I 
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 deter-
mined 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 Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Foreign Prison Condi-
tions Improvement Act of 2010’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) Millions of incarcerated people in the world 
suffer inhumane conditions in prisons and other de-
tention 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 per-
cent 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 treat-
ment for serious illness or injury is, in many in-
stances, non-existent or grossly inadequate. 
(4) These conditions are compounded by severe 
overcrowding in prisons and other detention facili-
ties. Excessive pre-trial detention and dysfunctional 
justice systems frequently result in prisoners and 
other detainees spending years in such conditions be-
fore 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. 
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(5) Amnesty International’s 2009 State of the 
World’s Human Rights Report documented wide-
spread inhumane prison conditions, including over-
crowding, 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 de-
tainees 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. 
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(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 re-
sources 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 de-
tainees 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 de-
tainees 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 coun-
tries whose governments operate prisons and other 
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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 gov-
ernments that receive United States assistance do 
not operate prisons and other detention facilities 
under inhumane conditions. The United States Gov-
ernment also should assist countries that are making 
significant efforts to eliminate inhumane conditions 
in prisons and other detention facilities. 
(14) Eliminating inhumane conditions in for-
eign 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 in-
terests. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
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(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Appropriations and 
the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen-
ate; and 
(B) the Committee on Appropriations and 
the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 
of Representatives. 
(2) MINIMUM
STANDARDS
FOR
THE
ELIMI-
NATION
OF
INHUMANE
CONDITIONS
IN
FOREIGN 
PRISONS AND OTHER DETENTION FACILITIES.—The 
term ‘‘minimum standards for the elimination of in-
humane conditions in prisons and other detention fa-
cilities’’ 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 ca-
pacity such that per capita floor space is insuf-
ficient to allow for humane sleeping conditions 
and reasonable physical movement. 
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(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 ac-
cess to adequate food and potable drinking 
water. 
(E) Prisoners and other detainees have ac-
cess to essential and emergency medical care. 
(F) To the maximum extent practicable, 
prisoners and other detainees are allowed reli-
gious observance and materials, and contact 
with clergy, family, and friends, by both cor-
respondence and personal visits. 
(3) UNITED
STATES
ASSISTANCE.—The term 
‘‘United States assistance’’ means any non-humani-
tarian assistance furnished to carry out the provi-
sions 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 Chal-
lenge Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.). 
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SEC. 4. ACTIONS TO HELP ELIMINATE INHUMANE CONDI-
TIONS IN FOREIGN PRISONS AND OTHER DE-
TENTION FACILITIES. 
(a) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 
(1) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, and an-
nually thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit 
to the appropriate congressional committees a report 
describing the conditions in prisons and other deten-
tion 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 pris-
ons and other detention facilities but are mak-
ing significant efforts to comply; and 
(B) do not meet such standards and are 
not making significant efforts to comply. 
(2) SIGNIFICANT EFFORTS.—In making deter-
minations under paragraph (1) as to whether the 
government of a country is making significant ef-
forts to meet minimum standards for the elimination 
of inhumane conditions in prisons and other deten-
tion facilities, the Secretary of State shall consider 
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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 ex-
perts on eliminating and monitoring inhumane 
conditions in prisons and other detention facili-
ties, promptly investigating credible allegations 
of inhumane conditions, and making informa-
tion concerning conditions and investigations 
available to the public and the Secretary of 
State; 
(B) taking effective steps to eliminate in-
humane conditions in prisons and other deten-
tion facilities, which may include, among other 
steps, appointing ombudsmen to serve on behalf 
of prisoners and other detainees, providing al-
ternatives to incarceration for nonviolent of-
fenders in order to alleviate inhumane over-
crowding, addressing the status and cir-
cumstances of confinement of juveniles, improv-
ing pretrial detention practices, and imple-
menting bail and recordkeeping procedures to 
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reduce pretrial detention periods and to ensure 
that prisoners do not serve beyond the max-
imum 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 re-
quired 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 sec-
tion 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 De-
partment of State. 
(b) ASSISTANCE FOR GOVERNMENTS MAKING SIG-
NIFICANT EFFORTS TO ELIMINATE INHUMANE CONDI-
TIONS
IN PRISONS
AND OTHER DETENTION FACILI-
TIES.— 
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(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 mak-
ing 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 con-
struction of new prisons. Funds made available 
under this section shall be subject to the regular no-
tification procedures of the Committees on Appro-
priations of the Senate and the House of Represent-
atives. 
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(c) NEGOTIATIONS WITH GOVERNMENTS NOT MAK-
ING SIGNIFICANT EFFORTS TO ELIMINATE INHUMANE 
CONDITIONS IN PRISONS AND OTHER DETENTION FA-
CILITIES.— 
(1) NEGOTIATIONS.—In the case of a govern-
ment receiving United States assistance that is listed 
in the report submitted under subsection (a)(1)(B) 
as not making significant efforts to eliminate inhu-
mane conditions in prisons and other detention fa-
cilities, 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 re-
structure, reprogram, or reduce United States 
assistance for a government described in para-
graph (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 
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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 ap-
propriate congressional committees a report describ-
ing the actions taken or agreed to be taken, if any, 
during such negotiations by the government of that 
country that constitute significant efforts to elimi-
nate inhumane conditions in prisons and other de-
tention facilities and the actions taken, or that will 
be taken, by the United States pursuant to para-
graph (2) regarding assistance and visas. If the Sec-
retary determines that United States assistance to 
such government should not be restructured, repro-
grammed, 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 fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(d) The Secretary of State, with the assistance of 
other relevant officials, shall establish as part of the stand-
ard training provided for chiefs of mission, deputy chiefs 
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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, in-
struction 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 CON-
DITIONS. 
The Secretary of State shall establish, within the Bu-
reau 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 provi-
sions 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. 
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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. 
Æ 
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