Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Canton Geneva will get 500 new prison places, chiefly by building extensions near the existing prison facility, the two cantonal government ministers in charge of institutions and construction and information technology announced 15 September. The canton is set to increase the number of prison places from 440 today to 940 by 2017. In part this reflects the increase in the general population since the 1970s.

Geneva’s main prison at Champs-Dollon, near Thonex, opened in 1978 and was built to house 270 inmates. It currently holds more than 500 prisoners. The cantonal master plan would combine the present prison at Champs-Dollon with three other facilities to be built or extended. The government also has plans to build a holding facility at Geneva’s airport  for people who arrive in the country illegally and for those being deported.

Geneva’s incarceration rate is 200 per 100,000 population, almost three times the rate for Switzerland.

Related: TdG, TSR

Posted by :: Sean Ecker on 16 September 2009 at 16:02 | permalink
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News story, GenevaLunch, 16 September 2009.

Filed under: Society

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