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Riots in Prisons 2006
07 March 2006
SOUTH AFRICA
bei einem riot von mehr als 1000 männer im hochsicherheitsknast kutama sinthumule wurde ein gefangener getötet und viele gefangene und wärter verletzt .
die männer konnten einen block des knastes unter ihre kontrolle bringen weil wegen eines streik nur wenige wärter arbeiteten.
BATTLE rages at new max prison
An all-out battle by prison officials to regain control of the Kutama Sinthumule Maximum Security Prison raged on until the early hours of Wednesday morning after more than 1 000 of the country’s most dangerous prisoners took control of one of the four units at the centre and went on the rampage.
The uprising saw the death of at least one prisoner, while numerous other prisoners as well as prison warders sustained injuries. It is said that the incident is by far the worst case of prison violence ever experienced in the region.The prisoners apparently managed to take control of the unit, because of the absence of a large number of prison warders who are currently on strike. This resulted in the prison having to function with the help of only a handful of prison warders.
As the violence erupted early on Tuesday evening, prison warders literally had to run for their lives to escape the violent rampaging crowd of prisoners. Four officials, among them a senior prison official, were trapped as prisoners closed off their escape route and they had to seek refuge in one of the control rooms. For a while, their presence inside the hot zone went undetected as they managed to establish radio contact with officials on the outside. The situation changed dramatically, however, after prisoners managed to loot some of the prison warders’ two-way radios.
Shortly after discovering the presence of the four warders deep in the heart of the conflict area, the prisoners tried to force the four warders from their place of hiding by setting fire to the control room. The four officials’ terrifying ordeal raged on for close to three hours and they almost suffocated in the thick smoke. It was only after a tremendous show of force by prison officials on the outside that the four stranded warders managed to escape under cover of teargas and heavy shotgun fire that sent hundreds of rubber bullets into the rowdy crowd. Prison officials fought off the crowd for several hours as they tried to gain access to the rest of the prison. It is said that the damage caused by the prisoners could run into millions.
From a distance, thick clouds of smoke could be seen billowing in the dark night sky as a continuous stream of reinforcements arrived. Even the Transvaal Agricultural Union’s farm support group was called in to help patrol the prison perimeter to combat any effort by inmates to escape.In a press release on Wednesday, the managing director of South African Custodial Management (SACM), Mr Stephen Korabie, confirmed that the situation had been brought under control. He reassured the public and the surrounding communities that every step had been taken to guarantee public safety and ensure the continued safe custody of offenders with the assistance of the Department of Correctional Services.
[ zoutnet.co.za
01 March 2006
JORDAN
ein riot mit geiselnahme im knast juweideh / amman wurde nach 14 stunden beendet, die geiseln freigelassen.
es gibt unterschiedliche angaben über den grund des riots. lt. knastbehörde brach der riot aus als gefangene forderten das zwei als al-qaida mitglieder verurteilte männer, die im swaqa knast sitzen, nach juweideh verlegt werden.
nach einer anderen version, die von einem islamistischen aktivisten kommt, war das gerücht das die zwei männer hingerichtet werden ursache für den riot.
es ist nicht bekannt wieviele gefangene sich an dem riot beteiligten, es wird nur von 79 islamistischen gefangenen in dem knast geschrieben.
genaue informationen über die forderungen gibt es nicht, nur das die männer wollen das alle, die von einem militärtribunal verurteilt wurden, neue zivile prozesse erhalten sollen.
Jordan prison riot involving al-Qaeda inmates ends, all hostages released
AMMAN, Jordan-Inmates released Jordan's top prison official along with a half-dozen police officers they had taken hostage, ending a riot that broke out over the fate of two convicted al-Qaeda killers, a security official said Wednesday.
As the Jordanian riot ended, a four-day revolt in an Afghan prison which authorities said was led by al-Qaeda and Taliban loyalists was also winding down with six inmates reported killed. At the same time, Yemeni security officials announced they had thwarted escape attempts by al-Qaeda suspects in two different prisons over the past two days.
In Jordan, Maj. Gen. Owad al-Khalidi, the assistant director general of the public security directorate, announced the end of the 14-hour confrontation on Jordanian television.
The causes of the riot and ensuing hostage crisis at the Juweideh prison on the outskirts of Amman remained unclear, but they focused on at least two convicted al-Qaeda terrorists imprisoned in another facility, one of whom killed an American diplomat.
Maj. Bashir Da'aja, spokesman for the Public Security Department, said the riots broke out when prisoners demanded the two inmates be transferred from the Swaqa prison, 63 miles south of Amman, to Juweideh.
An Islamic activist in Jordan said inmates began rioting after they heard reports that the two convicted al-Qaeda members were being taken away for execution. But Da'aja said "no execution order was ever issued."
The activist, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals by security forces, said his information came from families of inmates who were in the prison when the rioting broke out. The activist himself once was in the same prison.
Da'aja said shortly after the riot began that six to eight police officers had been taken hostage. He denied reports of shooting and riots at other prisons around Jordan.
The crisis began defusing when the inmates released the director of the kingdom's penitentiaries, Col. Saad al-Ajrami, and two other police officers.
It was unclear how many inmates were involved in the riot and hostage taking, but Da'aja said there were 79 Islamist prisoners at Juweideh.
