There has been near worldwide support over the concept of certifying human rights, it says, everyone has certain sets of fundamental right regardless of any circumstances. Those rights include right to life, political right, specific civil liberties. In all of endeavours, the articulation for justice, tolerance, respect for others, and human dignity must be expressed. By referring to rights, we can convey the notion that everyone is included in the horizon of justice and morality [1].
Human rights violation refers as the invalidation of freedom of beliefs or movement where all humans reserve equal rights. Prisons are one of the places where human right violations are observed and clearly intersects with the breaking of Federal law.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) proposes to the Human Rights Council to dealt with the extensive infringement of the human rights of convicts in the United States corelated with solitary imprisonment and call for the approval of apposite measures to shield their human rights. The ACLU endorses the United States to lay down appropriate and concrete measures to put an end on terrible violations emerging from solitary detention of prisoners.
Prisoners are experiencing with excessive disciplinary sanctions, inadequate medical, physical mistreatment and barely tolerable physical conditions in many prisons, jails, juvenile detention facilities, immigration detention centres in USA. The prisons situation has exacerbated because there is little support from legislators and public for bringing reformation.
I presume to enlist number of major violation occurring in US Federal prisons below:
1- Overpopulated US Prisons:
According to one of the reports published says that fifty-three percent of all state prisoners were locked up for non-aggressive criminalities, however, criminal justice procedures have increased the length of convicts sentences and reduced the availability of bail. U.S.A has kept a greater percentage of its population in prisons than any states except Russia and Rwanda.
However, 5% of global population resides in the USA, besides it is a home to nearly 25% of world’s solitary confinement population. Proportion of population doesn’t only refers the overpopulated prisons, likewise, underfunded structure damage the incarcerated. The inappropriate system of imprisonment also digs big hole into the taxpaying Americans pockets [2].
2- Lack of Fundamental Health Care and Hygiene Food:
According to New York times report, overcrowded jails are providing inadequate food with poor and unhygienic processes. They have barely access to medication to deal with health issues.
In the era of pandemic in 2020, thousands of prisoners kicked a bucket because of outburst of virus and they had no choice to make isolation possible beside food surged the further medical issues amongst criminals.
Evidence-based medication and aftercare must be provided to all intimates. It would break even on that financing in a year if only 10% of such services remained substance and employed. The taxpaying public would bring in a huge economic benefit in reduced crime, reducing arrest, incarceration, prosecution, and health care expenses, and economic profits from employment [3]
3- Sexual Security:
Sexually unsafe is USA prisons are one of the common spreading infringement of human right violation. Prison rapes not just jeopardizes the lives of those who be prey to attackers, but it is possibly devastating to the human life. Depression, shame and loss of self-esteem is associated with the constant terror the victim subsequently have to endure (U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun).
4- Torture by Administrative Staff:
Torture is forbidden by international treaties and conventions, involving the Convention Against Torture, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) and Other Cruel, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), both conventions are ratified by the United States. The inmates in USA prisons are at high risk of violence from the staff or either from other fellows. They receive inadequate protection from torture which is huge violation of human rights.
5- Death penalty without Parole:
The right of life is inherent in every human. The law must defend this right. No one’s life shall be taken without justification. In California, 20% of inmates are serving life sentences, which is up from 18.1% by 2003. There is the largest proportion of life sentences comparative to the prison population.
All prisoners, including those serving life sentences, reserve right to the bail based on a demonstrated history of rehabilitation. The best evaluation of bail should be done by establishing a board composed of staff and member with experience in criminal justice system. Death penalty must be abolished. Ethnicity and racial based human right violation is common in USA federation.
An unbalanced number of life sentences are given to members of racial and ethnic minorities. 66.4% on death row are non-white, making up as much as 83.7% of those serving life sentences in the state of New York. Youth of colour make up 77% of minors who receive life sentences [4].
6- Mentally Ill in Prisons:
Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) incorporates that none individual shall be subject to cruel, torture, degrading treatment, inhuman, and punishment. However, mentally ill people in prisons are unable to meet the requirement of their disability. USA federal prisons are badly failed to ensure the consideration of certain psychotic medication.
7- Inappropriate use of Solitary Confinement:
Solitary confinement is another name of isolation which involves the separation of inmates in isolated cell for certain period of time without any human contact, in some diverse cases they have taken hold of light. The solitary confinement may lead to the fall of prisoner. Psychological pressure in isolation is detrimental to human mental stability. Taking apart the right to take care of their health is one of huge human right violations.
