ABSTRACT
Many of us trace the development of control units to the tumultuous years of the civil rights movement when many activists found themselves in US prisons. According to Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the World Organization Against Torture and Prison Watch Internationale (out of Paris), there is a persistent and widespread pattern of human rights violations in the US The American Friends Service Committee has contributed to each of those reports during the past two years. Recent on-site evaluations of conditions in women's prisons have found extensive gender-based mistreatment, physical abuse and outright sexual assault. It is important for us to weave international human rights law and language into our advocacy efforts in every way we can. The use of international standards in domestic litigation will be an educational process for both the courts and the public as to why such arguments are being made.