Jordanian Interior Minister Eid al-Fayez said one of their demands was for new trials in civil courts for inmates convicted and sentenced by military tribunals. He did not provide details.
Juweideh prison is one of five jails where 180 Muslim militants, including a number of al-Qaeda members, are incarcerated.
The rioting inmates had demanded the transfers of Jordanian Azmi al-Jayousi and Libyan Salem bin Suweid, Da'aja said.
Al-Jayousi was sentenced to death on Feb. 15 for a 2004 plot to carry out chemical attacks against targets in Jordan, including the U.S. Embassy. Jordanian-born terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was also sentenced to death in absentia for the same plot.
Al-Jayousi, the mastermind behind the plot, was convicted for conspiring to attack various sites in Jordan by setting off a cloud of toxic chemicals that would have killed thousands of people.
The plot included vehicles driven by suicide bombers and loaded with explosives and chemicals. Its targets included the General Intelligence Department in Amman, the U.S. Embassy and the prime minister's office,
Suweid was sentenced to death, along with al-Zarqawi, for being the triggerman in the assassination of U.S. diplomat Lawrence Foley in Amman. Foley, an aid worker for the U.S. Agency for International Development, was gunned down outside his Amman home Oct. 28, 2002.
In Yemen, security officials said they had foiled escape attempts by al-Qaeda suspects in cities outside the capital San'a over the past two days. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
They said the 10 al-Qaeda suspects were planning to escape in the first attempted breakout while another two, senior al-Qaeda suspects, tried to escape in the second.
Last month, 23 al-Qaeda convicts, who were all kept in the same cell, tunneled out of a high-security jail in San'a. The fugitives include a man convicted of the Oct. 12, 2000, attack on the destroyer USS Cole in which 17 American sailors were killed in the Yemeni port of Aden. Another was convicted for the 2002 attack on the French oil tanker Limburg.
At least three of the escaped convicts have turned themselves in.
[ signonsandiego.com
FEBRUARY 2006
AFGHANISTAN
im pul-e-charkhi knast hatten etwa 1.500 / 1.300 gefangene einen teil des knastes unter ihrer kontrolle. der knast wurde umstellt von afghanischen, nato- und us- militärs.
der riot der gefangenen, an dem sich auch 350 al qaida gefangene beteiligten startete nachdem die menschen neue uniformen tragen sollten, orange overalls wie in guantanamo. etwa 30 gefangene wurden verletzt, vier / sieben menschen getötet.
nachdem am zweiten tag militär den knast umstellten gab es verhandlungen mit den gefangenen, denen weder wasser noch essen gegeben wurde.
am 28. februar war der knast angebl. "wieder unter kontrolle".
welche forderungen die gefangenen hatten wurde nicht veröffentlicht
.
KABUL prison siege ends
01 March 2006
Afghan authorities say they have regained control of Kabul's main prison after four days of rioting that left at least five people dead.
The Afghan government said the prison siege in Kabul ended on Wednesday after all 1300 prisoners involved in a riot that broke out at the weekend moved to a new block under police control.
Mohammad Qasim Hashimzai, the deputy justice minister, told reporters: "All the prisoners, including the political ones have been moved to another block."
"The agitation is over. The police are now in full control of the prison."
As many as five people died in the unrest led by Taliban prisoners at Pul-i-Charkhi jail on Kabul's outskirts that erupted after prisoners were issued uniforms to prevent a repeat of a January escape by seven Taliban who mingled with visitors.
Prisoner demands
A prisoner said that their demands included improved living conditions and a review of their cases, but he did not know what the alleged al-Qaida and Taliban detainees wanted.
Trouble began when inmates attacked wardens with makeshift weapons, breaking windows and doors and setting alight bedding and furniture.
Walls separating units for criminals, political prisoners and women were smashed through and police had periodically fired into the building to try to control the prisoners, officials said.
Troops and security forces surrounded the block for two days and on Monday the army threatened to storm the building if talks failed.
Negotiators had accepted some of the demands, officials said.
The prisoners then released the women prisoners, many of whom had children with them, and two female guards after the talks on Monday.
They also agreed for the dead and wounded to be removed from the block.
Chaos
Police on Tuesday blamed the rioting on a core of 100 al-Qaida and Taliban prisoners in the block's political wing, which held about 300 men.
"What is clear at this stage (is that) some Taliban and al-Qaida prisoners wanted to create chaos and escape," police rapid reaction force commander General Mahboob Amiri told AFP.
Most al-Qaida suspects caught in Afghanistan after the US-led invasion to topple the Taliban regime in late 2001 have been transferred to Guantanamo Bay or the US jail at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.
But a number of lower-ranking, foreign al-Qaida militants and some Afghans said to have close ties to the network are still housed in Pul-e-Charkhi, along with rank-and-file Taliban fighters, officials say.
The rundown jail was notorious for the detention and torture of thousands of people during communist rule in the 1980s.
[ aljazeera.net
AFGHAN jail under control after deadly riots
28. februar 2006
Afghanistan's main jail was back under control on Tuesday after two days of rioting by 1,300 prisoners that police said was instigated by Al Qaeda and Taliban inmates, and which left four dead.
Authorities were preparing to move the prisoners to new facilities after their own were damaged after the revolt erupted late on Saturday at Pul-e-Charkhi jail. Negotiators were considering their demands, officials said.
