Syndicate: Shocking news from Prag

[Paola Lucchesi <paola.lucchesi@mail.inet.it>]

INPEG International Press Agent
Office: 4202 2320830
Mobile: 420 604 384452
INPEGPress@o...
Press Center: Parizska 9, Praha 1
(202) 777-2646 x2570 - US voicemail/fax
http://www.inpeg.org
*********************************************************
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@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)

__________________________________
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.

               ###

INPEG International Press Agent
Office: 4202 2320830
Mobile: 420 604 384452
INPEGPress@o...
Press Center: Parizska 9, Praha 1
(202) 777-2646 x2570 - US voicemail/fax
http://www.inpeg.org
__________________________________
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.


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