Jim Inhofe: “it is with great pleasure that I introduce the Foreign Prison Conditions Improvement Act along with my friend from…”

“it is with great pleasure that I introduce the Foreign Prison Conditions Improvement Act along with my friend from Vermont, Senator Patrick Leahy. This bill seeks to identify and eliminate unhealthy and unsafe prison conditions found in developing countries like Haiti and on the African continent where millions suffer in inhumane conditions. Overcrowded, unsanitary detention and incarceration facilities endanger lives. This extremely high risk environment is a breeding ground for disease, particularly HIV/AIDs and tuberculosis, and creates grave risks to communities in which released prisoners live. Studies estimate that HIV infection rates in prisons in developing countries can be as much as 50 times higher than in the general population, and tuberculosis infection rates in prisons there are more than 20 times higher than in the general population. Our bill encourages these developing nations to provide humane and sanitary prison conditions so that prisoners can be released in good health, and thus stem one of the causes of the spread of HIV and tuberculosis among the general public. Our bill also focuses on eliminating excessive pre-trial detention and dysfunctional justice systems which frequently result in prisoners and other detainees spending years in unhealthy prison conditions before their cases are even adjudicated.…”