The negotiators, led by the government's reconciliation commission chief Sebghattullah Mujaddadi, had accepted some minor demands and were considering others, Mujaddadi's spokesman said.
"Inshallah [God willing], the problems have been solved to a big extent and they will be solved completely," spokesman Sayeed Sharif Yousufi said.
The riot erupted late on Saturday with inmates attacking wardens with makeshift weapons, breaking windows and doors and setting alight bedding and furniture.
Walls separating units for criminals, political prisoners and women were smashed through and some of the inmates had shouted slogans against President Hamid Karzai and US President George W. Bush, witnesses said.
Police had periodically fired into the building to try to control the prisoners, some whom were armed with steel bedposts and shards of glass, they said.
Police and soldiers surrounded the block for two days and on Monday the army threatened to storm the building if talks failed.
The prisoners took hostage some of the women, many of whom had children with them, and two female guards, police said earlier.
They released the women after talks on Monday and rejected allegations that they were raped, deputy justice minister Mohammad Qasim Hashimzai said.
Police on Tuesday blamed the rioting on a core of Al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners in the block's political wing, which held about 300 men.
"Police have identified those behind the riots. They are around 100 Al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners associated with some criminal prisoners," rapid reaction force police commander general Mahboob Amiri said.
"What is clear at this stage, some Taliban and Al Qaeda prisoners wanted to create chaos and escape," he said.
Most Al Qaeda suspects caught in Afghanistan after the US-led invasion to topple the Taliban regime in late 2001 have been transferred to Guantanamo Bay or the US jail at Bagram Air Base.
But a number of lower-ranking, foreign Al Qaeda militants and some Afghans said to have close ties to the network are still housed in Pul-e-Charkhi, along with rank-and-file Taliban fighters, officials say.
The prisoners agreed after the talks on Monday to allow the four dead and wounded to be removed from the block, Amiri said. About 20 wounded needed hospitalization.
"It is quiet and totally under control now," Amiri said. "We plan today to distribute the prisoners into separate blocks since their present block has been damaged by the riots."
One of the prisoners' demands that was accepted was their refusal to wear uniforms, said Yousufi, from the reconciliation commission set up to persuade Taliban insurgents to lay down arms and side with the government.
The introduction of prison uniforms, apparently intended to prevent escapes during visiting hours, was said by some to have sparked the rioting.
Another demand still being discussed was a review of the files of all the prisoners.
The rundown Pul-e-Charkhi jail, built in the 1970s, is notorious for the detention and torture of thousands of people during the communist rule of the 1980s.
Five guards and four inmates with suspected links to Al Qaeda and the Taliban died during a standoff there in December 2004.
[ metimes.com
Army threatens to storm Afghan jail after two-day standoff
27. februar 2006
A standoff between security forces and hundreds of rioting inmates at Afghanistan's main jail dragged into a second day, with the army threatening to storm a seized cell block if negotiations failed.
There were believed to be about four dead bodies among the nearly 1,300 prisoners, who had not been given food since the riot erupted late Saturday at the dilapidated Pul-e-Charkhi prison on the outskirts of the capital Kabul.
The rioters had also refused to hand over their wounded, believed to number up to 30 people, to ambulances waiting outside the sprawling complex, officials said. There were calls from inside the building for food and medicine, they said.
Security forces had closed the gate into the complex to hold back prisoners who appeared to have armed themselves with makeshift weapons including steel bedposts and shards of glass, witnesses inside the jail said.
Negotiations between the prisoners -- including about 300 Taliban and Al-Qaeda members -- and government officials opened early Monday.
"The negotiations are still ongoing but if it doesn't work, we will intervene militarily. We will carry out an operation," an Afghan army official said on condition of anonymity.
About 200 extra soldiers took up positions at the compound where hundreds of heavily armed soldiers and police reinforcements arrived Sunday.
The riot erupted late Saturday when prisoners attacked wardens and set bedding and furniture ablaze.
They smashed windows and doors and ripped holes in walls separating units for women, criminals and political prisoners -- including those from Al-Qaeda and the hardline Taliban government ousted in late 2001, officials said.
Prison wardens opened fire to control the situation, apparently causing some of the casualties. Others appeared to have occurred when police periodically fired into the building after the riot.
A police official and another involved in the negotiations said on condition of anonymity that there were four bodies inside the complex and around 30 wounded.
Human rights worker Firoda Kohstani told AFP she was able to speak to one of the prisoners, a doctor, through a window and he said there were 18 wounded people in his unit and three dead bodies.
He said suspicions that prisoners had raped women inmates were unfounded, Kohstani told AFP.
Deputy Justice Minister Mohammad Qasim Hashimzai said it was difficult to know the exact situation until authorities were able to enter the block.
A list of demands drawn up by the rioters included complaints about overcrowding, prison food and the separation of prisoners from their visitors, the police official said.
It also alleged that criminals were able to use bribes to avoid jail. "The list has been given to the government authorities. Now they are discussing it," he said.
Some reports said the unrest may have been sparked by resistance to new prison uniforms. Others said the riot was a bid by Taliban prisoners to escape.
The massive and rundown jail, built in the 1970s, is notorious for the detention and torture of thousands of people during the communist rule of the 1980s.
