By Wang Yusheng (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-03-14 07:18

A survey by the Pew Research Center of the United States recently revealed that the US imprisons more people than any other country in the world. The number of adult American prisoners grew to 2.3 million last year, meaning that more than one in 100 adult Americans are behind bars.

Using state-by-state data, the report says 2,319,258 Americans were in jail at the start of 2008, one of every 99.1 adults. Whether per capita or in raw numbers, it is more than any other nation.

The report also found that the ratio of minority prisoners is even higher: one in 36 adult Hispanic Americans is jailed and one in 15 adult African American is in prison. By the end of 2007, the US spending on prisons and corrections in the 50 states exceeded $49 billion, as compared with $11 billion, 20 years ago.

Not long ago, International Human Rights Watch said, based on US Justice Department figures, that the number of American prisoners had reached 2.25 million by the end of 2006 and 751 out every 100,000 people were prisoners, making the US a country with the highest incarceration rate in the world. The director of the project said it was indeed a disgraceful record for the US.

Actually, it is not accidental that the US has such an outrageously high rate of incarcerations.

First, compared with other developed countries, the US figure is six times higher than Britain, seven times higher than Canada and eight times higher France. Is it because US democracy is more advanced than other democratic countries?

Second, the figure is double that of countries like Libya and Iran. Why on earth does the democratic US imprison more people than the "failing states" called by the US? Why is it US democracy that produces so many criminals?

Third, among all the American prisoners, black people are six times more than white people. Is it simply because white people are born to be more likely to respect and obey laws than black people? Can it be said that there is no racial discrimination?

The US abuse of prisoners has become of serious concern in the international community. It makes people wonder what the neo-conservatives, advocates of human rights and democracy, are thinking.

The author is a Beijing-based researcher on international relations

(China Daily 03/14/2008 page10)