The Philippines: Locked Up

How the war on drugs is pushing Filipino jails to breaking point as they operate at 600 percent their capacity.

"The first time I set foot inside here, I felt like I was being choked," says Manila City Jail inmate, Guillermo Busano. "I thought, 'Where am I? Why am I here?' I was so scared."

Almost 160,000 people like Busano have been arrested in the Philippines since President Rodrigo Duterte unleashed the 'war on drugs' in 2016.

Jails across the country are in crisis. Some are 600 percent over capacity, with the vast majority of prisoners jailed for years without conviction as over-burdened courts struggle to process their cases on time. 

Chasing Asylum: Australia's Offshore Detention Centres

Life in Australia's detention camps on Nauru and Manus Island through the eyes of asylum seekers and whistleblowers.

No asylum seeker arriving in Australia by boat will ever be settled in the country. With this harsh policy, Australia's government has stemmed the flow of hopeful asylum seekers reaching its shores.

Anyone picked up making the treacherous journey across the Indian Ocean is sent to Australia's offshore detention camps on the remote tropical islands of Manus and Nauru.

Once there, men, women and children are held in indefinite detention, away from media scrutiny.

A Tale of Singers and Murderers

Meet the prisoners competing to participate in Russia's prison song contest and the woman inspiring them to sing.

Every year, prisoners across Russia dream of taking part in the annual Kalina Krasnaya Prison Song Contest.

It is open to all of Russia's approximately 700,000 prisoners and thousands of applications are submitted each year.

They all end up with the contest's director, Natalia Abashkina, a woman for whom Kalina Krasnaya has become an all-consuming passion.

"It's my life, my destiny, my love," she explains.

Behrouz Boochani: Living in limbo on Manus Island

Iranian journalist and refugee Boochani talks about life in detention and the closure of the Manus Island refugee camp.

For more than four and a half years, Kurdish-Iranian journalist Behrouz Boochani has been in limbo on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea (PNG).

He was sent there by Australia in 2013, after he tried to reach its shores by boat.

As a journalist in Iran, Boochani published stories that promoted the Kurdish language and culture. He cofounded a Kurdish magazine, but after its offices were raided and several of his colleagues were arrested and accused of undermining the Iranian state, Boochani fled, fearing for his safety.

Chasing Asylum: Australia's Offshore Detention Centres

Life in Australia's detention camps on Nauru and Manus Island through the eyes of asylum seekers and whistleblowers.

No asylum seeker arriving in Australia by boat will ever be settled in the country. With this harsh policy, Australia's government has stemmed the flow of hopeful asylum seekers reaching its shores.

Anyone picked up making the treacherous journey across the Indian Ocean is sent to Australia's offshore detention camps on the remote tropical islands of Manus and Nauru.

Once there, men, women and children are held in indefinite detention, away from media scrutiny.

Featuring never-seen-before footage of appalling living conditions and shocking testimonies from detainees and whistle-blowers who worked in the camps, Chasing Asylum exposes the effect of Australia's brutal policy for those seeking a safer home.

Japan: Guilty Until Proven Innocent

A look at Japan's justice system as forced confessions and wrong convictions threaten to taint law enforcement agencies.

Japan is famous for having one of the safest societies in the world, with exceptionally low levels of crime.

But does this clean image hide a darker side?

The country's criminal courts have almost a 100 percent conviction rate.

But justice in Japan relies on confessions, and police and prosecutors have been accused of abusing their authority.  

With advances in forensic and DNA technology, an increasing number of wrongful convictions are coming to light, proving that innocent people have been imprisoned, sometimes for life.

Hope for Australia's Indigenous

We investigate how the Australian town of Bourke is trying to save their indigenous youth from a life of crime.

Young aboriginal men are severely over-represented in Australian prisons.

But now, residents of a remote town in the country's outback have had enough.

In the town of Bourke, juvenile detention is almost a rite of passage: nine out of 10 boys who are sent to prison reoffend within 12 months of being released.

Desperate to break this cycle of crime and incarceration, the people of Bourke are turning to a new approach, investing in community programmes rather than prisons.

Japan: Guilty Until Proven Innocent

A look at Japan's justice system as forced confessions and wrong convictions threaten to taint law enforcement agencies.

Japan is famous for having one of the safest societies in the world, with exceptionally low levels of crime.

But does this clean image hide a darker side?

The country's criminal courts have almost a 100 percent conviction rate.

But justice in Japan relies on confessions, and police and prosecutors have been accused of abusing their authority.  

With advances in forensic and DNA technology, an increasing number of wrongful convictions are coming to light, proving that innocent people have been imprisoned, sometimes for life.