LIBERTY LOST.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 236, 5 October 1936, Page 7

LIBERTY LOST.

Plea for the Thousands in Prison. AMAZING WORLD STATISTICS. LONDON, September 28. Declaring that never before in all history have so many men and women, many "of whom are not criminals, been deprived of liberty, the Howard League for Penal Reform has sent a circular to League delegates at Geneva urging an immediate census of the world's prison population. The petition stresses the extent to which the penalty of imprisonment — often under conditions which nations have agreed are intolerable —is still used as a weapon against political, racial, and even religious dissidents. The petition asserts that many prisoners have no other fault than that ] world events beyond their control have deprived them of their rights as nationals, while others belong to minorities whose protection has been the subject of repeated international negotiation. It points out that the worst evils of confinement are overcrowding, insanitary conditions, idleness, inadequate supervision, and unsuitable personnel, with consequent buflying, humiliation, petty cruelty and even torture —all almost invariably resulting from the swollen prison population. The petition suggests serious improvements. Justice would be obtainable and an enormous amount of needless suffering could be avoided if members of the League of Nations would keep and publish accurate statistics of all persons deprived of liberty by the State. The inadequate statistics at present available show astonishingly unequal conditions. Germany has 102,349 prisoners, equalling 151 per 100,000 of population; England, 11,948 (30 per 100,000); Australia, 3847 (57 per 100,000). Germany's total excludes 50,000 persons in concentration caups. Sierra Leone with 386 prisoners (383 per 100,000) is the world's worst. The Irish Free State is best with 588 and 19.4. The United States occupies a high place on the list with 201,433 prisoners (158 per 100,000).