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[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6153 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6153

    To authorize appropriations of United States assistance to help 
eliminate conditions in foreign prisons and other detention facilities 
 that do not meet minimum humane standards of health, sanitation, and 
                    safety, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 16, 2010

Mr. Delahunt (for himself and Mr. Pitts) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition 
  to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
    To authorize appropriations of United States assistance to help 
eliminate conditions in foreign prisons and other detention facilities 
 that do not meet minimum humane standards of health, sanitation, and 
                    safety, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Foreign Prison Conditions 
Improvement Act of 2010''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Millions of incarcerated people in the world suffer 
        inhumane conditions in prisons and other detention facilities 
        that are overcrowded, unsanitary, and unsafe to the point of 
        endangering their lives.
            (2) According to a 2009 International Centre for Prison 
        Studies report, there are an estimated 9,800,000 people held in 
        penal institutions in the world, with prison populations 
        increasing in 71 percent of the over 200 countries surveyed.
            (3) Rates of malnutrition, disease, and death among 
        prisoners and other detainees far exceed those of the general 
        population, and medical treatment for serious illness or injury 
        is, in many instances, non-existent or grossly inadequate.
            (4) These conditions are compounded by severe overcrowding 
        in prisons and other detention facilities. Excessive pre-trial 
        detention and dysfunctional justice systems frequently result 
        in prisoners and other detainees spending years in such 
        conditions before their cases are adjudicated. In some 
        countries, such facilities are filled to capacity many times 
        over resulting in conditions so cramped that individual 
        prisoners cannot move without all doing so en masse.
            (5) Amnesty International's 2009 State of the World's Human 
        Rights Report documented widespread inhumane prison conditions, 
        including overcrowding, inadequate food and water, no access to 
        hygiene products or medical care, juveniles detained with 
        adults, and denial of visits from family.
            (6) Some governments fail to provide even the most 
        rudimentary sanitation in prisons and other detention 
        facilities, putting prisoners and other detainees at even 
        greater risk of easily preventable and often life-threatening 
        diseases. Toilets are few or non-existent and human waste 
        repositories often are located among the general prison 
        population, forcing prisoners to eat, sleep, and live in 
        grossly unsanitary conditions.
            (7) According to a 2009 report by the United Nations 
        Economic and Social Council's Commission on Crime Prevention 
        and Criminal Justice, former prisoners are likely to spread 
        diseases contracted in prison to the local population.
            (8) Some governments fail to permit prisoners and other 
        detainees reasonable exercise of religious worship or contact 
        with family members or other visitors.
            (9) According to the United States Commission on 
        International Religious Freedom's 2009 Annual Report, religious 
        prisoners have been confined to overcrowded cells, exposed to 
        extreme temperature fluctuations, denied adequate food and 
        medical care, and denied access to clergy and religious 
        literature.
            (10) Inhumane conditions in prisons and other detention 
        facilities often exist in countries where resources for law 
        enforcement are limited and only a small fraction of such 
        resources are made available for the operation and maintenance 
        of prisons and other detention facilities. Inadequate, 
        misplaced, or lost prison records often result in prisoners and 
        detainees being incarcerated indefinitely because of never 
        being tried or otherwise adjudicated, and being held long after 
        their sentences have expired thereby further swelling prison 
        populations. Allocating the relatively modest resources 
        necessary to provide for the basic human needs of prisoners and 
        other detainees and to remediate the inhumane conditions under 
        which such prisoners are held is often a low priority.
            (11) The United States Government currently provides 
        significant amounts of assistance to countries whose 
        governments operate prisons and other detention facilities 
        that, because of their inhumane conditions, seriously 
        jeopardize the lives of prisoners and other detainees held 
        under their authority.
            (12) The Department of State's 2009 Country Reports on 
        Human Rights Practices reported prison conditions as poor, 
        inhumane, or life threatening in more than 100 countries, all 
        of which receive United States assistance.
            (13) The United States Government should use its influence 
        and resources to help ensure that governments that receive 
        United States assistance do not operate prisons and other 
        detention facilities under inhumane conditions. The United 
        States Government also should assist countries that are making 
        significant efforts to eliminate inhumane conditions in prisons 
        and other detention facilities.
            (14) Eliminating inhumane conditions in foreign prisons and 
        other detention facilities will strengthen the rule of law, 
        save lives, and enhance the health and well-being of vulnerable 
        people in poor countries, and it will advance United States 
        interests.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Appropriations and the 
                Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; and
                    (B) the Committee on Appropriations and the 
                Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
                Representatives.
            (2) Minimum standards for the elimination of inhumane 
        conditions in foreign prisons and other detention facilities.--
        The term ``minimum standards for the elimination of inhumane 
        conditions in prisons and other detention facilities'' means, 
        with respect to the operation or maintenance of prisons and 
        other detention facilities in a foreign country that is a 
        recipient of United States assistance, the following:
                    (A) The number of inmates or detainees held in a 
                facility does not so exceed prison capacity such that 
                per capita floor space is insufficient to allow for 
                humane sleeping conditions and reasonable physical 
                movement.
                    (B) Human waste facilities are sanitary and 
                accessible, and human waste is disposed of regularly 
                and in a sanitary manner.
                    (C) The lighting, ventilation, temperature, and 
                physical construction of prisons and other detention 
                facilities do not seriously endanger the health and 
                safety of prisoners.
                    (D) Prisoners and other detainees have access to 
                adequate food and potable drinking water.
                    (E) Prisoners and other detainees have access to 
                essential and emergency medical care.
                    (F) To the maximum extent practicable, prisoners 
                and other detainees are allowed religious observance 
                and materials, and contact with clergy, family, and 
                friends, by both correspondence and personal visits.
            (3) United states assistance.--The term ``United States 
        assistance'' means any non-humanitarian assistance furnished to 
        carry out the provisions of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 
        (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.), the Arms Export Control Act (22 
        U.S.C. 2751 et seq.), or the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 
        (22 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.).