Seven Taliban prisoners escaped from it a month ago, allegedly with help from prison wardens. Five guards and four inmates with suspected links to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban died during a standoff there in December 2004.
The Taliban have been battling President Hamid Karzai's government since they were toppled from power in a US-led operation in 2001 for failing to hand over Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
[ news.yahoo.com
KABUL'S jail is overrun by 1,500 al-Qa'ida prisoners
27. februar 2006
Afghan, Nato and US forces with tanks surrounded the main high security prison in Kabul yesterday after it was taken over by more than 1,500 Taliban and al-Qa'ida prisoners during a violent riot.
At least 30 prisoners were injured and unconfirmed reports said seven others were killed in fighting after inmates took two female prison guards hostage in protest at new regulations requiring them to wear uniforms.
Bursts of gunfire could be heard throughout the day from Pulicharkhi prison after the Afghan police rapid reaction unit, armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers, entered the complex in an attempt to prevent a mass break-out. Prisoners were heard chanting "Allah ho Akhbar" in between the firing.
Pulicharkhi, which holds around 2,000 prisoners, became notorious during Afghanistan's Communist era with allegations of torture and secret executions. About 110 detainees held by the US at Guantanamo Bay are expected to be transferred there later this year.
The prisoners had allowed 70 women inmates to be moved to another part of the prison after storming into the female wing from their own. As night fell, negotiations announced by the Interior Ministry to end the stand-off were suspended. Security forces had yet to gain access to parts of the jail under the prisoners' control.
"I have heard that prisoners have been injured. Taliban and al-Qa'ida members from different countries are behind this unrest," said the Deputy Justice Minister, Mohammad Qasim Hashimzai. "They still control the wing from where they had started the riot. They have demands; we are going to listen to what they want. If we cannot solve it through negotiations, we have our own options."
The violence began after inmates were issued with uniforms. Until then, they were allowed to wear civilian clothing but the rules were changed after seven suspected Taliban prisoners escaped last month pretending to be departing visitors. Prison guards are believed to have assisted with the escape.
General Mahboub Amiri, the chief of Kabul's rapid reaction police force, said Taliban members triggered the riot in an attempt to break out of the prison. "They started the trouble and then tried to use that as cover to get away," he said. "The injuries to prisoners happened while this was going on." Four policemen and four prisoners died in December 2004 during a day of confrontation at the prison when a group of alleged al-Qa'ida inmates attempted a break-out.
Yesterday, hundreds of heavily armed police and troops backed by tanks and armoured personnel carriers took position outside the jail. Security forces prevented journalists from approaching the building.
Abdul Salaam Bakshi, the prison director, said the inmates had attacked guards and tried to force their way out of their prison block. They had been armed with knives and clubs fashioned from wrecked furniture, he said, and had set fire to bedding. "All the problem is inside the prison," said Mr Bakshi. "We want to peacefully solve this problem."
Meanwhile, a new controversy has broken out over an even more sinister Afghan prison - the secret detention centre at Bagram air base, north of Kabul, where some 500 terrorist suspects are being held in conditions at least as harsh as at Guantanamo Bay.
In the most detailed account of the facility yet, The New York Times has reported that many prisoners were held by the dozen in large wire cages, where they slept on the floor on foam mattresses. Inmates at Bagram are held for indefinite periods without charges, without legal representation, and without even disclosure of their names.
A US military spokesman defended practices at the jail, saying prisoners were treated humanely and given "the best possible living conditions." But the numbers held at Bagram have increased considerably in the past two years, in part because "enemy combatants" captured in Afghanistan are no longer being transferred to Guantanamo.
[ independent.co.uk
Gefangenenaufstand
Tote und Verletzte bei Häftlingsrevolte in Afghanistan
26 February 2006
Bei einer Häftlingsrevolte in einem Hochsicherheitsgefängnis in Afghanistan sollen vier Insassen getötet und bis zu 30 Menschen verletzt worden sein. Wachleute schossen auf die Inhaftierten, unter denen auch Anhänger der Taliban und al-Qaidas sein sollen.
Kabul - Der Aufstand im Hochsicherheitsgefängnis Pul-i-Scharchi in der Hauptstadt Kabul sei Samstagnacht losgebrochen, nachdem eine Insassengruppe zwei Wächterinnen in ihre Gewalt brachte, teilten Gefängnisvertreter mit. Die Situation sei außer Kontrolle geraten und es sei zu Zusammenstößen zwischen der Polizei und Inhaftierten gekommen, darunter auch Anhängern der Taliban. Wachleute sollen nach unbestätigten Berichten auf die Meuterer geschossen haben.
Die britische BBC berichtete unter Berufung auf nicht näher genannte Quellen, vier Insassen seien getötet worden. Ein Sprecher des Justizministeriums in Kabul sagte, es habe mehrere Verletzte gegeben.
Ein Polizeivertreter beschuldigte Mitglieder der Taliban, den Aufstand provoziert zu haben, um sich eine Fluchtmöglichkeit zu verschaffen. Auch Mitglieder des Terrornetzwerks al-Qaida sollen laut BBC eine führende Rolle gespielt haben. Insgesamt seien an der Revolte rund 1500 Gefangene beteiligt gewesen. Die Meuterer hätten Stühle und Tische in Brand gesetzt und versucht, aus der Haftanstalt zu entkommen, sagte der Leiter des afghanischen Strafvollzugs, Abdul Slam Baschi.
