| Caribbean Tops Prisoners List |
By BBC - Caribbean
February 2, 2007
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| The Caribbean remains the region with one of the highest prison population rates, according the latest global list. |
The list was prepared by the International Centre for Prisons Studies at King's College in London.
It says the United States has the highest prison population rate in the world, with an average of 738 inmates for every 100,000 people. |
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| Russia is in second position. The Caribbean dominates the top 20, with 12 nations plus Bermuda featuring. St. Kitts and Nevis is third globally with 547 prisoners per 100,000 people. The US Virgin islands is fourth overall. |
| Also in the top 20 are Belize, Cuba, the British Virgin islands, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Bahamas, Dominica, Barbados, Netherlands Antilles, Puerto Rico and Suriname. |
| The Caribbean territories outside the top 50 are Guyana, Jamaica, Martinique, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. |
| Haiti has the distinction of having by far the lowest prison population rate in the region -- a mere 43 inmates for every 100,000 people. |
| The report says more than nine million people are held in penal institutions throughout the world, an increase of a 250,000 since the last report 18 months ago. |
| Anton Schelupanov, a research associate at King's College, told BBC Caribbean that it was not "very good news" that the region was so high on the list. |
| He said: "This would indicate that it has a penal policy which is biased toward imprisonment." |
| He suggested nations should consider less costly alternative punishment such as community sentences. |
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