Despite recent positive steps, discrimination against persons with disabilities continues in China and organizations for the disabled face government pressure and harassment, Human Rights Watch said today on the eve of the September 6 Paralympic Games in Beijing.

More than two-thirds of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, including many cleared for release or transfer, are being housed in inhumane conditions that are reportedly having a damaging effect on their mental health, Human Rights Watch said in a new report.

According to a new Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) report, about half of the jail and prison population in the United States—1,254,800 men and women—has a mental health problem. The figure is staggering, but not surprising. It testifies to the persistent failure of the state and federal governments to stem the tide of the mentally ill swept into the criminal justice system. It also testifies to public ignorance—or is it deliberate indifference?—to the tragedy of putting the mentally ill behind bars.

New federal statistics reveal that the number of mentally ill inmates in U.S. prisons and jails has quadrupled over the past six years, Human Rights Watch said today. More than half of all prison and state inmates now report mental health problems, including symptoms of major depression, mania and psychotic disorders, according to a just-released federal Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) report, Mental Health Problems of Prison and Jail Inmates.