Death in custody

See Human rights in Algeria

See Human rights in Argentina

In Australia, deaths in custody automatically trigger an inquest.[3]

At least 32 people have died in "Operation Clean Heart" by the government of Bangladesh.See Human rights in Bangladesh

See Insein Prison, Human rights in Burma

See Human rights in Chad

See Human Rights in China.

See Human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

See Human rights in Cuba

See Human rights in Egypt

At least 460 people have died in police custody since 1990. About 20 people die in police custody a year, down from 28-30 per year in the nineties.[4]

• Oury Jalloh
• Rosa Luxemburg

See Police encounter

See Cipinang Penitentiary Institution

See 1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners and Deaths in custody in Iran

See Terence Wheelock

"At least 650 people have been killed by police officers in Jamaica since 1999. Many of these have been blatantly unlawful killings, yet not one officer has been convicted since then." Piers Bannister, Amnesty International’s Jamaica researcher.

See Human rights in Japan

See Human rights in Laos

See Abu Salim prison

• Kugan Ananthan
• Teoh Beng Hock
• Gunasegaran Rajasundram

See Human rights in Mexico

See Human rights in Morocco

See Milan Babić#Death, Death of Slobodan Milošević.

See Human rights in North Korea

About 40 people have died in police custody over a period of 20 years following 1990. [5] Additionally there's been 45 suicides in custody over a 10 year period from 2008. [6]

See Human rights in Pakistan

See Sergei Magnitsky; Salman Raduyev.

See Human rights in Saudi Arabia

See Human rights in Somalia

South Africa has an unusually high level of deaths in custody. For example, in April to June 1997, there were 56 deaths in custody.[7]

• Neil Aggett
• Richard Turner
• Steve Biko

See Human rights in Sudan

See Tadmor Prison massacre

See Prisons in Turkey

See Human rights in the United Arab Emirates

The term "in custody" has been debated in both California v. Beheler[8] (in regards to what constitutes custody in the requirement to read Miranda rights) but also in other federal court cases related to Miranda law and definition of custody.[9] Although Miranda law has roughly defined custody as the "formal arrest or restraint on freedom of movement,"[8] colloquial language may be less restrictive in the use of custody and is thus sometimes difficult to distinguish from the process of arrest. In addition to collecting data on those who have died in custody, the Bureau of Justice Statistics also tracks all deaths related to arrest. This aids in collecting data from the fringes of custody or attempts to arrest an individual.[10]

The causes for death in police custody may range from suspected homicide by members of the police, killings by other inmates, death due to psychological or physical abuse, capital punishment, to suicide, accidental death, or natural causes.[11][12] The United States Bureau of Justice Statistics collects data regarding both the cause of death, as well as medical and criminal records of those that die in police custody (restricted to those in federal prison and local jails).[11]

The Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates that 17,358 individuals in custody died during the period from 2007-2010.[13] Other publications focus on the rate per 100,000. US jails report deaths that total a mortality rate of 128, and prisons at 264 per 100,000.[14] There are differences in methodology used to obtain these statistics, as some jurisdictions include deaths during attempted arrests, while others do not.

Other research has focused on specific states, such as Maryland and the rate of death by identity (gender, race, age).[15] Based on some findings, African-American males appear to be over-represented as victims of sudden custody deaths. Further research with larger sample sizes is necessary.[15]

The Marshall Project collects and produces reports on police killings as well as maintaining a curated list of links to articles and publications related to death in police custody in the United States.[16]

• George Floyd died in May 2020 after a police officer held his knee on Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes while handcuffed. Floyd’s death sparked major protests against police brutality across the United States.
• Sandra Bland (woman found hanging in her Waller County, Texas jail cell due to apparent suicide)
• Henry "Peg" Gilbert, shot in police custody in 1947 in Harris County, Georgia; the sheriff claimed self-defense, but Gilbert, a prosperous farmer, was found to have been severely beaten before being shot[17]
• Freddie Gray (suffered injuries while being transported by police in Baltimore, Maryland, that led to a coma and his death)
• Michael Tyree (a mentally ill inmate held in a California county jail was beaten to death by three guards, who were convicted in June 2017 of his death)[18]
• Elliott Williams (died in his Tulsa County, Oklahoma jail cell due to complications from multiple injuries)
• Ricardo Alfonso Cerna (committed suicide in police interview room)
• Missouri State Penitentiary riot (death of four inmates)
• New Mexico State Penitentiary riot (33 inmate deaths and over 200 injuries)
• Darren Rainey (scalded to death in shower at Dade Correctional Institution in 2012)
  

There are numerous laws and international treaties regarding treatment of foreigners, especially during wartime, of which the Geneva Convention is the most widely recognized and internationally ratified. It contains provisions that classify and define both prisoners of war (as well as civilians and the wounded or infirm) and the manner in which they are to be treated.[19] These include but are not limited to: murder, mutilation, hostage taking, and outrages upon personal dignity.[20] These ratified documents are the base of US international custody law and can be seen to be misapplied in some of the proceeding cases.

• Jamal Naseer (Afghan soldier allegedly beaten to death by US forces)
• Nagem Hatab (Iraqi killed by elements and possible heart attack)
• Manadel al-Jamadi (suspected terrorist tortured and killed)

See Human rights in Vietnam

See Human rights in Yemen

See Human rights in Zimbabwe