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DEFENDERS
30
Au t umn&wi n t e r
2 0 1 4 & 2 0 1 5
of the lives of individuals, the high
statistics of arrests and the possession
of firearms are all examples of human
rights violations in the United States of
America. Over these last few years we
have witnessed several instances of gun
related violent crimes inAmerica which is
indicative of the lack of enough protection
of the lives of the citizens and problems
with personal safety in the country.
(According to figures published by
the Federal Bureau of Investigation in
September 2012, in 2011, approximately
386.3 crimes took place in every 100,000
population of the country).
In January 2013, President Obama
proposed a 23 stage plan for gun control,
but in April the Senate voted against this
proposal.
40- Estimates are that there are 1.6 to
2.8 million children living on the street
and 42% percent of homeless youth
experienced homelessness for one or
more nights at some point in their lives
following foster care
41-According to the report of the
National Centre for Disappeared and
Exploited Children, each year at least
100,000 children are trafficked across
America. Sexual exploitation of children
is another public health issue in America.
(According to a 5 November 2012
report, researches announced that 20
percent of adult women and between five
and fifteen percent of men in America
had experienced sexual abuse during
childhood adolescence.) Every year more
than 3 million reports of child abuse
are made in the United States involving
more than 6 million children (a report can
include multiple children). The United
States has one of the worst records among
industrialized nations – losing on average
between four and seven children every
day to child abuse and neglect.
Detention Condition
42-With 2.2 million people currently in
the nation’s prisons or jails, representing
a 700% increase since 1970 the United
States re-mains the world’s leader in
incarceration. Despite the fact that
Americans constitute only 5% of the
world’s population, the U.S. has 25%
of world prisoners. The growth of for-
profit imprisonment and the concomitant
growing influence on federal and national
policies has resulted in harsh sentencing
and detention laws.
43- It is said that life in prison without
possibility of parole or pardon is one of
the reasons behind the overcrowding
of prisons in America, which results in
the aging of the prison population. This
has caused a lot of problems in prisons.
Statistics show that till the end of 2011
there were 26,136 prisoners over the age
of 65 in Federal and State prisons.
44- Due to felony disenfranchisement,
5.85 million Americans, and one in
every thirteen African-Americans, are
prohibited from voting due to laws that
disenfranchise citizens convicted of
felony offenses.
45- Over the last two decades, prisons
in the United States have increasingly
relied on solitary confinement, even
building entire facilities which primarily
serve to hold individuals for years and
sometimes even decades in extreme
isolation. Currently, there are over 80,000
people held in solitary confinement in
America.
46- The findings of a study conducted
by the American National Science
Academy shows that more than 4% or
1 out of every 25 prisoners sentenced to
death are innocent.
September 2013 was the tenth
anniversary of the adoption of the Prison
Rape EliminationAct, as a result of which
the national standards for combating with
rape and the punishment of offenders in
prisons be raised, but the implementation
of this act is still a challenge.
47-According to this report in the years
2011 and 12 approximately 4% of federal
prisoners and 3% of prisoners in private
run prisons had experienced sexual
abuse at least once, and this is only part
of the problem, because most cases of
sexual abuse and rape committed against
prisoners are gone unreported.
48-According to psychologists familiar
with the subject, solitary confinement
leads to “isolation panic,” “long-term
According to
the report of the
National Centre for
Disappeared and
Exploited Children,
each year at least
100,000 children are
trafficked across
America. Sexual
exploitation of
children is another
public health issue
in America