Bahrain Mirror: The Kingdom of Bahrain was named the Arab country with the most number of prisoners, as its total prison population reached over 4,000, i.e. a rate of 301 prisoners per 100,000 of the national population, reported CNN Arabic on its official website based on a new report published by the Institute for Criminal Policy Research.

More than 10.35 million people are in prison around the world, and the United States was on top of the list with most total number of prisoners reaching 2.2 million.

The report, which includes information about trends in prison population levels and about the difference between male and female prison population levels, listed Morocco in third place on the level of Arab countries with 76,000 prisoners, i.e. 222 prisoners per 100,000, while Tunisia came in fourth place with a total of over 23,000, i.e. 212 per 100,000 of the national population.

As for Saudi Arabia, it recorded a total of 47,000 prisoners, i.e. 161 per 100,000, whereas Egypt had a low rate of 76 prisoners per 100,000. Meanwhile, Israel was named as the country with the most populated prisons in the Middle East with a rate of 256 per 100,000, i.e. a total prison population of over 20,000.

There are more than 2.2 million prisoners in the United States of America, which is the highest total prison population, more than 1.65 million in China (plus an unknown number in pre-trial detention or ‘administrative detention'), 640,000 in the Russian Federation, 607,000 in Brazil, 418,000 in India, 311,000 in Thailand, 255,000 in Mexico and 225,000 in Iran.

The report also highlighted that there are more than 10.35 million people behind bars around the world; however, figures are unavailable for only three countries - Eritrea, North Korea and Somalia. Including the numbers reported to be held in detention centres in China and in prison camps in North Korea, the total may well be in excess of 11 million, the report added.

The countries with the highest prison population rate - the number of prisoners per 100,000 of the national population - are Seychelles (799 per 100,000), followed by the United States (698), and St. Kitts & Nevis (607).

The report further noted that in Europe, the total prison population has decreased by 21%. In the Americas, by contrast, the prison population has increased by 14% in the USA, by over 80% in central American countries and by 145% in south American countries. The female prison population total has increased by 50% since about 2000, while the equivalent figure for the male prison population is 18%.

Arabic Issue