U.N. human rights experts have called for major reforms of the U.S. criminal justice system to combat systemic racism, citing testimonies that jailed Black women had been shackled during childbirth while male inmates were forced to work in "plantation-style" conditions.

In a report published on Thursday, three U.N.-appointed experts said they had found practices in U.S. prisons that amounted to "an affront to human dignity" in visits in April and May.

The U.S. diplomatic mission in Geneva declined to comment. The Federal Bureau of Prisons said it was committed to ensuring the safety and security of incarcerated individuals as well as employees and the public.

One such practice is restraining and shackling women prisoners during childbirth, the report said.

The experts "heard, first hand, unbearable direct testimonies of pregnant women shackled during labour, who due to the chaining, lost their babies", it said. Asked to give details, a U.N. rights spokesperson referred to "several" cases and confirmed they all involved Black women.

  • WilliamTheWicked@lemmy.worldEnglish
    86·
    1 year ago

    I mean, honestly, this is a rather unfair assessment.

    It's not just our jail system. It's pretty much the entire judicial system at every step of the way, from a traffic stop to eventual execution.

    • Jerkules_Jerkules@lemmy.world
      22·
      1 year ago

      our police/courts/corrections is an industry, unfortunately. Who knew that placing ever more profit motives on arresting, processing, and jailing people would end up leading to bad outcomes.

      But, hey, it's just the unwashed the masses, so who cares, I guess.