Archive for the ‘Prison and Detention Conditions’ Category
(New York) – The US Supreme Court, in its deliberations on the cases Miller v. Alabama and Jackson v. Hobbs, should consider the harsh conditions juvenile offenders face in adult prisons, Human Rights Watch said today, based on its recent report.
(Washington, DC) – Colorado’s General Assembly passed a bill on March 5, 2012 that will help keep children accused of crimes out of adult jails when they are awaiting trial, Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union said today. House Bill (HB) 12-1139 passed both houses of Colorado’s General Assembly unopposed.
(Sacramento) – Approximately 300 youth offenders have been sentenced to die in California’s prisons for crimes committed when they were teenagers, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
(New York) – Aging men and women are the most rapidly growing group in US prisons, and prison officials are hard-pressed to provide them appropriate housing and medical care, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
(New York) – The approximately 2,570 youth offenders serving life without parole sentences in adult US prisons experience conditions that violate fundamental human rights, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The United States is the only country in the world with youth offenders (below the age of 18 at the time of offense) serving life without parole sentences.
Secretary Matthew Cate
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Dear Secretary Cate:
(Washington, DC) – The indictment of a prison guard in a sexual abuse case of a detained immigrant underscores the need for the US government to provide immigration detainees the same protections from rape that it plans for other prisoners, Human Rights Watch said today.
Victories for prisoners seeking relief from abusive prison conditions are all too rare. US courts are often as loathe to condemn the mistreatment of inmates and wretched prisons as the public is willing to condone – if not encourage – them.
(Washington, DC) – The US House of Representatives passed a defense spending bill on May 26, 2011, that includes counterproductive measures to force more military trials at Guantanamo and permanently expand the president’s power to militarily target and detain without trial people with no connection to 9/11, Human Rights Watch said today.
(Washington) - The US Supreme Court on May 23, 2011, endorsed the constitutional right of prisoners to be free of cruel and unusual conditions of confinement and the government’s responsibility to provide a remedy for violations of that right.
Human Rights Watch submits these comments to the Department of Justice in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking of February 3, 2011 regarding its Proposed Rule for National Standards To Prevent, Detect, and Respond to Prison Rape ("PREA standards").
The Universal Periodic Review of the United States addressed a large number of important issues, such as the death penalty, mistreatment of migrants, racial disparities in education, access to health care, and accountability for torture.
The US government should publicly explain the precise reasons behind extremely restrictive and possibly punitive and degrading treatment that Army Private First Class Bradley Manning alleges he has received while detained at the brig at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, said Human Rights Watch.