Around the globe, the private security company G4S has often been in the spotlight regarding its sometimes controversial involvement in conflict zones, its prison operations and the treatment of employees. Journalists from eleven countries and five continents teamed up to try to quantify the human cost of G4S’ watch.
The collected data spans the period between 2015 and 2020, with some cases also from 2021.
The team collected data on 619 cases of deaths and injuries mostly of detainees or prisoners of institutions guarded by G4S, as well as on deaths and injuries among the security staff. However, they focused their analysis on the 38 percent of cases where G4S’ (in)direct involvement could be confirmed.
Most of the deaths recorded by Oštro’s team from the information and documents procured by reporters occurred in G4S-run prisons in the UK, Australia and South Africa. The causes varied from drug abuse to stabbing with the company mostly playing a passive role, meaning that the company was proven to or alleged to not have had adequate control over the flows of dangerous substances and sufficient protection for the victims placed under its care.
©& Lars Schmidt
