Foreign Prison Conditions Improvement Act of 2010 - Directs the Secretary of State to annually report to Congress describing prison and detention facility conditions in countries receiving U.S. assistance, including a list of countries whose governments do not meet minimum prison and detention facility standards but are, and those who are not, making significant compliance efforts.
Urges the Secretary and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to provide assistance to countries whose governments do not meet such minimum standards but are making significant compliance efforts. Prohibits such funds from being used to construct new prisons.
Directs the Secretary to enter into negotiations to achieve the purposes of this Act with a government listed in the report as not making significant compliance efforts. Authorizes, in order to achieve such purposes: (1) the Secretary and the Administrator to restructure or reduce U.S. assistance to such government; and (2) the Secretary to issue or deny visas for U.S. travel by officials of such government.
Directs the Secretary to establish within the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor a full-time equivalent Deputy Assistant Secretary level position to advance the purposes of this Act.
[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6153 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6153
To authorize appropriations of United States assistance to help
eliminate conditions in foreign prisons and other detention facilities
that do not meet minimum humane standards of health, sanitation, and
safety, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 16, 2010
Mr. Delahunt (for himself and Mr. Pitts) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition
to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize appropriations of United States assistance to help
eliminate conditions in foreign prisons and other detention facilities
that do not meet minimum humane standards of health, sanitation, and
safety, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Foreign Prison Conditions
Improvement Act of 2010''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Millions of incarcerated people in the world suffer
inhumane conditions in prisons and other detention facilities
that are overcrowded, unsanitary, and unsafe to the point of
endangering their lives.
(2) According to a 2009 International Centre for Prison
Studies report, there are an estimated 9,800,000 people held in
penal institutions in the world, with prison populations
increasing in 71 percent of the over 200 countries surveyed.
(3) Rates of malnutrition, disease, and death among
prisoners and other detainees far exceed those of the general
population, and medical treatment for serious illness or injury
is, in many instances, non-existent or grossly inadequate.
(4) These conditions are compounded by severe overcrowding
in prisons and other detention facilities. Excessive pre-trial
detention and dysfunctional justice systems frequently result
in prisoners and other detainees spending years in such
conditions before their cases are adjudicated. In some
countries, such facilities are filled to capacity many times
over resulting in conditions so cramped that individual
prisoners cannot move without all doing so en masse.
(5) Amnesty International's 2009 State of the World's Human
Rights Report documented widespread inhumane prison conditions,
including overcrowding, inadequate food and water, no access to
hygiene products or medical care, juveniles detained with
adults, and denial of visits from family.
(6) Some governments fail to provide even the most
rudimentary sanitation in prisons and other detention
facilities, putting prisoners and other detainees at even
greater risk of easily preventable and often life-threatening
diseases. Toilets are few or non-existent and human waste
repositories often are located among the general prison
population, forcing prisoners to eat, sleep, and live in
grossly unsanitary conditions.
(7) According to a 2009 report by the United Nations
Economic and Social Council's Commission on Crime Prevention
and Criminal Justice, former prisoners are likely to spread
diseases contracted in prison to the local population.
(8) Some governments fail to permit prisoners and other
detainees reasonable exercise of religious worship or contact
with family members or other visitors.
(9) According to the United States Commission on
International Religious Freedom's 2009 Annual Report, religious
prisoners have been confined to overcrowded cells, exposed to
extreme temperature fluctuations, denied adequate food and
medical care, and denied access to clergy and religious
literature.
(10) Inhumane conditions in prisons and other detention
facilities often exist in countries where resources for law
enforcement are limited and only a small fraction of such
resources are made available for the operation and maintenance
of prisons and other detention facilities. Inadequate,
misplaced, or lost prison records often result in prisoners and
detainees being incarcerated indefinitely because of never
being tried or otherwise adjudicated, and being held long after
their sentences have expired thereby further swelling prison
populations. Allocating the relatively modest resources
necessary to provide for the basic human needs of prisoners and
other detainees and to remediate the inhumane conditions under
which such prisoners are held is often a low priority.
(11) The United States Government currently provides
significant amounts of assistance to countries whose
governments operate prisons and other detention facilities
that, because of their inhumane conditions, seriously
jeopardize the lives of prisoners and other detainees held
under their authority.
