Overcrowding in Italian Jails. A Quantitative Analysis of Foreigners

(Supraaglomerarea în închisorile italiene. O analiză cantitativă asupra străinilor)

 

Stefania GIRONE

Francesca De PALMA

 

 

     Abstract: Victims of prison-overcrowding in Italy are part of a structural and systemic problem which is still struggling to find plausible solutions. When natives and foreigners are separately considered, the overcrowding phenomenon assumes a perspective that goes beyond the mere Italian attribute and, therefore, better focalises on the ones who, having the status of foreigner,  are somehow in a weaker position in comparison with the native ones. As a matter of fact, the combination  foreign prisoner-overcrowding has allowed to address the prison issue in accordance with a more specific approach that compares the Italian native component and the foreign one. This highlights that the overcrowding phenomenon in Italy is not an aspect suffered mainly by foreign prisoners, but it is equally endured by most of the native ones. Additionally, this analysis takes into account, on the one hand, the most outstanding foreign nationalities housed in Italian prisons and, on the other hand, the Regions having the highest rates of overcrowding, foreign inmates, and prison capacities. The outcomes reveal that Moroccans, Romanians, Tunisians and Albanians are the ones at increased risk of prison overcrowding since, in fact, they represent 60.0% of the total foreign presence in the Italian jails. However, there is a sort of “equal overcrowding distress” that comes out of this context: actually, the four major foreign presences are housed at the same percentage by the six selected Regions (the most overcrowded by foreigners), circumstance that generates a kind of homogeneity of the unlivable conditions in prisons.

 

     Keywords: Italianprisons, inmates, overcrowding, migration.

 

 

            Europe calls on Italy to address prison overcrowding

           

     Prison population in Italy has had a sharp increase in recent years, phenomenon that can generally be attributed to the crisis of the welfare state and the corresponding – fair or unfair – criminal responses made in relation to security issues. Undoubtedly, in this circumstances, the weakest human categories are the ones that pay the utmost costs since they have to face greater difficulties in accessing rights and guarantees offered by the social system. Foreigners are fully-fledged placed in the above categories as, in fact, they are included by the UN in the category of people with special needs[1].

     Regardless the complications of making international comparisons (due to different legal systems and different statistical methods), there are some common traits found among the conditions of detainees in general and foreigners in particular. Specifically referring to foreigners, there are lots of problems related to the lack and/or the restraint of communication (mainly due to language obstacles), knowledge of legal rights, adequate legal assistance, Embassy or Consular support, health care and psychiatric care, employment and training opportunities (both inside and outside jails), know-how of management of foreigners by prison staff, family contacts and/or friendships outside the jail system, access to alternative measures to imprisonment, and so on.

     Nonetheless, scholars and politicians keep calling into question those causes and implications link to the sharp increase of foreigners in European prisons. Recent data[2] show that the foreign population in the EU prisons reached almost 120 thousand units, that is, about 20.0% of the total prisoners (over 631 thousand units made up of natives and foreigners). Taking into account the single member States, foreign inmates have – in percentage terms – a significant impact in Luxembourg (representing around 70.0% of total prisoners), Cyprus and Greece (close to 60.0%). However, the greatest incidences – in absolute terms – are found in Italy and Spain (more than 23,000 foreign prisoners in each country), Germany (around 17,500) and France (about 12,000) .

     The theme chosen by the Authors comes from their strong scientific interest in Migration, phenomenon that is inevitably leading to significant changes in the Italian demographic and socio-economic scene. Besides that, their attention on the combination foreigners-inmates has proved to be particularly significant, especially after the recent sentence imposed on Italy by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, on the issue concerning the overcrowding in Italian prisons.

     Indeed, the Strasbourg Court has called on Italy to address overpopulation in prisons as the overcrowding rate (O_v = P_p / P_c *100)^[3] reached 142.5% in November 2012^[4] and, though slightly declined, kept the alarming level of 139.9% in March 2013, that is, far exceeding the European one (99.6%). In other words, the above percentages tell that the whole 206 prisons located Italy were housing 140 inmates for every 100 places of standard capacity.

