Ending the Abusive Treatment of Prisoners
"Not Part of the Penalty": Ending Prisoner Rape
National Conference, October 19-20, 2001
American University, Washington College of Law
Washington, D.C.
Sexual abuse of inmates continues to be a serious and largely unaddressed problem in U.S. prisons and jails. The upcoming conference seeks ways to give real meaning to the principle that rape is "not part of the penalty that criminal offenders pay for their offenses against society."
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Prison massacres, dramatic protests, and violent guard abuse earn occasional news headlines, but the deplorable daily living conditions that are the plight of the great majority of the world's prisoners pass largely unnoticed. With
scant public attention to the topic in most countries, correspondingly little progress is made in rectifying the abuses routinely inflicted in prisons and other places of detention.
Many countries, moreover, foster public ignorance of prison inadequacies by denying human rights groups, journalists, and other outside observers nearly all access to their penal facilities.
The following pages provide information on prison conditions, prison abuses, human rights protections for prisoners, and related issues:
Human Rights Watch has conducted specialized prison research and campaigns for prisoners' rights since 1987, to focus international attention on prison conditions worldwide. We believe that a government's claim to respect human rights should be assessed not only by the political freedoms it allows but also by how it treats its prisoners, including those not held for political reasons. Our experience has repeatedly shown that a number of democratic countries that are rarely the focus of human rights scrutiny are in fact guilty of serious human rights violations within their prisons.
Working in conjunction with numerous local partners, Human Rights Watch monitors conditions of detention around the world, pressuring governments to bring their treatment of prisoners into compliance with basic human rights standards.
NEWS RELEASES
Isolation in Turkish Prisons Continues
(New York, May 11, 2001) Recent changes in Turkey's Anti-Terror Law have not ended the isolation regime in Turkey's new prisons, Human Rights Watch said today.
Rape Crisis in U.S. Prisons
(New York, April 19, 2001) A ground-breaking new report by Human Rights Watch, No Escape: Male Rape in U.S. Prisons, charges that state authorities are responsible for widespread prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse in U.S. men's prisons.
Turkey: Isolation of Prisoners Condemned
(New York, April 5, 2001) The Turkish government must bring an end to the isolation regime in the new high security prisons and investigate reports of torture and other abuses by gendarmes during the December transfer, Human Rights Watch said in a memorandum released today.
Brazil: Investigate Killings of Brazilian Prisoners
(New York, February 20, 2001) Human Rights Watch today called for a thorough and objective investigation into the killings of fifteen prisoners during São Paulo's biggest-ever prison uprising.
Turkey: Isolation and Beatings in New Prisons Must Stop Now
(New York and London, January 6, 2001) The human rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have urged immediate reforms to the Turkish penal system after receiving reports of torture and beatings of prisoners transferred to smaller cells in a recent high-profile operation.
Turkey: Violent Assault on Prison Hunger Strikers
(New York, December 20, 2000) Human Rights Watch condemned Tuesday's violent assault by Turkish security forces on hunger striking prisoners. The prisoners were protesting inmate transfers to a new type of high-security prisons.
Turkey: Prison Plans Need Wider Debate
(New York, October 28, 2000) Human Rights Watch today urged the Turkish government to allow greater public debate on the issue of prison design and construction.
Rights Group Sounds Alarm on Turkish Prisons
(Ankara, May 24, 2000) Human Rights Watch today warned that Turkish government plans for a new prison regime may violate international standards.
Israel Responsible for Abuses in Khiam Prison
(New York, October 28, 1999) Israel is responsible for Khiam prison in occupied south Lebanon and should take action to end abuses there, Human Rights Watch said today.
Rights Group Condemns Deaths in Turkish Prison
(New York, September 27, 1999) Human Rights Watch today condemned the apparent use of excessive force by Turkish gendarmerie at the Ankara Closed Prison over the weekend that resulted in the deaths of eleven prisoners and serious injury to many others.
U.S. Department of Justice Bargains Away Rights of Women Prisoners
(Washington, June 11, 1999) In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, Human Rights Watch condemned "as grossly inadequate" the settlement agreement reached between the Department of Justice and the Michigan Department of Corrections in The United States of America v. Michigan.
Serious Abuses at Red Onion State Prison
(New York, April 19, 1999) Prisoners in Virginia who do not belong in supermax facilities are being confined at Red Onion State Prison, Human Rights Watch charged today.
