PLEA FOR PRISONERS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19139, 7 October 1936, Page 11

PLEA FOR PRISONERS

RECORD POPULATION . PENAL REFORM MOVE LONDON, Sept. 20.. 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 to- he intolerable—is still used as a weapon against political, racial and even religious dissidents. The petition asserts that many pusoners have no other fault th;m that world events beyond (heir control have deprived them of their rights as nationals, while others belong to ininoiities whose protection has been the sunjort of repeated international negotiation. It points out that the worst evils confinement are overcrowding, insainlaij conditions, idleness, inadequate supervision, and unsuitable personnel, with consequent bullying, humiliation, petty cruelty and even torture —all almost invariably resulting Iroin the swollen prison population. The petition suggests serious improvements. Justice would he 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 lias 102,349 prisoners, oqualincr 157 per hundred thousand of population ; England, 11,948 (30 per 100.000) ; Australia, 3047 (57 per 100.000). Germany’s total excludes 50,003 persons in concentration camps. Sierra Leone with 386 prisoners (333 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 (153 per 100.000).