Reports are pouring in on the horrific conditions in the Prague jails. It is important to let the authorities in Prague know that we are aware of their actions and we are watching.
This press release from INPEG (below) in Prague, on beatings and human rights violations of people arrested in the protests is based on eyewitness accounts and is very disturbing. So is the report from the indymedia site (below).
People should call and fax the following numbers and demand that these violations cease, and that all prisoners be given access to water, food, medical attention, phone calls, and legal assistance.
If you can't get through to any of the numbers below (which may happen today because it is a national holiday), please call the Czech embassy in Washington, DC, as soon as possible:
202-274-9100; press 0 for operator
Call and fax:
Office of President Vaclav Havel:
011 4202 24310855 phone
011 4202 24373196 fax (it would be better to fax today [Thursday] because it is a national holiday and offices are closed) e-mail: president at hrad.cz
Ministry of the Interior:
011 4202 61421115 011-4202/6143 3552-3 (fax)
US Embassy in Czech Republic:
011 4202 57530663 011 4202 57532059 (fax)
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Attention News and Assignment Editors FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 28, 2000
Contact: Chelsea Mozen 420 604 384452 or 02 6272349 To arrange interviews with witnesses recently released,, contact Cyan IMMEDIATELY: 0605 879 504
Shocking Human Rights Abuses Faced by Protestors in Jail Police Brutality Widespread, most severe for Czechs & Israelis
PRAGUE - In addition to the mass denial of the legal rights, individuals have faced extreme brutality in Czech Jails. Paul Rosenthal from Seattle Washington who was released this morning from the Olsanska jail in Prague after forty hours states, "What is happening inside the Czech jails is more than frightening. People have no rights,they are being beaten severely, they are disappearing. Women are being forced to strip in front of male guards and perform exercises. People with serious medical problems have been denied help." The following are accounts confirmed by people that have been released from jail:
· Women have been strip searched by male officers and have been forced to perform physical exercises for their enjoyment
· Many individuals are being denied water, food, and sleep; some are able to get food only if they pay guards, women and fascists are more likely to get water
· Many people released have reported that before reaching police stations, officers took individuals to isolated areas and beat them severely.
· Two Norwegians that went to a police station on Trisparni Street near Vlatavska to report a stolen mobile phone witnessed behind briefly opened doors that a number of people were handcuffed to the wall and being beaten severely. This has also been confirmed by many reports from released persons that in the processing rooms groups of 40 to 60 people were asked to spread eagle while they were beaten, heads were knocked back, legs were kicked in, and numbers of men had their groins twisted or punched. Additionally people handcuffed were tossed down stairs.
· There is one report that 22 people were crammed into a 4 square meter cell.
· 30 People were detained at the Olsanska jail in an outdoor courtyard overnight with no blankets or food. They were later moved to Balkova near Pilsen.
· Two Germans that were detained in Lupacova, Praha 3 on Wednesday for approximately eight hours were held with an Israeli, an American,a German, and an Italian. The Israeli had been beaten severely, had difficulty walking, a black eye, and likely had a broken rib. He has been denied medical attention
· People with diabetes were not fed, people that needed medication were not given it, the British Embassy had to intervene to get medication into the jail.
· A Norwegian woman held in jail with 30 other women witnessed a German woman with a badly injured leg where medics were denied.
· Right to legal representation and advice, right to interpreters, right to food and water, right to basic medical attention, and the right to a phone call have all been ignored on a widespread scale.
· Czechs and Israelis are being beaten more drastically and are being detained longer
· Many internationals are being moved from local stations to Balkova near Pilsen which has one of the worst human rights records in the Czech Republic.
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INPEG International Press Agent
Office: 4202 2320830
Mobile: 420 604 384452
Press Center: Parizska 9, Praha 1
(202) 777-2646 x2570 - US voicemail/fax
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from (http://praha.indymedia.org/)
UPDATE ON JAIL SITUATION IN PRAHA
The OPH legal team is reporting that there are more than 859 prisoners being held as a result of S26 actions. The police are reporting that of that 859 around 200 are not Czech citizens. Only 20 have been charged. 30 people inside the jails have been denied food, water and sleep. We have reports of people having limbs broken and teeth knocked out. One woman has a broken spine. There is clear evidence of tourture by the police.