I'm sure that there are other countries that are as bad or even worse, but "Locking up Nigeria's 'civil lunatics' ", which I just saw on the BBC News website, is pretty shocking. The report details, with facts and examples, how Nigeria treats its mentally ill. Basically, it throws them into prison and forgets them.
I was trying to think what was the worst thing about this story: the misery of the people locked up for no good reason or their neglect by society and their own families. In the end I decided that the worst thing was that this was all perfectly legal, that "colonial-era law allows Nigerian courts to jail the mentally ill" (¶ 6)! As is too often the case, a country's laws are the enemy of justice for the citizens.
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References
Locking up Nigeria's 'civil lunatics'. (2009, April 29). BBC News. Retrieved April 29, 2009 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8023067.stm
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