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eridani

(51,907 posts)
Thu Jun 12, 2014, 01:51 AM Jun 2014

Empire of Prisons: How the United States is Spreading Mass Incarceration around the World


http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/06/05/empire-of-prisons/

The United States, which leads the world in imprisonment rates, is exporting its model of mass incarceration to developing countries around the world. This “prison imperialism” is one of the foundational components to the infrastructure of Empire. Along with the militarization of police forces and borders, mass incarceration enables neoliberal economies to manage by force and intimidation the inevitable consequences of global capitalism: widespread social disruption and rising political dissent. (Neoliberalism is a system including free trade agreements, austerity programs and other measures that assure profitability is treasured above any other social value, and in the developing countries of the US Empire, it is backed up by the US military and its allies.)

Since 2000, there has been an explosion in US efforts to augment and restructure international penitentiary systems, providing training for prison personnel and/or building new jails in at least 25 different countries. The first of these efforts was the Program for the Improvement of the Colombian Prison System, signed by the US Embassy and the Colombian Department of Justice on March 31, 2000. The program was funded as part of the $9 billion the US has invested since 1999 in Plan Colombia mostly to benefit the military and law enforcement.

By 2002 in Afghanistan, and 2003 and 2004 in Iraq, the US was building and managing prisons as part of the invasion and occupation of those countries. These programs were connected from the start with the so-called “Global War on Terrorism” as well as the “Drug War”, through which many prison efforts have been funded. Closely related was the establishment of the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp in January 2002. Many have heard the horror stories of abuses in Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and the Bagram military detention camps. What most are unaware of is that US involvement in foreign jails has become a worldwide affair and is not just associated with direct military

Virtually unreported in the US media were the appalling conditions that resulted from the initial US-Colombia collaboration that laid the foundation for future international programs. Funding began with an initial grant from the US of $4.5 million. The first prison built was the penitentiary in Valledupar, commonly known as Tramacúa, completed in November, 2000. Conditions at Tramacúa are so bad that prisoners have access to clean water for only an average 10 minutes a day, sanitary facilities rarely work, torture is common, neglect of health care is systemic and UN and Colombian authorities and international observers have on three different occasions documented the presence of fecal matter in prison food.
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Empire of Prisons: How the United States is Spreading Mass Incarceration around the World (Original Post) eridani Jun 2014 OP
A truly dangerous proposition defacto7 Jun 2014 #1
, blkmusclmachine Jun 2014 #2
K&R'd. snot Jun 2014 #3
Sickening billhicks76 Jun 2014 #4
I never thought I would see my country come to this. woo me with science Jun 2014 #5
kick woo me with science Jun 2014 #6
Our society is sick, as evidenced by the things we export to the rest of the world, CrispyQ Jun 2014 #7
 

billhicks76

(5,082 posts)
4. Sickening
Thu Jun 12, 2014, 04:01 AM
Jun 2014

More coverage of this trend and the police state in General is needed. Kudos to rawstory.com that has covered skyrocketing police and prison abuse lately.

CrispyQ

(36,226 posts)
7. Our society is sick, as evidenced by the things we export to the rest of the world,
Thu Jun 12, 2014, 10:57 AM
Jun 2014

war, arms, prison. The global elite would like to kill off all the riffraff, but they will settle for locking us up instead.


...prisoners have access to clean water for only an average 10 minutes a day, sanitary facilities rarely work, torture is common, neglect of health care is systemic and UN and Colombian authorities and international observers have on three different occasions documented the presence of fecal matter in prison food.




When I read shit like this I have little hope for humanity.
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