1. Prisoner’s Rights in Canada On any given day 35,000 adults in Canada are locked up in jails giving us one of the highest incarceration rates among western industrialized countries. There are 135 prisoners per 100,000 people in Canada. Approx. 160,000 prisoners. It costs on average $113,000 per year per prisoner. There are 40,000 young offenders locked up in Canada.

2. Death Penalty Eliminated on July 14, 1976 Since 1867- 1,481 were sentenced to death and 710 were actually hanged, 697 were men and 13 were women. Until 1961 prisoners were hanged for murder, rape and treason. In 1961 only capitol murder carried the death penalty. Last execution was a double hanging which took place in Toronto’s Don Jail on Dec,11 1962.

3. A young Winston Churchill once famously said in 1910; “the treatment of crime and criminals is one of the most unfailing tests of the civilization of any country.” Fyodor Dostoyevsky in 1862 said that “the degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering into its prisons.”

4. In Canada, the federal offender is now older, more addicted, more mentally ill and more culturally and ethnically diverse. Approximately 80% of inmates are First Nations and ethnic minorities. The offender population is growing older, sicker and more infirm behind bars. One in five inmates are aged 50 or older. One in three is serving a life sentence, most will die in prison in less than dignified conditions. One third of inmates are mentally unstable and suffer from mental illness.

5. Canadian prisons have taken the place of mental hospitals and are the asylums of the 21 st century. One third of all prisoners suffer from mental illness. The average level of education amongst prisoners is grade 8. Addiction and substance abuse plagues 80% of prisoners and 2/3 of offenders were intoxicated when they committed the crime that put them behind bars. 31% of inmates are infected with Hepatitis C and 5% are HIV positive.

6. 70% of federally sentenced women report histories of sexual abuse and 86% have been physically abused at some point in their life. Here in Canada our jails and prisons are increasingly overcrowded with 21% of the population ‘double bunked’ With overcrowding comes more violence, making ‘lockdown’ more and more common. Prison suicide rates are seven times higher than the general Canadian society. Prison self injury incidences has tripled in the last five years. In 2013 alone there were 822 suicide attempts.

7. ‘Law and Order’ agenda Increasing some maximum penalties Expanding the use of mandatory minimums The tightening or abolition of some conditional release provisions and longer waiting periods for pardons. These changes have contributed to a 9% increase of the total prison population in the last two years.

8. What can be done? Conditions of confinement must reflect social norms and values the best they can and prepare offenders not only to be responsible, but also respectful of rights. THIS MEANS VIEWING CORRECTIONS THROUGH A HUMAN RIGHTS LENS. Prison should not be about making good inmates but rather assisting them to become good citizens.

9. A society truly concerned with human rights and the well being of ALL citizens would avoid imprisonment to the extent possible. Concern about the welfare of each other would be reflected in how we treat those who struggle on the sidelines. When substance abuse, poverty, vulnerability, social exclusion, addiction and mental illness get entangled in the criminal justice system the results are predictable poor. Prisons should never become the default response to our social ills.

10. Prisoners maintain the right to be treated with legality, dignity and respect. They have the right to safety and security of the person, the right to be treated humanely and be free from torture, degrading or inhumane punishment. It is important that our correctional authorities be held to account to ensure rights and liberties are upheld.

11. “It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside it’s jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.” -Nelson Mandela