Profit-driven private prisons in U.S. violate human rights: report

　　Cartoon: Who traded me for $? (Xinhua/Yin Zhelun)

BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- According to China's latest report on U.S. human rights violations in 2021, prisoners held in U.S. private prisons are at risk of being abused, and conditions in private detention facilities where migrants are held are poor.

The UN News reported on Feb. 4, 2021 that in 2019, there were about 116,000 U.S. prisoners held in privately operated facilities, representing about 7 percent of all state prisoners and 16 percent of federal prisoners, quoting data from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics.

China's State Council Information Office released the Report on Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2021 on Monday, which was based on information from international media reports and government statistics.

U.S. authorities detained more than 1.7 million migrants along the Mexico border during the 2021 fiscal year that ended in September. Among them, up to 80 percent are held in private detention facilities, including 45,000 children, the report said.

Most of the detention facilities in the United States are built and operated by private companies. In order to reduce operating costs and maximize profits, private companies generally build in accordance with the minimum standards contracted with the government, resulting in poor detention facilities and a harsh internal environment, it said.

A lack of supervision has led to chaotic management of the detention facilities and repeated violations of human rights, while detainees suffered varying degrees of physical and mental health damage, the report added.