# Prisoner abuse > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Prisoner_abuse > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Prisoner_abuse.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner_abuse > Source revision: 1354800346 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Mistreatment of imprisoned people by authorities}} {{Criminology and penology |penology}} '''Prisoner abuse''' is the mistreatment of persons while they are under [arrest](/source/arrest) or [incarcerated](/source/incarcerated). Prisoner abuse can include [physical abuse](/source/physical_abuse), [psychological abuse](/source/psychological_abuse), [sexual abuse](/source/sexual_abuse), [torture](/source/torture), or other acts such as refusal of essential medication, and it can be perpetuated by either fellow inmates or prison faculty.{{Cite web |title=Prisoner Abuse Law and Legal Definition {{!}} USLegal, Inc. |url=https://definitions.uslegal.com/p/prisoner-abuse/ |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=definitions.uslegal.com}} == Forms of abuse == Abuse of prisoners can include [physical abuse](/source/physical_abuse), as well as psychological forms of harm including [verbal abuse](/source/verbal_abuse), [sleep deprivation](/source/sleep_deprivation), [white noise](/source/white_noise), pointless/absurd or [humiliating](/source/humiliation) instructions, recurrent exhaustive [inspection](/source/inspection)s and [shakedowns](/source/Police_raid), arbitrary [strip search](/source/strip_search)es, and denuding actions.{{cite web | title=Restrained, Beaten, Asphyxiated: New York Prison Guards' Brutality Grows | website=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/nyregion/ny-prison-guards-abuse-brutality.html }} ===Enablement of sexual violence=== Prisoners are sometimes intentionally housed with inmates known to have raped other prisoners, or protection from known rapists may be purposely withheld from the prisoners. These practices create a very high incidence of [rape in US prisons](/source/prison_rape_in_the_United_States), which was the topic of the 2001 report No Escape from [Human Rights Watch](/source/Human_Rights_Watch).{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/prison/|title=No Escape: Male Rape in U.S. Prisons|website=www.hrw.org}}{{Cite journal|title = Plenary 2 -- Redefining Gender Violence|journal = Converge! Reimagining the Movement to End Gender Violence|ssrn = 2628984|publisher = Social Science Research Network|date = 2015-07-09|location = Rochester, NY|first1 = Leigh|last1 = Goodmark|first2 = Juanita|last2 = Flores|first3 = Julie|last3 = Goldscheid|first4 = Andrea|last4 = Ritchie|last5 = SpearIt|author-link=Leigh Goodmark}} ===Strip searches=== The experience of forced [strip search](/source/strip_search)es can be experienced as a traumatic event similarly to that of [rape](/source/rape), especially when combined with habitual [body cavity search](/source/body_cavity_search)es. The prevalence of [CCTV](/source/CCTV) in modern correctional facilities and the generally indiscreet nature of strip searches, often with a number of [prison guard](/source/prison_guard)s observing, usually adds to the experienced humiliation. Strip searches are often arbitrarily used under various pretences, when the actual ambition is to assert control and predominance as well as to intimidate the subjected prison inmates.{{Cite web|url=https://www.aclu.org/blog/smart-justice/mass-incarceration/standing-against-sexual-assault-state|title=Standing Up Against Sexual Assault By the State|website=American Civil Liberties Union|date=12 April 2012 |language=en|access-date=2019-10-13}} ==Torture== Torture of prisoners includes any act, whether physical or psychological, which is deliberately done to inflict sensations of pain upon a person under the actor's custody or physical control. This form of prisoner abuse is usually exerted to extract information, but also as means of intimidation, attrition or punishment. ===Enhanced interrogation=== "Enhanced interrogation" is a euphemism for U.S. torture methods implemented in the [war on terror](/source/war_on_terror) purportedly needed to extract information from detainees. Examples include use of [stress position](/source/stress_position)s, [sleep deprivation](/source/sleep_deprivation), [starvation](/source/starvation), [thirst](/source/thirst), and [sexual humiliation](/source/Sexual_abuse).