Rep. Corrine Brown: “my amendment addresses one of the most basic issues that ties together every country in this globe. This issue is…”

“my amendment addresses one of the most basic issues that ties together every country in this globe. This issue is respect for human rights--including the rights of people accused of crimes. My amendment expresses the sense of Congress that the Governments of the Andean countries, including Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Columbia, and Venezuela, should respect the rights of prisoners, including United States Citizens, for timely legal procedures and international standards of due process. This is a simple amendment--one that would be difficult to vote against because it simply asks for due process, nothing more. On my recent trip to Ecuador, I witnessed extreme human rights violations in this nation's prisons, and in their justice system. I traveled to Ecuador to visit American prisoner James (Jim) Williams in the Guayaquil Penitentiary. Jim Williams is a businessman from Jacksonville, FL, and he has been held in this prison for the past 9 months. On my trip one factor became very apparent. Like several other South American countries, Ecuador's judicial system--including the courts and prisons--is in shambles. It is a country where poverty is the norm and typewriters are a luxury. Thousands of people linger in prisons for years without a trial.”