(12) The Department of State's 2009 Country Reports on
Human Rights Practices reported prison conditions as poor,
inhumane, or life threatening in more than 100 countries, all
of which receive United States assistance.
(13) The United States Government should use its influence
and resources to help ensure that governments that receive
United States assistance do not operate prisons and other
detention facilities under inhumane conditions. The United
States Government also should assist countries that are making
significant efforts to eliminate inhumane conditions in prisons
and other detention facilities.
(14) Eliminating inhumane conditions in foreign prisons and
other detention facilities will strengthen the rule of law,
save lives, and enhance the health and well-being of vulnerable
people in poor countries, and it will advance United States
interests.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Appropriations and the
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Appropriations and the
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of
Representatives.
(2) Minimum standards for the elimination of inhumane
conditions in foreign prisons and other detention facilities.--
The term ``minimum standards for the elimination of inhumane
conditions in prisons and other detention facilities'' means,
with respect to the operation or maintenance of prisons and
other detention facilities in a foreign country that is a
recipient of United States assistance, the following:
(A) The number of inmates or detainees held in a
facility does not so exceed prison capacity such that
per capita floor space is insufficient to allow for
humane sleeping conditions and reasonable physical
movement.
(B) Human waste facilities are sanitary and
accessible, and human waste is disposed of regularly
and in a sanitary manner.
(C) The lighting, ventilation, temperature, and
physical construction of prisons and other detention
facilities do not seriously endanger the health and
safety of prisoners.
(D) Prisoners and other detainees have access to
adequate food and potable drinking water.
(E) Prisoners and other detainees have access to
essential and emergency medical care.
(F) To the maximum extent practicable, prisoners
and other detainees are allowed religious observance
and materials, and contact with clergy, family, and
friends, by both correspondence and personal visits.
(3) United states assistance.--The term ``United States
assistance'' means any non-humanitarian assistance furnished to
carry out the provisions of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961
(22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.), the Arms Export Control Act (22
U.S.C. 2751 et seq.), or the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003
(22 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.).
SEC. 4. ACTIONS TO HELP ELIMINATE INHUMANE CONDITIONS IN FOREIGN
PRISONS AND OTHER DETENTION FACILITIES.
(a) Annual Report to Congress.--
(1) Annual report.--Not later than 180 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the
Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a report describing the conditions in
prisons and other detention facilities in countries receiving
United States assistance. The report shall include a list of
those countries, if any, receiving United States assistance,
whose governments--
(A) do not meet minimum standards for the
elimination of inhumane conditions in prisons and other
detention facilities but are making significant efforts
to comply; and
(B) do not meet such standards and are not making
significant efforts to comply.
(2) Significant efforts.--In making determinations under
paragraph (1) as to whether the government of a country is
making significant efforts to meet minimum standards for the
elimination of inhumane conditions in prisons and other
detention facilities, the Secretary of State shall consider the
extent to which the government of the country is--
(A) regularly monitoring the conditions of prisons
and other detention facilities under its authority,
including permitting prisoners and other detainees to
submit complaints without censorship, cooperating with
international experts on eliminating and monitoring
inhumane conditions in prisons and other detention
facilities, promptly investigating credible allegations
of inhumane conditions, and making information
concerning conditions and investigations available to
the public and the Secretary of State;
(B) taking effective steps to eliminate inhumane
conditions in prisons and other detention facilities,
which may include, among other steps, appointing
ombudsmen to serve on behalf of prisoners and other
detainees, providing alternatives to incarceration for
nonviolent offenders in order to alleviate inhumane
overcrowding, addressing the status and circumstances
of confinement of juveniles, improving pretrial
detention practices, and implementing bail and
recordkeeping procedures to reduce pretrial detention
periods and to ensure that prisoners do not serve
beyond the maximum sentence for the charged offense;
and
(C) increasing the amount of government resources
to eliminate inhumane conditions in prisons and other
detention facilities.
(3) Use of country reports.--The report required under
paragraph (1) may draw from the discussion of prison conditions
contained in the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
required under sections 116(d) and 502B(b) of the Foreign
Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d) and 2304(b)), but
shall for each country provide a detailed and up to date report
covering, whenever possible, each of the issues set forth in
section 3(2).
