HRW: US Is World's 'Leading Jailer'
WASHINGTON--- The Human Rights Watch says the US has 2.3 million people behind bars, more than any other country in the world and more than ever before in its history.
The number represents an incarceration rate of 762 per 100,000 residents, compared to 152 per 100,000 in Britain, 108 in Canada, and 91 in France, HRW said in a statement.
David Fahti, HRW's US program director, said the new incarceration figures confirm the United States as the world's leading jailer.
"Americans should ask why the US locks up so many more people than do Canada, Britain, and other democracies," he added.
The newly released figures show a sharp racial imbalance in the US prison population, with blacks outnumbering whites by six to one.
Nearly 11 percent of black men aged 30-34 are in prison, according to Justice Department figures.
HRW said blacks in the US are 12 times more likely to be sent to jail for drug-related crimes than whites, even though drug use among the two races is about the same.
"Although whites, being more numerous, constitute the large majority of drug users, blacks constitute 54 percent of all persons entering state prisons with a new drug offense conviction," the rights group said.
In another development, a State Department spokesman said that the US has decided to limit further its involvement with the UN Human Rights Council due to its "pathetic" record.
Sean McCormack said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice "has taken the decision that we will engage the Human Rights Council really only when we believe that there are matters of deep national interest before the council, and we feel compelled".
HRW branded the US decision as "counter-productive ... short-sighted" and "an abandonment of human rights defenders and victims".
The 47-member, Geneva-based Human Rights Council was created in 2006 to replace the Human Rights Commission, which was discredited because governments with a record of abuse stifled concrete action.
The United States opposed its creation, saying the new body's rules would still not guarantee its effectiveness, and has refused to take a seat.
The US decision came after the council focused on criticizing the Israeli occupying regime for its treatment of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
"Instead of focusing on some of the real and deep human rights issues around the world, it has really turned into a forum that seems to be almost solely focused on bashing Israel," McCormack said.
Juliette de Rivero, Geneva advocacy director of Human Rights Watch, criticized the US for dropping out of the council, on which it had been serving as an observer since 2006.
"Washington's hands-off approach to the Human Rights Council undermined it from the start," she said.
"It's ironic that the US shares responsibility for the shortcomings it's now using to justify its withdrawal from the council."
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source:
http://www.alalam.ir/english/
