montenegro (168), Serbia (162), Estonia (151), North Macedonia (142).

Not taking into account countries with less than 500,000 inhabitants, the lowest incarceration rates were found in the prison administrations of Finland (52), the Netherlands (52), Norway (55), Germany (67), Slovenia (68), Denmark (71), Switzerland (73), Armenia (79), Sweden (80) and Ireland (85).

In countries with over 500,000 inhabitants, the prison administrations where the incarceration rate grew the most as compared to the previous report were the Republic of Moldova (+52.1%), North Macedonia (+25.5%), Cyprus (+24.8%), Türkiye (+15%), Azerbaijan (+12.5%), Ireland (+11.7%), Montenegro (+11.3%), Armenia (+10.6%), Croatia (+10.4%), Hungary (+8.7%), Northern Ireland (UK) (+8.3%), Georgia (+8.2%), Bulgaria (+8.1%), Austria (+6.8%), Italy (+5.7%), and Sweden (5.1%).

Of the prison administrations of countries with a population exceeding 500,000 inhabitants, only those of Lithuania (-8.9%), Estonia (-8.8%) and Greece (-5.2%) reported a noteworthy decrease in their incarceration rates.

In other 23 prison administrations, the prison population rates remained stable (with small increases or decreases): Finland (+4.7%), Serbia (+4.2%), Portugal (+3.5%), UK (England and Wales) (+3%), Slovenia (+2.1%), Poland (+1.8%), Switzerland (+1.7%), Albania (+1.6%), Belgium (+1.4%), Denmark (+1.1%), Czechia (+0.8%), Romania (0.0%), Latvia (-0.4%), Germany (-0.5%), France (-0.5%), Spain (State administration) (-0.8%), Ukraine (-0.9%), Spain (-1.3%), Norway (-1.3%), Slovakia (-1.8%), Scotland (UK) (-1.9%), Netherlands (-2.6%) and Spain (Catalonia) (-4.1%).

Prison density – overcrowding

Overall, in Europe, median prison density decreased by 2% from January 2022 to January 2023 from 91.6 to 93.5 inmates per 100 places available in the 37 prison administrations that participated in both years’ surveys.

Seven prison administrations reported a prison density of more than 105 inmates per 100 places, an indicator of severe overcrowding: Cyprus (166 inmates per 100 places), Romania (120 inmates per 100 places), France (119), Belgium (115), Hungary (112), Italy (109) and Slovenia (107).

Other prison administrations with very high prison density were Greece (103 inmates per 100 places available), Sweden (102), North Macedonia (101), Croatia (101), Türkiye (100), Ireland (99), Portugal (98), Finland (97), Denmark (97), England and Wales (UK) (97) and Azerbaijan (96).

In prison administrations of countries exceeding 500,000 inhabitants, prison density was the lowest in Ukraine (48 inmates per 100 available places), Armenia (53), Spain (State Administration (60), Estonia (68), Bulgaria (69), Lithuania (69). Other prison administrations had the prison density was the following: Luxembourg (71), Germany (78), Montenegro (78), Spain (Catalonia) (78), Norway (80), Georgia (82), Poland (83), Northern Ireland (UK) (85), Slovakia (85), Albania (87).

Age

As of 31 January 2023, the average age of inmates in European penal institutions was 38 years (in the 40 prison administrations that have provided this information). The lowest average ages were observed in Bulgaria (33), Sweden (34), Denmark (35) and France (35), while the highest, 40 years and older, were found in Serbia (50), Georgia (44), Italy (43), Portugal and Spain (41) and Estonia, Albania, Czechia and Norway (40).

Of all inmates, approximately 15% were aged 50 to 64. Italy was the country with the highest proportion of inmates (24%), followed by Slovakia (24%), North Macedonia (21%), Portugal (21%) and Spain (19%).

Of all inmates, approximately 3% were 65 years or over. Croatia was the country with the highest proportion of inmates over 65 (10.3%), followed by Lithuania (5%), Italy (5%), Slovenia (4.8%), Latvia (4.7%) and Albania (4.7%)

No information on average age of inmates in Armenia is available in the report.

