A recent prisoner suicide at Regina Coeli, the main correctional facility in Rome, is not as unusual as it should be: this is the second inmate to take his life in the past month.

The first suicide, that of a 22-year-old man, raised a debate on prisoners with psychiatric issues and their detention within facilities that can’t cope with their needs.

The two detainees who committed suicide in the last month were hosted in the same section of Regina Coeli prison, an area that, as reported by the policemen working there, suffers sever overcrowding issues. It currently has a 1:170 officer-to-prisoner ratio.

Consequently, prisoners are not given the attention necessary to understand and address individual needs, which can lead to the worst possible outcomes.

Disturbing spike in suicides

This problem is not only limited to one prison in one Italian city. The overall situation of suicides in prison is alarming: there have been at least 13 suicides in the first three months of 2017 alone, and four of these were committed by people with psychiatric issues.

This rate is disturbing, not only when compared to 2016, when there were 40 suicides over the whole year, but also for what it says about detention conditions.

Prisoners who suffer from psychiatric disorders should be housed in separate psychiatric health facilities, respecting quality standards and making sure that these detainees are appropriately treated.

For all the others, prevention measures need to be taken and prison administrations have to commit to guarantee that detention conditions do not prevent prisoners from conducting a decent life.