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Hello Amnesty International?

Somehow it seems the US is now being tagged as the operator of the worlds worst prison system because of (insert crocodile tears of shame here...) the “gulag” we supposedly run at Guantanamo Bay Cuba.

oh boo-freakin-hoo.

It is my contention that our prisoners are cared for with greater care and with less harm than that of any other country in the world. So, to make my case and just for grins I decided to spend just 15 minutes compiling the following list.

So here’s a ‘round the globe look at some recent prison atrocities in countries other than the US that the press would like us all to overlook in light of our oh-so-obvious crimes against humanity in Cuba.

Mexico: Death of inmates and guards, use of deadly force by government.

MEXICO CITY Jan 26, 2005 — Federal agents and soldiers seized the top-security Matamoros prison near the Texas border Wednesday, a week after six prison employees were slain and their bodies dumped outside the facility's gates amid growing violence in Mexico's prison system.

The prison raid was the second in a month as President Vicente Fox's government tries to regain control of the nation's penitentiaries, where a volatile mix of corruption and vendettas among imprisoned drug lords has corroded security and led to escapes and the deaths of inmates and guards.

France : Prisons in shoddy shape. Prisoners refer to it as a “descent into hell”. Prisoners using helicopters and explosives to break out of prisons.

The escape was the second time in 18 months that a helicopter freed prisoners at the Luynes prison. Frederic Impocco and Pascal Mayet escaped in October 2001, though both were recaptured quickly.

Five days after Menconi's escape, gangster Antonio Ferrara was sprung from Fresnes Prison, outside of Paris, in a military-stye commando operation. Accomplices used assault rifles and explosives to blast their way into an inner courtyard, where Ferrara's ground-floor cell was located.

The hostage-taking comes just weeks after prison lobby group OIP condemned conditions as being on a "descent to hell." It said a government crackdown on crime had led to overcrowding and poor standards.

More than half of France's 185 prisons are more than 100 years old and some cells are too dilapidated to use. A spate of jailbreaks in recent years has underlined security problems.

Italy : Poor treatment of prisoners and abuse, even as noted by Amnesty International

Prison reform dating from 1975 required detention facilities to start work and recreation programs. Yet, Italian prisons receive low marks for the treatment of inmates. The prison population in Italy stands at about 56,000, one-third more than capacity, according to Justice Ministry figures.

"We've had serious concerns about Italy and the systematic abuse that goes on in its prisons," said Nerys Lee, a researcher for Amnesty International, the human rights monitoring organization. "Pretty regularly we see reports of ill treatment by prison guards that amounts to torture."

Germany: Widespread drug abuse in prison leads to poor health of prisoners and living conditions;

In the last twenty years, drug users have become a steadily increasing sub-population among prison inmates. Besides overcrowding, drug use in prison has become the main problem of prisons in Germany. Those drug users, who are not able or willing to stop iv drug use run the risk of contracting various infectious diseases (HIV and various hepatitis types). In prison, syringes and needles are not allowed. According to man report of inmates, the sharing of needles is very widespread. That is why pathogenic agents (HIV, HBV, HCV) are easily transmitted.

England: Prison overcrowding killing inmates.
The Prison Reform Trust study is based on the Prison Service's own data for England and Wales published last month. The only way to improve these jails is immediately to reduce their populations. The trust claims that overcrowded jails are leading to poor performances in other areas as the system struggles to cope.

The number of prison inmates testing positive for drugs has risen for the first time in five years to 11.7% last year, against a target of 10%. Drug use at Dorchester Prison in Dorset is almost double the national average at 19.7%.

Australia: out of control situations in prisons leading to inmate deaths

Woomera closed in April 2003 after three years characterised by riots, breakouts, vandalism, suicide attempts by detainees and staff shortages. In June 2003 ACM is due to be replaced as the operator of Australia’s detention centres by Group 4.

India: appalling conditions killing inmates

A special commission of inquiry, appointed after the 1995 death of a prominent businessman in India's high-security Tihar Central Jail, reported in September 1997 that the 10,000 inmates held in that institution endured serious health hazards, including overcrowding, "appalling" sanitary facilities, and a shortage of medical staff.

Japan: Islamic prisoners mocked and tortured by guards.

Prison conditions in Japan continued to be a major issue during 1997. On August 29, Bahman Daneshian Far, an Iranian prisoner detained in Fuchu prison, filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government for discrimination and physical abuse. He claimed that prison officials had made derogatory remarks about Iranians and when he protested, he was beaten, kicked repeatedly in the groin, placed in solitary confinement, and punished by being forced to wear leather handcuffs which the guards could tighten to cause pain.

Pakistan: Routine examples of torture of prisoners.

Bar fetters consist of iron rings locked around the ankles of prisoners; an iron bar is riveted to each of these iron shackles making an inverted "V". These two vertical bars are about 50 cm long and are linked at mid-thigh level by an iron ring which the prisoner must hold or which is connected to a rope or chain around the waist. The rods are of a standard length and, thus, men who are not of average height may suffer when the bars are too long or too short for them, thereby adding to the normal discomfort experienced in wearing bar fetters. The iron bars are about 1.2 cm in diameter and weigh, together with the ankle shackles, around 4 kg. Cross fetters are iron bars about 50 cm in length attached in addition to bar fetters and placed between the iron rings around the ankles keeping the prisoners' legs permanently apart at the bar's length.

Cuba: Like, you have to ask.

Cuba's repressive machinery is used effectively against people who exercise their fundamental rights of free association, free expression, free opinion, or the freedom of movement. Scores of Cuban activists who suffer short-term detentions and who receive official warnings that they will face prosecutions for political crimes take seriously the risk of prosecution and imprisonment in Cuba's jails. And while the existence of hundreds of political prisoners is a deterrent to some potential opponents at home, Cuba also uses occasional prisoner releases to maximize political capital abroad. Cuba's deprivation of these individuals' liberty represents a shocking disregard for their fundamental rights. The government's failure to provide the prisoners with humane conditions and the punitive measures taken against them in prison represent additional layers of punishment for their "crimes" that, in several instances, rise to the level of torture.

Venezuela: It’s just like Cuba, only they have oil.

Overcrowded, understaffed, physically deteriorated, and rife with weapons, drugs and gangs, Venezuela's prisons have a deservedly poor reputation. Although their notoriety largely springs from a few brutal outbursts of violence -- including the 1994 massacre of over one hundred inmates at Sabaneta prison and the 1996 killing of twenty-five inmates at La Planta prison -- these are simply the most newsworthy among countless violent incidents. The prisons' appalling violence, moreover, emerges from a host of other chronic problems

Posted @ May 31, 2005 11:48 PM | Current Affairs