Women inmates

As of 31 January 2023, 5 out of 100 inmates in Europe was a woman. The prison administrations of countries with more than 500,000 inhabitants where the proportion was the highest were Cyprus (9.2%), Czechia (8.5%), Latvia (7,7%), Finland (7.7%), Hungary (7.4%), and Spain (State administration) (7.2%), Slovak Republic (7.2%) and Portugal (7,2%).

The prison administrations where the percentage of women inmates was the lowest were Albania (1.3%), Croatia (1,9%), Armenia (2.6%, 61 female prisoners), Azerbaijan (2.9%), France (3,2%) and Georgia (3,4%).

Foreigners

Overall, in Europe – on 31 January 2023 – 27% of the prison population were foreigners (the European average). Prison administrations with the highest proportions of foreign inmates in countries with over 500,000 inhabitants were Luxembourg (78%), Switzerland (71%), Greece (57%), Cyprus (55%), Austria (51%), Belgium (42%), Germany (40%), Slovenia (34%), Estonia (33%), Italy (32%), Spain (30%) and Denmark (29%).

Prison administrations with the lowest percentage of foreign inmates were Romania (1,1%), Republic of Moldova (1.5%), Azerbaijan (1,9%), Ukraine (2,1%), Latvia (2,4%), Poland (2.6%) and Albania (2.8%).

There were 177 foreigners (male and female) among inmates in Armenia (6,2% of all the prison population).

Pre-trial detainees

On 31 January 2023, on average, almost one third of inmates in European prisons was in pre-trial detention. In countries with over 500,000 inhabitants, the prison administrations with the highest proportions of pre-trial detainees were Albania (55%), Armenia (53%), Luxembourg (49%), Switzerland (46%), the Netherlands (45%), Montenegro (42%) and Northern Ireland (41%).

The prison administrations with the lowest percentages of pre-trial detainees were Czechia (7.5%), Poland (11.4%), Lithuania (11.2%), Romania (12.1%), North Macedonia (12.3%), Slovak Republic (14.6%), Spain (State Administration) (15.9%) and Estonia (16.8%).

Length of imprisonment

In 2022, the median average length of imprisonment in European prison administrations was 10.1 months. Prison administrations from countries with more than 500,000 inhabitants with the highest average length of imprisonment were Portugal (30.2 months), Azerbaijan (27.2), Ukraine (26.1), Republic of Moldova (25.3), Romania (24), Czechia (22), Lithuania (20.5), Spain (State Administration) (19.7), Estonia (19.2), Greece (18.4) and Armenia (18).

The prison administrations from countries with over 500,000 inhabitants which had the lowest average length of imprisonment were Switzerland (2.1), Luxembourg (3.7), North Macedonia (3), Netherlands (4.2), Germany (4.4), Northern Ireland (UK) (4.9).

Suicides

The median suicide rate in European prisons in 2022 was 5.3 suicides per 10,000 inmates. The prison administrations in countries with over 500,000 inhabitants with the highest suicide rates were Latvia (21.7), Switzerland (20.2), France (19.1), Scotland (UK) (18.9), Spain (Catalonia) (16.8), Italy (15), Belgium (14.3), Luxembourg (14.2) and Slovenia (13.9).

In Armenia in prison administrations the suicide rate was (12.7 per 10,000 inmates)

Offences

On 31 January 2023, drug-related offences continued to be the most common main conviction among prisoners; these offenders constituted 18.5% of the prison population, followed by homicide or attempted homicide (12.8%), theft (11.5%), robbery (7.7%), assault and battery (6.7%), sexual offences excluding rape (4.6%), rape (4.3%), economic or financial crimes (3%) road traffic offences (3%) in the 45 prison administrations that provided this data.

In nine countries over 500,000 inhabitants, more one quarter or more of all inmates had been convicted for drug-related offences: Latvia (42%), Azerbaijan (42%), Türkiye (34%), Italy (31%), Belgium (29%), Serbia (29%), Denmark (27%), Sweden (25%) and Malta (25%).

There is no information in the report about the breakdown of inmates by offences in Armenia.

https://www.panorama.am/en/news/2024/06/06/Armenia-CoE-report/3012862