Die Gefangenen hätten während der Revolte einen Flügel des Gebäudes eingenommen. Das Verteidigungsministerium bestätigte den Vorfall zwar, machte jedoch keine Angaben zu Einzelheiten. Ein Sprecher sagte der BBC, die Armee unterstütze Sicherheitskräfte im Gefängnis bei dem Versuch, die Situation wieder unter Kontrolle zu bringen.Vor einem Monat waren sieben Taliban aus dem Gefängnis geflohen. Zehn Gefängniswärter waren im Zusammenhang mit der Flucht festgenommen worden.Einige Teile des Gefängnisses würden zurzeit umgebaut, weil dort im Laufe des Jahres 110 von den USA zurückgeschickte afghanische Terrorverdächtige aus dem umstrittenen Lager Guantanamo auf Kuba untergebracht werden sollen, teilten Behördenvertreter aus Afghanistan mit.
Im Juli vergangenen Jahres war es vier al-Qaida-Terroristen unter bislang ungeklärten Umständen gelungen, aus dem stark gesicherten Militärgefängnis auf dem US-Stützpunkt Bagram nördlich von Kabul auszubrechen. Sie hatten sich in einem vom Nachrichtensender Al-Arabija ausgestrahlten Video mit ihrer Flucht gebrüstet. Den Männern war es gelungen, sich erneut den arabischen al-Qaida-Kämpfern anzuschließen.
[ spiegel.de
Militant Inmates Seize Afghan Prison Wing
26. februar 2006
Hundreds of inmates, some of them convicted al-Qaida and Taliban militants, used knives and clubs made from furniture to overpower guards and take control of parts of a high-security prison in Afghanistan's capital, officials said Sunday.
Local media reported several people were killed and dozens injured. But it appeared security forces had yet to gain access to parts of the jail under prisoners' control, so officials could not confirm reports of casualties. One official said at least four inmates had been injured.
The Afghan army said it had deployed 800 soldiers, some with rocket-propelled grenade launchers, to surround the Policharki Prison. With NATO peacekeepers, they parked at least 10 tanks and armored personnel carriers outside the gates.
Government officials tried to negotiate through loudspeakers with the inmates. Their demands were not known.
Mohammed Qasim Hashimzai, deputy justice minister, reported some initial progress in talks, but an Associated Press correspondent heard periodic gunfire and prisoners shouting, "God is Great!"
Inmates agreed to move 70 female prisoners from a wing under their control to a wing under official control, Hashimzai said.
The rioting started Saturday night when prisoners refused to put on new uniforms, delivered in response to a breakout last month by seven Taliban inmates disguised as visitors, Hashimzai said.
Prisoners forced guards out of a cell block housing about 1,300 inmates, said Abdul Salaam Bakshi, chief of prisons in Afghanistan. He accused al-Qaida and Taliban inmates of inciting other prisoners.
"All the problem is inside the prison," Bakshi said. "We want to peacefully solve this problem."
Bakshi said the inmates attacked guards and tried to force their way out of their prison block but were stopped. He said the inmates had small knives and clubs fashioned from wrecked furniture and set fire to bedding.
The prison holds 2,000 inmates, including some 350 al-Qaida and Taliban militants.
Hashimzai said about 100 inmates took control of the women's wing.
A justice ministry delegation visited the prison on the outskirts of Kabul Sunday morning to negotiate with the prisoners.
"They have demands, we are going to listen to what they want," Hashimzai said. "If we cannot solve it through negotiations, we have our own options."
He refused to say whether he was referring to the use of force.
Policharki has suffered breakouts and riots before.
In December 2004, four inmates and four guards died during a 10-hour standoff that started when some al-Qaida militants used razors to wrest guns from guards and then tried to break out. Afghan troops stormed the prison and fired guns and rocket-propelled grenades to retake control.
Several wings of Policharki are being refurbished to improve security and living conditions. Some 110 Afghan terror suspects are expected to be transferred there later this year from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Afghan officials say.
[ latimes.com
Up to 30 hurt in riot at notorious Afghan prison
26. februar 2006
Up to 30 people were wounded during a riot by prisoners, including Taliban members, at a notorious jail in the Afghan capital, officials said on Sunday.
The unrest erupted on Saturday night after a group of prisoners managed to hold two female guards captive over a row over change of prison uniform rules, they said.
"As far as we know some 1,500 prisoners are involved in this incident," a security official told Reuters on condition he wasn't identified.
"It went out of control and a clash broke out between the prisoners including many Taliban and the police, in which 30 people have been wounded," he said.
Deputy justice minister Mohammad Qasim Hashimzai said some people were wounded, but had no details.
Footage by private television showed police reinforcements being sent to the Pul-i-Charkhi prison on the eastern outskirts of the city.
Repeated gun fire could be heard and officials said that prisoners took control of one wing of the jail during the riot.
Chief of Kabul's Rapid Reaction Police Force, General Mahboub Amiri, blamed Taliban members for triggering the riot in an attempt to flee.
Pul-e-Charkhi is a huge prison complex built in the 1970s where thousands of Afghans opposing communist rule in the 1980s were killed and tortured.