     Ultimately, the Strasbourg Court took the decision to reject the final appeal advanced by Italy and, consequently, adopted the former request of the European Court of Human Rights^[5] which obliges the Italian country to rapidly resolve prison overcrowding (within a year from May 27^th 2013) and provide for compensation the prisoners who are victims of that situation.

 

The prison population contained by the Italian country

           

     As already said above, Italy has some of the worst prison overcrowding in Europe, with a current total prison population of 65,831 units, which is 18,786 people above capacity (DAP^[6], 2013, Tab. 1).

 

Regions	Number Prisons	Standard Capacity	Prisoners*			Ov	Foreigners (%)
			Total	Females	Foreigners
Abruzzo	8	1,512	1,860	79	304	123.0	16.3
Apulia	11	2,459	4,078	221	741	165.8	18.2
Basilicata	3	441	441	16	60	100.0	13.6
Calabria	12	2,151	2,879	72	395	133.8	13.7
Campania	17	5,794	8,296	360	981	143.2	11.8
Emilia Romagna	13	2,465	3,631	131	1,871	147.3	51.5
Friuli Venezia Giulia	5	548	838	28	462	152.9	55.1
Lazio	14	4,834	7,231	482	2,974	149.6	41.1
Liguria	7	1,088	1,881	72	1,098	172.9	58.4
Lombardy	19	6,051	9,289	572	4,095	153.5	44.1
Marche	7	777	1,200	35	558	154.4	46.5
Molise	3	391	520	0	63	133.0	12.1
Piedmont	13	3,679	4,979	168	2,497	135.3	50.2
Sardinia	12	2,257	2,010	34	785	89.1	39.1
Sicily	27	5,559	7,081	179	1,279	127.4	18.1
Tuscany	18	3,261	4,124	160	2,225	126.5	54.0
Trentino Alto Adige	2	280	395	22	281	141.1	71.1
Umbria	4	1,332	1,628	72	681	122.2	41.8
Valle d’Aosta	1	181	271	0	199	149.7	73.4
Veneto	10	1,985	3,199	144	1,887	161.2	59.0
Total	206	47,045	65,831	2,847	23,436	139.9	35.6

Table 1: Inmates, regulatory capacity and overcrowding in Italian prisons by Region of detention.  March 31^st 201.  Source: authors’ processing based on DAP data.

*The inmates in day-release are totaled in the number of prisoners.

 

     Among the prisoners housed in the Italian jails, there are great quotas of males (women do not exceed 4.3%) and foreigners^[7] (35.6% of the total inmates are foreigners, unlike the 20.0% share held by the European Union).

     According to DAP statistical information (updated  to March 31^st  2013, Fig. 1), the prison population is concentrated in the regional territories of Lombardy (9,289), Campania (8,296), Lazio (7,231) and Sicily (7,081), thus collecting nearby 50.0% of the total inmates in the country. The Regions detaining the smallest numbers of prisoners are Valle d’Aosta and Trentino Alto Adige (181 and 280 units, respectively).

Figure 1: Territorial distribution of total population detained in the Italian prisons.                March 31^st 2013. Source: authors’ processing based on DAP data.

 

     However, as prison population is split into natives and foreigners, it’s interesting to observe that the former ones are mostly gathered in the South of the country while the latter ones, in the North. More specifically, the Regions housing large amounts of Italian inmates are Campania, Sicily, Lombardy, Lazio, Apulia and Calabria. Among the regional areas with great numbers of foreigners stand out, instead, Tuscany, Veneto, Emilia Romagna and Piedmont. Yet, in both Lombardy and Lazio, the quota of native prisoners is quite significant as the foreign one (Fig. 2).

     Several regional areas show strong foreign traits: as a matter of fact, only seven Regions (Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Apulia and Sicily) have a percentage of foreign inmates below the national average (that is, 35.6%).

     Even though the quota of foreign prisoners is quite high in Valle d’Aosta and Trentino Alto Adige (areas where ¾ of the total prisoners are foreigners), the foreign overrepresentation may certainly have greater impact in Regions with bigger capacity. Veneto,  Liguria, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Tuscany, Emilia Romagna and Piedmont are regional areas where, indeed, foreigner inmates exceed 50.0% of the respective total detained population (Tab. 1, Fig. 2).

 

    Figure 2:Territorial distribution of the (native and foreign) population detained

in the Italian prisons. March 31^st 2013. Source: authors’ processing based on DAP data.

