Natl: Let's Shine a Light on All of America's Prisons

Article by Brigette Sarabi 

The recent military trial of Pfc. Lynndie England for prisoner abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad has once again called attention to the treatment of prisoners by U.S. military personnel. The Christian Science Monitor noted in an editorial that

“Thanks to probing by the Pentagon and others, the public knows that Abu Ghraib did not represent a few isolated cases. The abuse has stretched in an arc from the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to Afghanistan. The cases of abuse number in the hundreds and include at least two dozen suspicious deaths.”

On the same subject, a Boston Globe editorial said that

“If the United States wants to be a leader in defending human rights, Congress must appoint an independent commission that will spell out the full extent of the abuse and name names in the chain of command who encouraged it or turned a blind eye.”

This recognition of the systemic nature of the prisoner abuse in U.S. controlled foreign prisons and detention centers is critical; and we support the call for an independent investigation. But this is not enough. Interviews with military personnel serving at both Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib make clear that many of these soldiers, not to mention FBI personnel, believed that a broad range of abusive treatment was acceptable based on their understanding of operating procedures in U.S. prisons.

As a Human Rights Watch Report on the U.S. made clear:

“…serious human rights violations were most apparent in the criminal justice system.” The report went on to say that the initial report submitted by the U.S. government to the United Nations Committee Against Torture “acknowledged areas of concern…with regard to police abuse, excessive use of force in prison…[and] physical and mental abuse of inmates.”

It is time that we institute independent monitoring of all American prisons, including our prisons and detention centers here in the U.S. This is not a radical concept. In fact, the United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders includes, in its “Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners,” that “There shall be a regular inspection of penal institutions and services by qualified and experienced inspectors appointed by a competent authority.” Many countries have independent monitoring of prisons. In the United Kingdom, there are Independent Monitoring Boards for prisons and “immigration removal centres” that perform a vital watchdog role. The members of these boards can access the prisons at any time in order to talk to staff, prisoners or detainees, hear their concerns and check on the conditions they are living and working in.
    
Here in the U.S., two states mandate similar independent monitoring. The Pennsylvania Prison Society, a private, non-profit organization, has the authority (granted by the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1787) to monitor and report on prison conditions through their Official Visitors program. Over 450 volunteer “Official Visitors” make approximately 5,000 visits to jails and prisons in Pennsylvania each year. The Correctional Association of New York, another private, non-profit organization, was granted authority by the New York State Legislature in 1846 to visit prisons throughout the state and issue reports on their findings to policy makers. Each month, the Correctional Association visits one of New York’s prisons, going to cellblocks, dormitories, classrooms, prison industries, psychiatric units, medical units and disciplinary housing units. They interview prisoners, corrections officers, teachers, medical staff and counselors.
    
It is time that we institute this type of independent monitoring in each state prison system and within the federal prison system. Basic standards of human decency, as well as international law, compel us to do this as soon as possible. As Human Rights Watch noted just last year:

“In recent years, U.S. prison inmates have been beaten with fists and batons, stomped on, kicked, shot, stunned with electronic devices, doused with chemical sprays, choked, and slammed face first onto concrete floors by officers whose job is to guard them. Inmates have ended up with broken jaws, smashed ribs, perforated eardrums, missing teeth, burn scars – not to mention psychological scars and emotional pain. Some have died.”

It is the secretive and closed nature of prisons and jails that allows this type of abuse to exist. Only by shining a light on the operations and management of these institutions can we begin to have some confidence that we are meeting our moral and legal obligations for the humane treatment of people who have been incarcerated.

This article originally appeared in the Spring 2005 issue of Justice Matters.