It is used to house common criminals as well as al-Qaeda or Taleban-linked militants.
Last month, seven Taleban suspects escaped from the jail, with prison guards accused by officials of helping the break-out.
[ reuters.com
Inmates take over Kabul jail
26. februar 2006
Terror convicts and hundreds of other inmates clashed with guards and took control of parts of a high-security prison in Afghanistan's capital, officials said on Sunday.
The police and soldiers surrounded the Policharki Prison on Sunday as government officials negotiated through loudspeakers with the inmates, who included Al Qaeda and Taliban militants. Inmates agreed to allow 70 female prisoners to move from a wing of the prison they had captured to a wing still under official control, said Mohammed Qasim Hashimzai, deputy justice minister. He refused to give any details about the prisoners' demands. Earlier on Sunday, an Associated Press reporter heard two bursts of gunfire about two hours apart from inside the prison. A few minutes after the first gunfire, an ambulance carrying an unidentified patient drove out of the prison.
The trouble began on Saturday night when prisoners forced guards out of a prison block housing about 1,300 inmates, said Mr Abdul Salaam Bakshi, chief of prisons in Afghanistan. He accused Al Qaeda and Taliban inmates of inciting other prisoners.
The Afghan Army deployed more than 100 soldiers, some with helmets and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, to surround the prison and with Nato peacekeepers, parked 10 tanks and armoured personnel carriers outside the gates. "All the problem is inside the prison," Mr Bakshi said. "We want to peacefully solve this problem."
Mr Hashimzai said at least four inmates were injured in the riot on Saturday night but prisoners refused an offer for them to be treated. No guards were hurt in the clash.
Mr Bakshi said the inmates had attacked guards and tried to force their way out of their prison block but were stopped. He said the inmates had small knives and clubs fashioned from wrecked furniture. They also set fire to bedding. The prison holds 2,000 inmates, including some 350 Al Qaeda and Taliban militants. Mr Hashimazai said about 100 inmates had taken control of a women's wing of the prison.
He said the rioted erupted when prisoners refused to put on new uniforms, delivered in response to a breakout last month by seven Taliban inmates disguised as visitors. A justice ministry delegation visited the prison on the outskirts of Kabul on Sunday morning to negotiate with the prisoners.
[ asianage.com
February 2006
USA
Riots in California
[ check it here : Riots in California
14 February 2006
BRD
Revolte in Abschiebehaft
Nach dem Selbstmordversuch eines Häftlings ist die Situation in einem Berliner Gefängnis für Abschiebehäftlinge eskaliert.
32 Mitgefangene errichteten in der Nacht zu Dienstag im Abschiebe-Gewahrsam in Berlin-Köpenick Barrikaden und legten Feuer. Auslöser der Tat war der Selbstmordversuch eines 63-jährigen mazedonischen Gefangenen am Montagnachmittag. Der Mann hatte sich ein zusammengerolltes Bettlaken um den Hals geknotet und an ein Türgitter in der Toilette gebunden, um sich zu strangulieren. Angestellte der Anstalt entdeckten den Mann, und befreiten ihn. Der Notarzt brachte ihn ins Krankenhaus.
Mit Hungerstreik gedroht
Mit der Aktion hatte der Mazedonier dagegen protestiert, die Unterbringungskosten in Köpenick und den Rückflug nach Tschechien selbst bezahlen zu müssen. Der Mann war erst am 31. Januar aus der Justizvollzugsanstalt Moabit, wo er eine Haftstrafe wegen mehrerer Delikte verbüßte, in den Abschiebe-Gewahrsam verlegt worden. Im Laufe des Tages hatten sich bereits andere Häftlinge mit ihm solidarisiert. Sie trugen ihre Matratzen aus den Zellen in den Flur und argumentierten, so keine Logiskosten mehr zu verursachen. 14 Männer kündigten an, ab sofort die Nahrungsaufnahme zu verweigern.
Barrikaden aus rauchenden Matratzen
Die Situation eskalierte dann gegen Mitternacht, nachdem Gerüchte die Runde machten, dem Mazedonier ginge es deutlich schlechter. Um 0.30 Uhr verbarrikadierten die Insassen aus 16 verschiedenen Nationen eine Station des Abschiebe-Gefängnisses. Die Gefangenen trugen nun auch Betten und Schränke auf den Korridor im zweiten Stock, verschanzten sich und zündeten fünf Matratzen an. Wegen der Sicherheits-Imprägnierung fingen die Schaumstoff-Unterlagen zwar kein offenes Feuer. Es entstand jedoch ein Schwelbrand mit starker Rauchentwicklung. Verletzt wurde niemand.
Nicht der erste ernste Zwischenfall
Den unbewaffneten Angestellten sei es gelungen, die Barrikaden zu beseitigen und die Schwelbrände mit Feuerlöschern zu bekämpfen, erklärte ein Polizeisprecher, nach einer halben Stunde sei die Lage unter Kontrolle gewesen. Dennoch nahmen die Behörden die Revolte offenbar ernst. Berlins Polizeipräsident Dieter Glietsch begab sich noch während der Nacht nach Köpenick, um sich selbst ein Bild zu machen.
