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Switzerland

Witzwil Prison

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Aging · 4mo ago
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Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.

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Photograph of Witzwil Prison
Photo by Federal Office of Topography via Wikimedia Commons (Attribution-Swisstopo)

Gallery

From Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA where not otherwise stated).

  • Kantone BE FR NE VD - Kantonsecken am Broyekanal mit Bern (NE), Neuenburg (NW), Waadt (SW) und Fribourg (SE) - (von Swisstopo Landeskarte 1165, Raster 25).jpg

    Photo by Federal Office of Topography via Wikimedia Commons (Attribution-Swisstopo)

  • LaMarcheBleue-J16-1-LaTène-Cudrefin-41.jpg

    Photo by MHM55 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

  • LaMarcheBleue-J16-1-LaTène-Cudrefin-42.jpg

    Photo by MHM55 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

  • Torfstich auf dem Gelände der Strafanstalt Witzwil um 1915 mit Blick in Richtung Neuenburgersee.jpg

    Photo by Unknown authorUnknown author via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

  • Witzwil-01.jpg

    Photo by MHM55 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

  • Witzwil-02.jpg

    Photo by MHM55 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

  • Witzwil-03.jpg

    Photo by MHM55 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

  • Witzwil-04.jpg

    Photo by MHM55 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Background

The Justizvollzugsanstalt Witzwil (Prison Witzwil) is a men's prison in the canton of Bern, Switzerland. It consists of a closed part and a number of minimum security habitation units. The prisoners work on the institution's huge farm estate on the territories of the municipalities Erlach, Gampelen and Ins in the canton of Bern and Haut-Vully in the canton of Fribourg. Former prisoners who are yet to find employment are also allowed to work on these farms. The main seat and official address are located in the community of Gampelen.

Source: Wikipedia article lead, CC-BY-SA.

Capacity

440

Current population

—

Occupancy

—

Year opened

1893

Operational

Figures from official sources · verified 3 Jul 2026 · methodology

Facility profile

Population held

Mixed/unknown

Opened

1893

Region

—

Security level

—

Death-row facility

No

Conditions

e Personen im Strafvollzug. 34 Im September 2020. 35 Dazu wurde myJustice verwendet. 36 Aus der JVA Witzwil, aus dem Regionalgefängnis Bern, von der Polizei, aus dem offenen Vollzug, nach einer Rückkehr aus der BEWA oder Psychiatrie, aus der JVA St. Johannsen, aus anderen Regionalgefängnissen mit weniger als 10 Tage Aufenthalt oder bei Neueintritt in Freiheitsentzug. 37 Positiv getestete inhaftierte Personen wurden im Mai 2022 weiterhin während fünf Tagen isoliert. 38 Art. 31 Abs. 3 und 4 Bundesgesetz über die Bekämpfung übertragbarer Krankheiten des Menschen (Epidemi- engesetz, EpG) vom 28. September 2012, SR 818.101; Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), OHCHR and WHO, Interim Guidance COVID-19: Focus on Persons Deprived of Their Liberty, März 2020 (IASC, Interim Guid- ance), Seite 5; SPT, Advice: Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (SPT), Advice of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture to State Parties and Na- tional Preventive Mechanisms relating to the Coronavirus Pandemic, adopted on 25. März 2020 (SPT, Advice), Ziff. 7 und Ziff. 9 Abs. 14; CPT, Statement: Statement of principles relating to the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty in the context of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, 20. März 2020, CPT/INF(2020)13 (CPT, Statement), Ziff. 4; WHO, Preparedness, prevention and control of COVID-19 in prisons and other places of detention, Interim Guidance, 15 März 2020 (WHO, COVID-19 [...]

Visiting

No visiting information available.

Mailing

No mailing information available.

Practical info

Contact the operator's website for inmate-specific procedures.

Known issues

No major issues documented in our database.

Contact & address

+41 31 635 65 11
Official site

Conditions Risk Score

Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated

11/100
Low concern11/100
Overcrowding
0/30
Oversight reports
1/30
Structural flags
0/15
Death signals
0/15
Conditions text
10/10

What the score is responding to:

  • · 1 oversight report in the last 5 years
  • · Multiple severe-conditions keywords in sources

Related facilities

All in Switzerland →

Same country, matched on type + security level where possible.

Compared to other facilities in Switzerland

107 peers
Capacity (beds)this: 440 · peers avg: 192 (+129%)

Reports

  • NPM-nkvf3 Jul 2026

    e Personen im Strafvollzug. 34 Im September 2020. 35 Dazu wurde myJustice verwendet. 36 Aus der JVA Witzwil, aus dem Regionalgefängnis Bern, von der Polizei, aus dem offenen Vollzug, nach einer Rückkehr aus der BEWA oder Psychiatrie, aus der JVA St. Johannsen, aus anderen Regionalgefängnissen mit weniger als 10 Tage Aufenthalt oder bei Neueintritt in Freiheitsentzug. 37 Positiv getestete inhaftierte Personen wurden im Mai 2022 weiterhin während fünf Tagen isoliert. 38 Art. 31 Abs. 3 und 4 Bundesgesetz über die Bekämpfung übertragbarer Krankheiten des Menschen (Epidemi- engesetz, EpG) vom 28. September 2012, SR 818.101; Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), OHCHR and WHO, Interim Guidance COVID-19: Focus on Persons Deprived of Their Liberty, März 2020 (IASC, Interim Guid- ance), Seite 5; SPT, Advice: Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (SPT), Advice of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture to State Parties and Na- tional Preventive Mechanisms relating to the Coronavirus Pandemic, adopted on 25. März 2020 (SPT, Advice), Ziff. 7 und Ziff. 9 Abs. 14; CPT, Statement: Statement of principles relating to the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty in the context of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, 20. März 2020, CPT/INF(2020)13 (CPT, Statement), Ziff. 4; WHO, Preparedness, prevention and control of COVID-19 in prisons and other places of detention, Interim Guidance, 15 März 2020 (WHO, COVID-19 [...]

    source

Data completeness

44%

How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.

Sources

Cite this page

Under CC-BY-4.0. Include the URL and access date; the site is a living reference and entries can change.

APA
World Prisons. (2026). Witzwil Prison. Retrieved October 20, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/prisons/witzwil-prison
Chicago
"Witzwil Prison." World Prisons. Accessed October 20, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/prisons/witzwil-prison.
BibTeX
@misc{worldprisons-witzwil-prison,
  author = {{World Prisons}},
  title = {Witzwil Prison},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://worldprisons.com/prisons/witzwil-prison},
  urldate = {2026-10-20}
}