 

     As table 1 shows, prison overcrowding is an unlivable condition that, except for Basilicata and Sardinia, spares no Italian Region. Besides, only nine Regions are placed below the national overcrowding threshold (O_v = 139.9%), which means that 61.2% (that is, 40,309 units) of the total inmates is deeply affected by overcrowding (Fig. 3).

     The territorial analysis points out that only two Regions (Apulia and Campania) cause strong unlivable-suffering for native prisoners while, instead, six Regions (Liguria, Veneto, Emilia Romagna, Valle d’Aosta, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Trentino Alto Adige) do the same for foreign detainees (Tab. 2).

     However, by observing the different overcrowding rates of the above Regions, it looks like that the living-discomfort tolerated by foreigners may be less threatening than the one suffered by the Italians in Campania and Apulia. Yet, in Lombardy and Lazio, overcrowding is (more or less) equally underwent by both natives and foreigners.

Figure 3: Prison Overcrowding inItalian  Regions according to the National

Average (139,9%). March 31^st 2013. Source: authors’ processing based on DAP data.

 

Table 2:Inmates in Italian prisons by Regions with great O_v (above national average = 139,9%). March 31^st 2013. Source: authors’ processing based on DAP data.

 

Foreigners housed in the Italian prisons

    

     This analytical focus on foreign detainees perfectly fits the progressive increase of immigrants in Italy, phenomenon that – following the widespread trend of the Western world[8] – is inevitably leading to significant changes in both demographic and socio-economic scenes[9]. 

     According to table 3, among the foreigners caged in the Italian prisons, there is a clear prevalence of Africans (49.0% of the total foreign prisoners), most of all coming from the Maghreb area (35.8%). They are followed by Europeans – members of EU (20.7%) and non (19.9%) – and then Americans and Asians who are certainly less (respectively 5.7% and 4.9%).

     Moreover, in the above context does not go unnoticed the high percentage of Nigerian females imprisoned, trait that is almost negligible in the other African countries.

     The most outstanding nationalities[10] among the foreign inmates are the Moroccan (19.0%), the Romanian (15.8%), the Tunisian (12.5%) and the Albanian (12.3%) ones, which all together sum 60.0% of the total, that is, nearby 14,000 of the whole foreigners housed in Italian prisons (23,436 units).

 

Table 3 – Foreign prisoners by geographical area of origin. March 31^st 2013.

Source: authors’ processing based on DAP data.

 

     As shown in figure 4, the four most representative foreign nationalities are differently distributed in the Italian territory:

 

Figure 4:Territorial distribution of the most outstanding foreign nationalities

(Moroccan, Romanian, Tunisian and Albanian) in Italian prisons.

March 31^st 2013. Source: authors’ processing based on DAP data.

 

a) Moroccan prisoners are mainly concentrated in the area of Lombardy, Tuscany and Piedmont;

b) Romanian detainees are most of all located in Lazio. Yet, their lesser extend presence in Lombardy and Piedmont cannot be completely ignored;

c) Tunisian inmates are the most spread on whole Italian land. As a matter of fact, they are housed in Tuscany, Emilia Romagna, Lombardy and Veneto;

d) the Albanian ones are essentially hold in Lombardy and Tuscany.

     The Italian Regions gathering significant presence of all four nationalities (that means more than 1,000 units) are Lombardy (2,358), Tuscany (1,540), Lazio (1,476), Piedmont (1,439), Veneto (1,262) and  Emilia Romagna (1,254).

     At this point, in order to deepen the study on the four major foreign nationalities, it has been taken into account only those Regions featuring the following traits in their own penitentiary structure:

     1) a very high overcrowding rate, that is, above the national average (139.9%);

     2) a relevant share of foreign inmates, higher than the national one (35,6%);

     3) a considerable prison capacity (above 1,000 standard places)[11].