Der Abschiebegewahrsam war durch Protestaktionen in den vergangenen Jahren immer wieder in die Schlagzeilen geraten. Selbstmordversuche häuften sich. In dem Gebäude, das zu DDR-Zeiten ein Frauengefängnis beherbergte, traten im Sommer 2005 mehrere Abschiebehäftlinge in den Hungerstreik, um ihre Ausweisung zu verhindern. Ein Jahr zuvor hatte sich ein tamilischer Insasse an den Rand der Bewusstlosigkeit gehungert. Seit der Entlassung aus der Klinik ist er untergetaucht.
[ focus.msn.de
Häftlinge bauten Barrikaden und legten Feuer
Beamte löschten Flammen im Abschiebegewahrsam
15.02.2006
Im Abschiebegewahrsam Köpenick hat es in der Nacht zu gestern einen Aufruhr gegeben. Häftlinge verbarrikadierten einen Etagenflur mit Möbeln und steckten Matratzen in Brand. Das Wachpersonal schob die Barrikaden zur Seite und löschte die Flammen mit Feuerlöschern. Wegen des Rauchs wurden 32 Männer und 17 Frauen aus 16 Ländern in Sicherheit gebracht. Die Polizei durchsuchte danach die Zimmer. "Wegen des sensiblen Themas", so die offizielle Begründung, informierte sich Polizeipräsident Dieter Glietsch noch in der Nacht in der Grünauer Straße über die Lage. Verletzt wurde nach Polizeiangaben niemand. Die Häftlinge, die randaliert hatten, wurden auf andere Räume verteilt und eingeschlossen. "Gegen sie wird jetzt wegen versuchter schwerer Brandstiftung ermittelt", sagte der Leiter der Einrichtung, Frank Kiele.
Auslöser für den Tumult war unter anderem das Gerücht, dass Wachpolizisten einen Häftling getötet haben sollten. Tatsächlich hatte am Montag ein 63-jähriger Mazedonier versucht, sich zu erhängen. Ihm war zuvor mitgeteilt worden, dass er für seine Unterbringung im Abschiebungsgewahrsam die Kosten zu tragen habe - pro Tag rund 62 Euro. Nachdem das andere Insassen der Station erfuhren, erklärten zunächst 14 Ausländer, die Anstaltsverpflegung verweigern zu wollen. Freunde des Mazedoniers trugen ihre Matratzen in den Flur und argumentierten, dass ihnen somit keine Unterbringungskosten in Rechnung gestellt werden könnten.
Laut Kiele informierten sie per Handy andere Gefangene im Nachbarhaus. Diese zündeten dann die Matratzen an. Handys sind in der Abschiebehaft erlaubt, weil diese keine "Justizvollzugsanstalt" ist, sondern ein "Gewahrsam", der die Abschiebung sicherstellen soll. Deshalb ist die Anstalt auch weniger streng gesichert. Zumindest theoretisch werden die Insassen für ihren Aufenthalt auch zur Kasse gebeten. "Doch die wenigsten können zahlen", sagte Kiele.
Der katholische Gefängnisseelsorger Dieter Müller äußerte Verständnis für die Proteste. Die Insassen empfänden es als Provokation, dass sie die Haftkosten selbst tragen müssten.
[ berlinonline.de
11. February 2006
GUANTANAMO
laut aussagen des us militärs sind noch vier gefangene im hungerstreik.
nach den artikeln werden die hungerstreikenden stundenlang auf einem stuhl gefesselt um sie zwangszuernähren. diese brutale methoden hätten dazu geführt das viele gefangene den hungerstreik abgebrochen haben.
US steps up force-feeding at Guantánamo Bay
In recent weeks, the officials said, guards have begun strapping recalcitrant detainees into "restraint chairs," sometimes for hours a day, to feed them through tubes and prevent them from deliberately vomiting afterward. Detainees who refuse to eat have also been placed in isolation for extended periods in what the officials said was an effort to keep them from being encouraged by other hunger strikers.
The measures appear to have had drastic effects. The chief military spokesman at Guantánamo, Lt. Col. Jeremy M. Martin, said yesterday that the number of detainees on hunger strike had dropped to 4 from 84 at the end of December.
Some officials said the new actions reflected concern at Guantánamo and the Pentagon that the protests were becoming difficult to control and that the death of one or more prisoners could intensify international criticism of the detention center.
Colonel Martin said force-feeding was carried out "in a humane and compassionate manner" and only when necessary to keep the prisoners alive. H e said in a statement that "a restraint system to aid detainee feeding" was being used but refused to answer questions about the restraint chairs.
Lawyers who have visited clients in recent weeks criticized the latest measures, particularly the use of the restraint chair, as abusive.
"It is clear that the government has ended the hunger strike through the use of force and through the most brutal and inhumane types of treatment," said Thomas B. Wilner, a lawyer at Shearman & Sterling in Washington, who last week visited the six Kuwaiti detainees he represents. "It is a disgrace."
The lawyers said other measures used to dissuade the hunger strikers included placing them in uncomfortably cold air-conditioned isolation cells, depriving them of "comfort items" like blankets and books and sometimes using riot-control soldiers to compel the prisoners to sit still while long plastic tubes were threaded down their nasal passages and into their stomachs.
Officials of the military and the Defense Department strongly disputed that they were taking punitive measures to break the strike. They said that they were sensitive to the ethical issues raised by feeding the detainees involuntarily and that their procedures were consistent with those of federal prisons in the United States. Those prisons authorize the involuntary treatment of hunger strikers when there is a threat to an inmate's life or health.
