Prag: Shocking Human Rights Abuses

Shocking Human Rights Abuses Faced by Protestors in Jail Police Brutality Widespread, most severe for Czechs & Israelis.

PRAGUE - In addition to mass denial of the legal rigths, individuals have faced extreme brutality in Czech jails. Paul Rosenthal from Seattle/Washington who was released this morning from the Olanska 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 performe 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 severly.
- Two Norwegians that went to a police station on Prisparni Street near Vlatavska to report s stolen mobile phone witnessed behind briefly opened doors that a number of people where handcuffed to the wall and being beaten severly. This is also being confirmed by many reports from released persons that in the processing rooms, groups 40 to 60 people were asked to spread eagle while they are 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 four square meter cell.
- Thirty people were detained at the Olsanska jail in and 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 with walking, a black eye, and likely 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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