(4) Publication.--The report required under paragraph (1)
shall be made available to the public, including on a publicly
available website of the Department of State.
(b) Assistance for Governments Making Significant Efforts To
Eliminate Inhumane Conditions in Prisons and Other Detention
Facilities.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of State and the
Administrator of the United States Agency for International
Development should furnish assistance for the purpose of
helping to eliminate inhumane conditions in prisons and other
detention facilities to countries whose governments do not meet
minimum standards for the elimination of inhumane conditions in
prisons and other detention facilities but are making
significant efforts to comply.
(2) Inapplicability of foreign assistance act
prohibition.--The prohibitions under section 660 of the Foreign
Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2420) shall not be applicable
to assistance furnished to carry out the provisions of
paragraph (1).
(3) Grant funds.--Grants made under this subsection shall
be designated and used exclusively to help eliminate inhumane
conditions in the country receiving the grant, but may not
include the construction of new prisons. Funds made available
under this section shall be subject to the regular notification
procedures of the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate
and the House of Representatives.
(c) Negotiations With Governments Not Making Significant Efforts To
Eliminate Inhumane Conditions in Prisons and Other Detention
Facilities.--
(1) Negotiations.--In the case of a government receiving
United States assistance that is listed in the report submitted
under subsection (a)(1)(B) as not making significant efforts to
eliminate inhumane conditions in prisons and other detention
facilities, the Secretary of State shall, not later than 90
days after the date such report is submitted, enter into
negotiations with such government to achieve the purposes of
this Act.
(2) Actions regarding assistance and visas.--
(A) Assistance.--The Secretary of State and the
Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development may restructure, reprogram,
or reduce United States assistance for a government
described in paragraph (1) to achieve the purposes of
this Act.
(B) Visas.--The Secretary of State may issue or
deny visas for travel to the United States by officials
of a government described in paragraph (1) to achieve
the purposes of this Act.
(3) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the beginning of
the negotiations required under paragraph (1), the Secretary
shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a
report describing the actions taken or agreed to be taken, if
any, during such negotiations by the government of that country
that constitute significant efforts to eliminate inhumane
conditions in prisons and other detention facilities and the
actions taken, or that will be taken, by the United States
pursuant to paragraph (2) regarding assistance and visas. If
the Secretary determines that United States assistance to such
government should not be restructured, reprogrammed, or
reduced, or that visas should be issued or denied to officials
of such government, the report shall contain a detailed
explanation for that decision.
SEC. 5. TRAINING FOR FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICERS.
Section 708 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4028) is
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(d) The Secretary of State, with the assistance of other relevant
officials, shall establish as part of the standard training provided
for chiefs of mission, deputy chiefs of mission, and other officers of
the Service who are or will be involved in the assessment of conditions
in foreign prisons and other detention facilities or the drafting of
the annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, instruction on
matters related to conditions in such prisons and other detention
facilities and the substance of the Foreign Prison Conditions
Improvement Act of 2010.''.
SEC. 6. NEW POSITION TO MONITOR FOREIGN PRISON CONDITIONS.
The Secretary of State shall establish, within the Bureau of
Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, a new full-time equivalent Deputy
Assistant Secretary level position which shall have responsibility for
advancing the purposes of this Act.
SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
The Secretary of State may use funds available for any fiscal year
to carry out the provisions of part I and chapter 4 of part II of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq. and 22 U.S.C.
2346 et seq.) and the Support for East European Democracy (SEED) Act of
1989 (22 U.S.C. 5401 et seq.) to carry out the provisions of section
4(b) and section 6 of this Act and section 708(d) of the Foreign
Service Act of 1980, as added by section 5.
SEC. 8. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
For purposes of this Act--
(1) the prohibitions of section 104(f) of the Foreign
Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151b(f)) shall apply and
shall not be construed to be altered by this Act; and
(2) the minimum standards for foreign prisons and other
detention facilities shall not be determined based on the
provision of services for which funding is prohibited by that
section.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to House Foreign Affairs
Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to House Judiciary
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