     By doing so, as tables 4a and 4b show, it has been identified the six Regions (Lombardy, Lazio, Emilia Romagna, Veneto, Liguria and Marche) where the most outstanding foreign prisoners (Moroccans, Romanians, Tunisians and Albanians) may “extremely” suffer of unlivable-overcrowding. Specifically, the outcomes reveal that each Region of the ones mentioned above:

a) holds a considerable amount of foreign inmates of all four nationalities, aggregates that range from nearby 50.0% in Lazio to 67.0% in Emilia Romagna (Tab. 4a);

b) causes “equal overcrowding distress” to each foreign group. Basically, since the four major foreign presences are hold by the six Regions at quite the same percentage (ranging from 52.3% for Moroccans to 54.6 for Romanians), it is certainly fair to say that there is a kind of “prison unlivable homogeneity” among the four nationalities. Likewise, a fifty-fifty discomfort can be found even among each single nationality (Tab. 4b).  

 

Table 4a:Distribution of Moroccans, Romanians, Tunisians and Albanians by Region

with great capacity, O_v  and foreign presence. March 31^st 2013.

Source: authors’ processing based on DAP data.

A^*  Standard Capacity; B^**  Overcrowding rate; C^*** Total Foreign inmates/Total inmates (x100).

 

     In addition, table 4a shows that the overcrowding-suffering is territorially diversified:

1) most of Moroccans are so much affected by the above phenomenon in Lombardy, Emilia Romagna, Veneto and Liguria;

     2) huge quotas of Romanians experience unlivable conditions in Lazio;

3) large amounts of Tunisians endure living-discomforts in Emilia Romagna and Veneto, and they do so quite as much as Moroccans do in the same Regions;

     4) lots of Albanians undergo same inadequacies in Marche.   

 

Region	Morocco	Romania	Tunisia	Albania
Lombardy	21.2	15.8	11.1	17.4
Lazio	5.1	21.4	6.4	9.4
Emilia Romagna	9.8	5.4	13.5	7.8
Veneto	8.5	7.1	12.0	9.3
Liguria	6.1	3.4	5.8	4.7
Marche	1.8	1.6	3.5	4.5
subtotal	52.5	54.6	52.3	53.1
the rest of Regions	47.5	45.4	47.7	46.9
Italy	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0

Table 4b:Distribution of Moroccans, Romanians, Tunisians and Albanians by   Region

with great capacity, O_v  and foreign presence. March 31^st 2013

Source: authors’ processing based on DAP data.

 

Conclusions

 

     The analysis performed on the combination  foreign prisoner-overcrowding has allowed to address the prison issue in accordance with a more specific approach that compares the Italian native component and the foreign one. This has enabled to highlight that the overcrowding phenomenon is not an aspect suffered mainly by foreign prisoners, but it is equally underwent by most of the natives ones.

     The outcomes show that Moroccans, Romanians, Tunisians and Albanians are the foreigners at increased risk of prison overcrowding since they collect the 60% of the total foreign presence in Italian prisons.

     Furthermore, this analysis revealed that there is a sort of “equal overcrowding distress” among the foreign inmates. Basically, the four major foreign presences are hold by the six Regions at the same percentage, circumstance that likely generates a kind of homogeneity of prison unlivable conditions.

     Although overcrowding is not exclusively suffered by foreign prisoners, the fact is that foreigners – as already mentioned in the introduction – undoubtedly form part of weak categories. Actually, the paradoxical effects that the Italian Criminal Justice has on immigration issues reverberate on the prison system: in fact, the number of foreign prisoners tends to increase for minor offenses (such as detention for the ones whose residence permit is expired). Likewise, there is a significant relapse on the individual rights of those foreigners who have to face greater difficulties in accessing rights and guarantees offered by the Italian social system[12].

     Additionally, foreigners have to – more than Italians do – undergo pre-trial detention because they usually lack of fixed residences and/or an adequate accommodations, circumstance that often makes the optional “arrest-at-home” impossible to get[13]. Actually, when foreigners are convicted, they have greater chances to be punished with imprisonment rather than with alternative penalties. Even the precarious economic conditions give foreigners few opportunities to replace a short period of imprisonment with a mere fine. Besides, foreigners can hardly rely on high-quality legal advocacy services, and usually have communication problems due to lack of knowledge of the Italian language[14].

     In short, overcrowding in Italian prisons is still hardly finding plausible solutions. The conclusion of the Strasbourg judges, in our opinion, is irrefutable: as any other developed country, Italy has to face the prison overcrowding and find adequate solutions right away.

 

    

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