8- Telephone service:
Article 22 of the international convention on civil and political rights affirms, everyone reserves the right to associate with people of their choice in any condition. In various jails in US gets the charges or commission from inmates to make phone calls to their loved ones. The cut of communication to family gives birth to anxiety, depression and loneliness. This is breach of basic human rights to connect with family and friends.
Cases based of Human Rights Violations:
1- Wesley Paul Coonce, JR. v. Supreme Court of United States:
Wesley was sentenced to death for murder of another prisoner in the mental health unit. This has been a slap on the face of federation that they were unaware of the symptoms of mental illness of prisoners even in health unit. The lack of inappropriate check and balance led to the killing of fellow in prison. Wesley appeal for writ was denied in supreme court of United State. He raised the concern by declaring that his execution will be clear violation of eight amendment, since he has suffered from intellectual disability. The death penalty of Wesley opens up two major Human Rights violation in one case, the jail administration failed to preserve the life of prisoners plus they were unsuccessful to observe the psychological illness in convicts and took on time measures to segregate the prisons in solitary cell.
2. Cooper v. Pate in Supreme Court:
Every human reserve all rights to practice their own religion with freedom. The case is put in supreme court when jail administrative denied to give access to religious book or text to one of the Muslim inmates. Religious discrimination, ethnical, racial discrimination is widespread in USA federal prisons.
3. Davidson v Director-General Justice and Community Safety Directorate [2022] ACTSC 83
In 2018, Mr Nathan Davidson was penalised for 6 years and 9 months, with a non-bailable period of 3 years and 8 months. Mr Davidson was held at the Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC) in Australian Capital Territory (ACT). He was detained in solitary confinement for 63 days. He has claimed in the court that he has longstanding bipolar disorder, the AMC was told about the disability yet, they held him in rear yard with no circulation of air, no sunlight and no room for exercising. He is seeking justice for violating the basic human rights [5]. The case is shame for dignity and humanity.
4. Mariya Alekhina and Others v Russia:
Russia violated human rights agreements when it accused and imprisoned the feminist protest group Pussy Riot, according to the European Court of Human Rights. The Court determined that Russia treated the band members inhumanely and degradingly after their concerts in Orthodox Christian cathedrals, and further that the state violated the applicants’ rights to liberty and security, a fair trial, access to counsel, and freedom of expression. The verdict serves as a strong reminder to governments around the world to uphold the rights of political protestors. The human right is violated by denying the right of fair trial. The terms of their detention and trial violated the ban on torture and other cruel, inhumane, or humiliating treatment or punishment.
Recommendations:
Therefore, we provide the following recommendation to defend the rights of prisoners in USA.
1- Solitary confinement ought to be recommended only in extremely exceptional circumstances for a little period of time to preserve the mental health of prisoners.
2- Separation of prisoners is adopted for merely prisoners own safety purposes in least restricted system.
3- Reduction of severe isolation by permitting supervised out-of-cell exercise, in- cell programming, access to television, telephone calls, face-to-face interaction with staff, reading materials and correspondence.
4- Constricting use of auditory isolation, lack of light and sufficient darkness, and punishing diets and other sensory deprivations must be reduced.
5- Allow criminals to progressively earn more human rights and be subjected to a small limitations, even if they demand to make physical separation from other criminals.
6- Forbid solitary confinement of criminals prisoners suffering from mental illness, life-sentenced and death row prisoners by morality of their sentence.
7- Ban the intentional use of isolated confinement to employ psychological stress to prisoners.
8- Thoroughly monitor convicts in solitary confinement for symptoms of mental illness and quickly remove them from solitary confinement if any of such signs appears.
9- Make it normal custom to call United Nations special reporters on cruelty.
10- All inmates, even those serving life sentences, should be granted the chance for release or sentence reduction based on evidence of their ability to change their ways.
References:
[1] Helena Kennedy. “Conflict Resolution and Human Rights: Contradictory or Complementary?” INCORE, 1
[2]https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/04/30/does-the- united-states-really-have-five-percent-of-worlds-population-and-one-quarter-of-the-worlds-prisoners/
[3]http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20070219/REG/70216010# 1
[4]https://legal.un.org/avl/pdf/ha/cerd/cerd_e.pdf
[5] https://www.hrlc.org.au/human-rights-case-summaries/2022/2/24/victorian-court-of-appeal-grants-appeal-against-decision-that-random-urine-testing-and-associated-strip-searches-are-incompatible-with-human-rights-pxcsa
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