The growing number of foreign and women prisoners in the prisons of several countries of the world is an issue of concern for the human rights activists and a nightmare for the family of these prisoners. A large number of foreign prisoners are in different prisons for violating immigration rules of the countries and rest are charged for various other crimes, mainly related to drug use and trade. Women also comprise a fair number of foreign prisoners and are usually involved in sexual crimes and the crime related to drugs. In this paper, we would look at the condition of prisoners and prisons of the different parts of the world.
The prisons of United Arab Emirates are heavily crowded with a staggering number of foreign prisoners. The prisoners in the prisons of Abu Dhabi and other prisons are charged with a number of crimes including breaking of immigration rules, drug abuse, monetary crimes and for their involvement in violent activities. There are a number of incidents of employee and employers disputes where authorities put the workers behind the bars without hearing or caring their rights. The prisons are over crowded and lack the required facilities, human rights violations are very common and prisoners are in a kind of dark world where they can not be contacted by their family or friends for months and in some cases for years, without fair trial. Women are in less numbers but the condition is not very different for them also and they are victimized by the prison authorities. Prisoners are often tortured by the jail authorities and their rights are violated. The human rights agencies have expressed their concerns over the condition and treatment of prisoners several times.
The prison conditions in France are required to be improved and currently the condition is not very bright. In prisons of France, a large number of foreign prisoners including women are present and they all often cry regarding their rights violation and other problems. French authorities are making dozens of new prisons and once these are ready, the problems of crowd will be shortened out. The number of women prisoners is high and basically related to drugs and sexual crimes. Authorities are involved in a number of tortures and physical abuse of prisoners.
Prisons of Switzerland host almost seventy percent foreign prisoners. Foreign Prisoners including women are involved in several crimes though not very heinous ones. Prisoners are in satisfactory conditions when compared to other prisons of different countries. Swiss authorities have started sending these prisoners to their native countries as the number is increasing in their prisons. A number of reformative programs are run by Swiss authorities to improve the prisoners.
The jails of china have less number of foreigners and women but the people, who are in these jails, say that these prisons are hellish and they would rather prefer to die but can not spend their time in these jails. They are treated like animals and even basic facilities are also not provided to them. Human rights violation is a major issue and authorities very often violate the rights of prisoners. The number of women prisoners is more than 4 percent while the foreigners are 0.03 percent only in Chinese prisons.
In Indian prisons almost three percent women are serving sentences. Foreign prisoners are in very less numbers. Few incidents of human rights violations are reported and judiciary keeps an eye on any kind of human rights violations. The condition of prisons is sporadic, prisons are overcrowded.
References
NationMaster.com. (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2011, from www.nationmaster.com: http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_pri_fem-crime-prisoners-female
School of Law, King's College London, News and events. (2008, July 2). Retrieved November 14, 2011, from www.kcl.ac.uk: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/law/news/news_print.php?id=124