{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/dec/09/cia-torture-methods-waterboarding-sleep-deprivation|title=How the CIA tortured its detainees|last=Laughland|first=Oliver|date=2015-05-20|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-10-13|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} ==Abu Ghraib== {{excerpt|Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse}} ==Right to health== According to international laws, a State is liable to ensure prisoners' [right to receive health care](/source/Right_to_health). Prison authorities are fully responsible to provide proper medical treatment to the detainees and ensure their well-being.{{cite web|url=https://www.lrwc.org/prisoners-the-right-to-medical-treatment-international-law-provisions-report/|title=Prisoners: The Right to Medical Treatment – International Law Provisions-Report|access-date=28 March 2019|website=Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada}} ===COVID-19 pandemic=== During the [COVID-19 pandemic](/source/COVID-19_pandemic), the overcrowded Jaw prison of Bahrain witnessed a major [COVID-19](/source/COVID-19) outbreak. Several prisoners were confirmed to be infected with the virus, while the authorities failed to facilitate them with proper preventive medical supplies, including face masks or hand sanitizers, and conducting regular screening tests. The authorities fell short of ensuring prisoners' rights to health and following the rules of treating prisoners. One of the main concerns had been the extensive population of the prison, which made [social distancing](/source/social_distancing) impossible.{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/04/bahraini-authorities-flouting-prisoners-rights-to-health-amid-rise-in-covid-19-cases-at-jaw-prison/|title=Bahraini authorities flouting prisoners' rights to health amid rise in COVID-19 cases at Jaw prison|access-date=12 April 2021|website=Amnesty International|date=9 April 2021 }} On 9 June 2021, an inmate of Jaw prison, Husain Barakat, died due to COVID-19 complications.{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/06/bahrain-death-of-prisoner-a-warning-for-covid-19-failings-in-jaw-prison/|title=Bahrain: Death of prisoner a warning for Covid-19 failings in Jaw Prison|access-date=14 June 2022|website=Amnesty International|date=14 June 2021 }} Even after the pandemic, Bahrain's Jaw prison remained controversial, where prisoners' rights of health continued to be violated. In June 2022, [Amnesty International](/source/Amnesty_International) reported that Bahraini authorities failed to respond to the inmates suffering with [tuberculosis](/source/tuberculosis). Prison authorities constantly disregarded the prisoners with symptoms and did not allow them to get tested for the airborne disease. Some of the prisoners were called back to the prison after they were confirmed of being infected in the hospital. One of the prisoners, Ahmed Jaber, was not sent to the hospital until he was semi-paralysed after being sick for 11 months.{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/06/bahrain-prison-officials-inadequate-response-to-tuberculosis-cases-in-jaw-prison-puts-prisoners-health-at-serious-risk/|title=Bahrain: Prison Officials' Inadequate Response To Tuberculosis Cases In Jaw Prison Puts Prisoners' Health At Serious Risk|access-date=9 June 2022|website=Amnesty International|date=9 June 2022 }} ==See also== *[Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse](/source/Abu_Ghraib_torture_and_prisoner_abuse) *[Prisoner abuse in the United States](/source/Prisoner_abuse_in_the_United_States) *[Prison overcrowding](/source/Prison_overcrowding) *[Extermination through labor](/source/Extermination_through_labor) *[Penal harm](/source/Penal_harm) *[Police misconduct](/source/Police_misconduct) *[Prisoners' rights](/source/Prisoners'_rights) *[Death in custody](/source/Death_in_custody) *[Stun belt](/source/Stun_belt) ==References== {{Reflist}} ==Further reading== *Gates, Madison L. and Robert K. Bradford. "[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4381682/ The Impact of Incarceration on Obesity: Are Prisoners with Chronic Diseases Becoming Overweight and Obese during Their Confinement?]" ''[Journal of Obesity](/source/Journal_of_Obesity)''. 2015; 2015: 532468. Published online 2015 Mar 18. [doi:10.1155/2015/532468](/source/doi%3A10.1155%2F2015%2F532468). {{World topic|prefix=Prisoner abuse in|noredlinks=yes|title=Prisoner abuse by country}} {{abuse}} {{Psychological manipulation}} {{Incarceration}} {{Discrimination}} {{Authority control}} Category:Prisoner abuse abuse abuse Category:Torture --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Prisoner abuse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner_abuse) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner_abuse?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.