SEC. 4. ACTIONS TO HELP ELIMINATE INHUMANE CONDITIONS IN FOREIGN 
              PRISONS AND OTHER DETENTION FACILITIES.

    (a) Annual Report to Congress.--
            (1) Annual report.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
        of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 
        Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate 
        congressional committees a report describing the conditions in 
        prisons and other detention facilities in countries receiving 
        United States assistance. The report shall include a list of 
        those countries, if any, receiving United States assistance, 
        whose governments--
                    (A) do not meet minimum standards for the 
                elimination of inhumane conditions in prisons and other 
                detention facilities but are making significant efforts 
                to comply; and
                    (B) do not meet such standards and are not making 
                significant efforts to comply.
            (2) Significant efforts.--In making determinations under 
        paragraph (1) as to whether the government of a country is 
        making significant efforts to meet minimum standards for the 
        elimination of inhumane conditions in prisons and other 
        detention facilities, the Secretary of State shall consider the 
        extent to which the government of the country is--
                    (A) regularly monitoring the conditions of prisons 
                and other detention facilities under its authority, 
                including permitting prisoners and other detainees to 
                submit complaints without censorship, cooperating with 
                international experts on eliminating and monitoring 
                inhumane conditions in prisons and other detention 
                facilities, promptly investigating credible allegations 
                of inhumane conditions, and making information 
                concerning conditions and investigations available to 
                the public and the Secretary of State;
                    (B) taking effective steps to eliminate inhumane 
                conditions in prisons and other detention facilities, 
                which may include, among other steps, appointing 
                ombudsmen to serve on behalf of prisoners and other 
                detainees, providing alternatives to incarceration for 
                nonviolent offenders in order to alleviate inhumane 
                overcrowding, addressing the status and circumstances 
                of confinement of juveniles, improving pretrial 
                detention practices, and implementing bail and 
                recordkeeping procedures to reduce pretrial detention 
                periods and to ensure that prisoners do not serve 
                beyond the maximum sentence for the charged offense; 
                and
                    (C) increasing the amount of government resources 
                to eliminate inhumane conditions in prisons and other 
                detention facilities.
            (3) Use of country reports.--The report required under 
        paragraph (1) may draw from the discussion of prison conditions 
        contained in the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 
        required under sections 116(d) and 502B(b) of the Foreign 
        Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d) and 2304(b)), but 
        shall for each country provide a detailed and up to date report 
        covering, whenever possible, each of the issues set forth in 
        section 3(2).
            (4) Publication.--The report required under paragraph (1) 
        shall be made available to the public, including on a publicly 
        available website of the Department of State.
    (b) Assistance for Governments Making Significant Efforts To 
Eliminate Inhumane Conditions in Prisons and Other Detention 
Facilities.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of State and the 
        Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
        Development should furnish assistance for the purpose of 
        helping to eliminate inhumane conditions in prisons and other 
        detention facilities to countries whose governments do not meet 
        minimum standards for the elimination of inhumane conditions in 
        prisons and other detention facilities but are making 
        significant efforts to comply.
            (2) Inapplicability of foreign assistance act 
        prohibition.--The prohibitions under section 660 of the Foreign 
        Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2420) shall not be applicable 
        to assistance furnished to carry out the provisions of 
        paragraph (1).
            (3) Grant funds.--Grants made under this subsection shall 
