Torture and ill-treatment — abuses in US prisons and jails The US Constitution guarantees that "cruel and unusual punishments shall not be inflicted". The USA has ratified the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Yet in prisons and jails across the USA inmates are being tortured or ill-treated. More than 1,700,000 people are in prisons and jails in the USA. Half of all prisoners are African Americans and over 60 per cent are from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds. Nearly 20,000 are less than 18 years old. The number of people in prisons and jails has more than tripled since 1980. The rate of increase in the number of women incarcerated has been even greater. Violence is endemic in many US prisons and jails. Overcrowding and inadequate staffing are making the problem worse. There are reports of physical violence, including rape, by inmates in facilities across the USA. Abuses by prison staff include beatings, particularly in isolated segregation units. There have been many reports of sexual abuse committed by correctional staff against inmates, especially of women inmates by male guards who, contrary to international standards, routinely supervise female prisoners. A growing number of children under 18 are being held in facilities with adult prisoners, where they are particularly vulnerable to abuse. In 1995 the chain-gang — a powerful reminder of past abuses — was used for the first time in more than 30 years. However, shackling prisoners has been a continuing feature of the US penal system. Prisoners are routinely shackled when being transported, whether or not they pose any risk. Pregnant women being taken to hospital are commonly shackled; some authorities shackle pregnant women at their wrists, ankles and waists, despite the increased dangers that they may fall and suffer serious injury. A wide range of technologies designed to control and incapacitate inmates has been developed in recent years, resulting in practices which are cruel, degrading and sometimes life-threatening. Michael Valent died in March 1997 in Utah State Prison after being shackled in a restraint chair for 16 hours; a hole had been cut into the seat to allow him to defecate and urinate. Although no longer employed in this prison, restraint chairs are widely used in facilities throughout the USA. In some jails they are used to deliberately inflict cruel punishments.

Prisoner tied to a "hitching rail" in Alabama. In January 1997 a federal magistrate ruled that the state should stop using the rail, describing it as a "painful and tortuous punishment". A state appeal against the ruling was still pending as of July 1998. © Donna Binder/Impact Visuals     'a pattern of needless and officially sanctioned brutality.' 1995 federal ruling on conditions at Pelican Bay State Prison, California

Other methods of restraint, such as chemical sprays and electro-shock devices, are frequently applied, despite the fact that some are inherently unsafe and invite abuse. Electro-shock stun-belts, for example, are increasingly being used. At the press of a button a powerful electric current passes through the wearer, causing severe pain and instant incapacitation. Thousands of prisoners in super-maximum security ("supermax") units are being held in prolonged solitary confinement, which can result in serious mental and physical problems. Typically, prisoners are held in small windowless cells for between 22 and 24 hours a day. In 1995 a federal ruling stated that conditions at the supermax unit of Pelican Bay State Prison, California, "may well hover on the edge of what is humanly tolerable for those with normal resilience". Few states have independent bodies to monitor conditions in prisons; local jails in particular receive very little scrutiny. It is time that the USA lived up to its commitments and took steps to eradicate torture and ill-treatment from its penal system.

Prison guards monitor inmates during a "shakedown" (a mass search for contraband items) in Ellis 1 Unit in Huntsville, Texas © Danny Lyon/Magnum 'there are some people who deserve to be treated like animals' Don Poston manager of the newly-built W.J. Estelle High Security Unit in Texas

 

Turn words into action "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness..." The United States of America declared its independence with this resounding affirmation of human rights. It has repeatedly proclaimed its commitment to human rights at home and abroad. The reality for many in the USA can be very different. For the poor, for Latinos, blacks and other minorities, justice and equality are often denied, the right to life and liberty frequently abused. Police brutality is a daily occurrence. Ill-treatment, even torture, takes place in prisons across the country. Condemned prisoners are executed after unfair trials. The US authorities have failed to stamp out these widespread violations of human rights. The US government uses the language of international law, human rights and democratic values to justify its policies. Yet the USA has often been reluctant to allow its own record to be scrutinized by the international community and has been selective in its defence of human rights abroad, keen to criticize its enemies but less willing to speak out about abuses by its allies. This campaign aims to support the struggle for the human rights of all in the USA. Its goal is to make the US federal, state and local authorities more accountable for human rights violations. Every voice counts Join us in our campaign

Write to: Janet Reno Attorney General Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. Room 440 Washington DC 20530 USA Urge her to use her influence to ensure that rigorous national standards are established to prevent abuses in prisons and jails and, in particular, to stop the cruel use of restraints and the use of electro-shock stun-belts. Amnesty International is a worldwide voluntary human rights movement that campaigns for the release of prisoners of conscience, fair trials for political prisoners, and an end to torture and the death penalty, "disappearances" and political killings all over the world. Amnesty International works impartially to promote all the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international standards. For more information about Amnesty International and our campaign to counter human rights violations in the USA, contact Amnesty International in your country or write to: Amnesty International International Secretariat 1 Easton Street London WC1X 8DJ United Kingdom Other Appeals: Police brutality The Death Penalty Asylum Seekers