It is estimated that over 10.2 million people are held in penal institutions throughout the world. With an overall population exceeding 7 billion this means that for every 100,000 people, 144 are detained or imprisoned. The prison population has grown proportionately larger in the past 15 years outpacing the general population growth by 10%. This phenomenon is becoming increasingly more apparent with countries, such as the United States struggling with a colossal incarceration rate, and countless reports of abysmal conditions and inhumane treatment across the globe. Also, these statistics do not include the countless number of people that are arbitrarily held in “administrative” detention in countries such as China, and North Korea.
It is difficult to think of incarceration as an international crisis. It is much more difficult to empathize with a perceived criminal than it is to empathize with an innocent child, but it is highly likely that that criminal was once an innocent child. When considering an individual prisoner or detainee it is common to consider his or her situation a personal problem, or when a country has a high incarceration rate it is common to consider that a national problem however; when this plague affects many countries it is an international problem that is not currently getting the attention that it deserves. It is furthermore heightened to an international problem especially when human rights and international treaties are being violated.
This paper will examine six United Nations General Assembly documents that address the rights of incarcerated individuals and the application, or lack of application, of these texts in three key countries, the People’s Republic of China, the Russian Federation...
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...ust 30, 1955)
13. United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (December 16, 1966)
14. United Nations Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (December 10, 1984)
15. United Nations Body of Principles for the Protection of all Persons Under any Form of Detention (December 9, 1988)
16. United Nations Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners (December 14, 1990)
17. United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Reporting Status for the People’s Republic of China
18. United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Reporting Status for the Russian Federation
19. United States of America Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2013
20. Venters et al. “Solitary Confinement and Risk of Self-Harm Among Jail Inmates” Research and Practice (March 2014
US NGO Physicians for Human Rights Manual. Washington D.C.: US NGO Physicians for Human Rights, 2001. Print.
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There have been many humanitarians that strive to help countries suffering with human right abuses. People think that the help from IGOs and NGOs will be enough to stop human rights violations. However, it hasn’t been effective. Every day, more and more human rights violations happen. The problem is escalating. People, including children, are still being forced to work to death, innocent civilians are still suffering the consequences of war, and families are struggling to stay firm together. Despite the efforts from the people, IGOs, and NGOs, In the year 2100, human rights abuse will not end.
Schattuck, John. “Overview of Human Right Practices, 1995,” Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. March 1996: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 10 Oct 2013.
...2009): 8-9. United Nations Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review. Web. 8 Apr. 2014. .
"Universal Declaration of Human Rights." Amnesty International USA - Protect Human Rights. 19 May 2009 .
The past two decades have engendered a very serious and historic shift in the utilization of confinement within the United States. In 1980, there were less than five hundred thousand people confined in the nation’s prisons and jails. Today we have approximately two million and the numbers are still elevating. We are spending over thirty five billion annually on corrections while many other regime accommodations for education, health
In Western cultures imprisonment is the universal method of punishing criminals (Chapman 571). According to criminologists locking up criminals may not even be an effective form of punishment. First, the prison sentences do not serve as an example to deter future criminals, which is indicated, in the increased rates of criminal behavior over the years. Secondly, prisons may protect the average citizen from crimes but the violence is then diverted to prison workers and other inmates. Finally, inmates are locked together which impedes their rehabilitation and exposes them too more criminal
In the 1970s and 1980s, a massive amount of inmates began fillin up the United States prison systems. This huge rate of growth in this short amount of time, has greatly contributed to the prison overcrowding that the United States faces today. In fact, the prisons are still filled to the seams. This enormous flood of inmates has made it practically impossible for prison officials to keep up with their facilities and supervise their inmates. One of the main reasons why many prisons have become overcrowded is because of states’ harsh criminal laws and parole practices (Cohen). “One in every 100 American adults is behind bars, the highest incarceration rate in the world” (Cohen). The amount of inmates in corrections systems, throughout the nation, sky-rocketed to 708 percent between 1972 and 2008. Today, there are about 145,000 inmates occupying areas only designed for 80,000 (Posner). Peter Mosko, “an assistant professor of Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice at New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice” (Frazier) stated, “America, with 2.3 million people behind bars, has more prisoners than soldiers” (Frazier). There have been studies that have shown “there are more men and women in prison than ever before. The number of inmates grew by an average of 1,600 a week. The U. S. has the highest rate of crime in the world” (Clark). Because of this influx in inmates, many prisoners’ rights groups have filed lawsuits charging that “overcrowded prisons violate the Constitution’s 8th Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment” (Clark). It is clear that the United States corrections system needs to be reformed in order to eliminate this problem. Prison overcrowding is a serious issue in society due to the fact it affects prison ...
United Nations (1989). Convention on the Rights of the Child.[online] Available at: [Accessed 1 April 2014].
Kaba, Fatos, et al. “Solitary Confinement and Risk of Self-Harm Among Jail Inmates.” American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, Mar. 2014, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3953781/.
VonHofer, H. and R. Marvin. Imprisonment Today and Tomorrow: International perspectives. The Hague, The Neatherlands: Kluwer Law International, 2001. Print.
In conclusion, the convention against torture, has brought many people together, and has informed many people of the horrible tortures which go on everywhere from the US to Syria. It has tried to set fine lines which prohibit torture under all circumstances. However, since there is no governing body over countries, it remains difficult to enforce the human right standards sought after by the Convention against torture. The convention has therefore done a good job at identifying the torturers. This has in turn lessened the amount of those persecuted. It will remain a gradual process to eliminate torture from all countries, but nevertheless a necessity, in the quest for universal human rights. Torture will continue until all countries decide for themselves, and not from a third party convention that freedom from torture is a human right everyone deserves.
Globalisation has increased modern technology all over the world enabling more people, such as globally separated families, to maintain contact. Increased media coverage also draws the attention of the world to human rights violation which can lead to an improvement in human rights. This is not a reflection of all marginalised groups. In Australia, the detention of unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) contravenes the United Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), however the media are prohibited to enter detention centres and report on this issue (Cemlyn and Briskman, 2003).