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the swiss times

Switzerland’s Prison Suicide Rate High

Switzerland’s Prison Suicide Rate High

Thu, Jun 6th 2024

Switzerland had a below-average inmate population but faces a high suicide rate in prisons, ranking just below Latvia.

KEYSTONE/Jean-Christophe Bott

Switzerland’s prison suicide rate was alarmingly high in 2022, despite having a below-average number of inmates compared to other European countries. According to a Council of Europe report published on Thursday, an average of 20.2 out of every 10,000 inmates in Swiss prisons took their own lives.

This rate is significantly higher than the European average of 5.3 per 10,000 inmates. Only Latvia reported a higher suicide rate among prison inmates, with 21.7 per 10,000.

The Council of Europe’s report, compiled annually by the University of Lausanne, processes data from 45 European countries’ prison authorities. Bosnia-Herzegovina did not provide figures for the report. At the end of January 2023, there were 1,036,680 people incarcerated in Europe, equating to 124 inmates per 100,000 inhabitants.

Turkey had the highest rate, with 408 inmates per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Georgia (256) and Azerbaijan (244). Switzerland had 73 inmates per 100,000 inhabitants, well below the European average.

A notable aspect of the Swiss prison population is the high proportion of foreign inmates. The report indicates that 71% of inmates in Switzerland held foreign nationalities, the second highest proportion among countries with over 500,000 inhabitants. Luxembourg had the highest percentage, with 78% of its prison population being foreigners.

©Keystone/SDA

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