        be designated and used exclusively to help eliminate inhumane 
        conditions in the country receiving the grant, but may not 
        include the construction of new prisons. Funds made available 
        under this section shall be subject to the regular notification 
        procedures of the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate 
        and the House of Representatives.
    (c) Negotiations With Governments Not Making Significant Efforts To 
Eliminate Inhumane Conditions in Prisons and Other Detention 
Facilities.--
            (1) Negotiations.--In the case of a government receiving 
        United States assistance that is listed in the report submitted 
        under subsection (a)(1)(B) as not making significant efforts to 
        eliminate inhumane conditions in prisons and other detention 
        facilities, the Secretary of State shall, not later than 90 
        days after the date such report is submitted, enter into 
        negotiations with such government to achieve the purposes of 
        this Act.
            (2) Actions regarding assistance and visas.--
                    (A) Assistance.--The Secretary of State and the 
                Administrator of the United States Agency for 
                International Development may restructure, reprogram, 
                or reduce United States assistance for a government 
                described in paragraph (1) to achieve the purposes of 
                this Act.
                    (B) Visas.--The Secretary of State may issue or 
                deny visas for travel to the United States by officials 
                of a government described in paragraph (1) to achieve 
                the purposes of this Act.
            (3) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the beginning of 
        the negotiations required under paragraph (1), the Secretary 
        shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
        report describing the actions taken or agreed to be taken, if 
        any, during such negotiations by the government of that country 
        that constitute significant efforts to eliminate inhumane 
        conditions in prisons and other detention facilities and the 
        actions taken, or that will be taken, by the United States 
        pursuant to paragraph (2) regarding assistance and visas. If 
        the Secretary determines that United States assistance to such 
        government should not be restructured, reprogrammed, or 
        reduced, or that visas should be issued or denied to officials 
        of such government, the report shall contain a detailed 
        explanation for that decision.

SEC. 5. TRAINING FOR FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICERS.

    Section 708 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4028) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(d) The Secretary of State, with the assistance of other relevant 
officials, shall establish as part of the standard training provided 
for chiefs of mission, deputy chiefs of mission, and other officers of 
the Service who are or will be involved in the assessment of conditions 
in foreign prisons and other detention facilities or the drafting of 
the annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, instruction on 
matters related to conditions in such prisons and other detention 
facilities and the substance of the Foreign Prison Conditions 
Improvement Act of 2010.''.

SEC. 6. NEW POSITION TO MONITOR FOREIGN PRISON CONDITIONS.

    The Secretary of State shall establish, within the Bureau of 
Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, a new full-time equivalent Deputy 
Assistant Secretary level position which shall have responsibility for 
advancing the purposes of this Act.

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    The Secretary of State may use funds available for any fiscal year 
to carry out the provisions of part I and chapter 4 of part II of the 
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq. and 22 U.S.C. 
2346 et seq.) and the Support for East European Democracy (SEED) Act of 
1989 (22 U.S.C. 5401 et seq.) to carry out the provisions of section 
4(b) and section 6 of this Act and section 708(d) of the Foreign 
Service Act of 1980, as added by section 5.

SEC. 8. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

    For purposes of this Act--
            (1) the prohibitions of section 104(f) of the Foreign 
        Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151b(f)) shall apply and 
        shall not be construed to be altered by this Act; and
            (2) the minimum standards for foreign prisons and other 
        detention facilities shall not be determined based on the 
        provision of services for which funding is prohibited by that 
        section.
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