Rwandan Prison

            Until 1963, Alcatraz served as an island prison for the most notorious criminals like Al Capone, “Bird Man, and George “Machine Gun” Kelly. The island served its’ purpose by separating the most dangerous from society and making it nearly impossible to escape “The Rock.” This type of punishment has been unsuccessfully implemented thorough out our history. In Africa, the Rwanda president, Paul Kagame, has devised a project where all those who commit crimes are sent to a remote island named Iwawa. The state of Rwanda, which had an ethnic civil war 16 years ago and now is one of the countries cleanest, safest, and least corrupt state of all Africa (Gettleman, 2010). The communities have national health insurance, and monthly neighborhood clean ups (Gettleman, 2010). Rwanda is one the poorest countries, but have accomplished controlling crime due to the Rwanda Island Prison project. Although the outcomes of the project are effective, the procedures of the project violate civil rights and law rights.

            The island houses around 900 inmates, those accused of petty crimes like stealing, loitering, and those suspected of being homeless (Gettleman, 2010). While in prison, the inmates will spend three years learning trade skills which should help with their rehabilitation.The country is fond of their new found project, but the accused are saying that its repression who is running the state. Those accused are not offered a formal trial and are also denied the chance to appear in court (Gettleman, 2010). Younger teenagers under the age of eighteen are also sent to the prison, and officials deny their presence in the island (Gettleman, 2010). Rwanda citizens say that its ,”nothing more than a camp to keep the appearance of the state uncontaminated” (Gettleman, 2010). Although the island is a prison camp, there is no sign of criminals who commit heinous crimes like murder and rape.

            Similar to the United States, Rwanda incarcerates around 604 per 100,000 of the population while the U.S. incarcerates 756 per 100,000. (Reutter, 2010). Offenders who commit another number of crimes are not sent to the island of Iwawa, but are sent to prisons like Gitarama, who has been labeled as one of the most horrible prisons on earth (Balzar, 1995). The Rwanda prison does seem horrible, but there is no indication of harmful acts towards the inmates. Other statistical information that has not been mentioned is whether or not the inmates released are rehabilitated. Considering that Rwanda is now one of the cleanest and safest place to live, it may seem that the program does reintegrate inmates back into the community. 

            The Rwandan people mention that the island program resembles Alcatraz, but the government gives it the name ‘Hawaii’.  Lawfully the Rwanda government should be held accountable for violating civil rights. If its true that the inmates are not offered a trial, the government should offer trials and release those with insufficient evidence for their confinement. The American Bar Association runs a program named the Rule of Law Initiative, who work with governments around the world to implement reform programs with volunteer lawyers (Filisko, 2010). ROLI has worked with the Republic of Congo, border country to Rwanda, and successfully addressed many criminal court issues (Filisko, 2010). Programs like the ROLI could devise a way conduct small trials for the Island inmates at the expense of the Rwandan president.

References

Balzar, John. (1995, April 16). This Years Horror In Prisons: Africa. Los Angeles Times

Filisko, G M. (2010). In The Hot Zone. ABA Journal. Chicago. 96(10). 64.

Gettleman, Jeffrey. (2010, April 30). Rwanda Pursues Dissenter and the Homeless. New             York Times. pp A1 new york edition.

Reutter, David M. (2010). Over 10 Million In Prison Worldwide. Prison Legal News. 2(4).             59.

Prison Problems

            Prior to 1970, a great emphasis was placed on rehabilitation for inmates. False research was produced that indicated that rehab was not working and therefore; educational and vocational training was reduced. The rehabilitation model was erased and replaced with punishment and incapacitation (Warren, 2008). Thus, the goals of the state moved to incapacitation, just deserts, deterrence, and retribution (Warren, 2008). New policies were implemented that focused more on crime control than rehabilitation and thus offenders were removed from their community for longer periods of time (Warren, 208). Thirty years later, the United States is starting to see the effects of incarcerating offenders for life. Ethnic disparities, racial laws, overcrowding, massive cost, high recidivism, and larger budgets are all consequences of sending offenders to prison for life.

            Overcrowding is one issue that affects the budget, the safety of staff, and the safety of inmates. With U.S. policies geared towards incapacitation, prison systems are overflowing with inmates and health conditions inside prisons have declined. Prisons in America are currently under receivership by the courts, meaning that the courts took over the prisons healthcare system and are trying to bring the standards of healthcare back to constitutional levels. The problem with being under receivership would be that it cost taxpayers millions more fix the problem. Healthcare costs are growing by 10 percent each year and will continue to climb as the prison population gets older. Another issue is that the United States incarcerates more people than China and Europe. 750 out of 100,000 American adults are in prison while in Germany 93 out of 100,000 people are incarcerated, the U.S. imprisons eight times more people than Germany (Liptak, 2008). As a result of high cost, building and operating prisons has increased the prisons budget faster than any other state budget (Warren,2008).

            According to the National Association of State Budget Officers, in 2007 the United States spent $44 billion in taxes on corrections (Liptak,2008). In 1987 the budget was $10.6 billion, the budget increased 127 percent (Liptak,2008). Including the federal government, money from bonds, and state spending the total is around 49 billion (Liptak,2008). Every year it cost around $40,000 to house an adult in prison and the amount doubles when juveniles are incarcerated. The Tough on Crime method has cost Americans billions of dollars and that amount will continue to increase if incarceration rates continue to climb. Correctional officers and staff are around 75 percent of the states budget for corrections, but in 2006, California spent 500 million of overtime pay alone (Liptak,2008).

            The cost of prisons not only affects Americans as taxpayers, but it also affects the inmates as customers of the state. With less money for rehabilitation and education, inmates have a greater chance of coming back to prison after release. The Correctional Education Association found strong evidence to indicate that education reduces recidivism and increases the chances for an inmate to find employment after release (Linton et al, 2010). 40 percent of the prison population have not completed high school which indicates that prisoners are less educated than the general public and inmates would benefit from rehabilitation, educational, and vocational training (Linton et al, 2010).

Since 2007, the U.S. has spent an additional 25 billion on top of the 49 billion in just four years. Considering the cut backs that states are making to their budgets, we may see a decrease in the states budget for corrections. Less money for corrections equals higher numbers of inmates released. If half of the inmate population has less than a high school diploma and the recidivism rate is around 75 percent, California will still have to spend millions for those inmates who return to prison. Cost effectiveness of prisons will become a priority as well as safety, which will also increase the cost of prisons.

References

Linton, John., Lockwood, Susan., Nally, John., & Steuver, Stephen J. (2010). The Top

Nine Reasons to Increase Correctional Education Programs. Corrections Today. 8, 40-43.

Liptak, Adam. (2008, 2, 29). U.S. Imprisons One in 100 Adults, Reports Finds. New

York Times.

Warren, Roger K. (2008). The Most Promising Way Forward: Incorporating Evidence-

Based Practice into State Sentencing and Corrections Policies. Federal Sentencing Reporter. 20(5). 322-325.