"There is a moral question," the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., said in an interview. "Do you allow a person to commit suicide? Or do you take steps to protect their health and preserve their life?"
Dr. Winkenwerder said that after a review of the policy on involuntary feeding last summer Pentagon officials came to the basic conclusion that it was ethical to stop the inmates from killing themselves.
"The objective in any circumstance is to protect and sustain a person's life," he said.
Some international medical associations and human rights groups, including the World Medical Association, oppose the involuntary feeding of hunger strikers as coercive.
Lawyers for the detainees, although troubled by what they said were earlier reports of harsh treatment of the hunger strikers, have generally not objected to such actions when necessary to save their clients.
The Guantánamo prison, which is holding some 500 detainees, has been beset by periodic hunger strikes almost since it was established in January 2002 to hold foreign terror suspects. At least one detainee who went on a prolonged hunger strike was involuntarily fed through a nasal tube in 2002, military officials said.
Since last year, the protests have intensified, a sign of what defense lawyers say is the growing desperation of the detainees. In a study released yesterday, two of those lawyers said Pentagon documents indicated that the military had determined that only 45 percent of the detainees had committed some hostile act against the United States or its allies and that only 8 percent were fighters for Al Qaeda.
After dozens of detainees began joining a hunger strike last June, military doctors at Guantánamo asked Pentagon officials to review their policy for such feeding. Around that time, officials said, the Defense Department also began working out procedures to deal with the eventual suicide of one or more detainees, including how and where to bury them if their native countries refused to accept their remains.
"This is just a reality of long-term detention," a Pentagon official said. "It doesn't matter whether you're at Leavenworth or some other military prison. You are going to have to deal with this kind of thing."
Military officials and detainees' lawyers said the primary rationale for the hunger strikes had evolved since last summer. In June and July, they said, the detainees were mostly complaining about their conditions at Guantánamo.
Several lawyers said that military officers there had negotiated with an English-speaking Saudi detainee, Shaker Aamer, who is thought to be a leader of the inmates, and that the detainees had agreed to stop their hunger strike in return for various concessions.
Military officials denied that such negotiations had occurred. But military officials and the lawyers agreed that when another wave of hunger strikes began in early August they were more generally focused on the indefinite nature of the detentions and that it was harder for the authorities there to address.
Colonel Martin said the number of hunger strikers peaked around Sept. 11 at 131, but added that he could not speculate about why other than to note that "hunger striking is an Al Qaeda tactic used to elicit media attention and also to bring pressure on the U.S. government."
Until yesterday, Guantánamo officials had acknowledged only having forcibly restrained detainees to feed them a handful of times. In those cases, the officials said, doctors had restrained detainees on hospital beds using Velcro straps.
Two military officials, who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the question, said that the use of restraint chairs started after it was found that some hunger strikers were deliberately vomiting in their cells after having been tube-fed and that their health was growing precarious.
In a telephone interview yesterday, the manufacturer of the so-called Emergency Restraint Chair, Tom Hogan, said his small Iowa company shipped five $1,150 chairs to Guantánamo on Dec. 5 and 20 additional chairs on Jan. 10, using a military postal address in Virginia. Hogan said the chairs were typically used in jails, prisons and psychiatric hospitals to deal with violent inmates or patients.
Hogan said that he did not know how they were used at Guantánamo and that had not been asked how to use them by military representatives. Detainees' lawyers said they believed that the tougher approach to the hunger strikes was related to the passage in Congress of measure intended to curtail the detainees' access to United States courts.
Federal district courts have put aside most lawyers' motions on the detainees' treatment until questions about applying the measure have been litigated.
"Because of the actions in Congress, the military feels emboldened to take more extreme measures vis-à-vis the hunger strikers," said one lawyer, Sarah Havens of Allen & Overy. "The courts are going to stay out of it now."
Wilner, who was among the first lawyers to accept clients at Guantánamo and represented them in a case in 2004 before the Supreme Court, said a Kuwaiti detainee, Fawzi al-Odah, told him last week that around Dec. 20, guards began taking away items like shoes, towels and blankets from the hunger strikers.
Odah also said that lozenges that had been distributed to soothe the hunger strikers' throats had disappeared and that the liquid formula they were given was mixed with other ingredients to cause diarrhea, Wilner said. On Jan. 9, Odah told his lawyers, an officer read him what he described as an order from the Guantánamo commander, Brig. Gen. Jay W. Hood of the Army, saying hunger strikers who refused to drink their liquid formula voluntarily would be strapped into metal chairs and tube-fed.
Odah said he heard "screams of pain" from a hunger striker in the next cell as a thick tube was inserted into his nose. At the other detainee's urging, Odah told his lawyers that he planned to end his hunger strike the next day. Another lawyer, Joshua Colangelo-Bryan, said one of his three Bahraini clients, Jum'ah al-Dossari, told him about 10 days ago that more than half of a group of 34 long-term hunger strikers had abandoned their protest after being strapped in restraint chairs and having their feeding tubes inserted and removed so violently that some bled or fainted.
"He said that during these force feedings too much food was given deliberately, which caused diarrhea and in some cases caused detainees to defecate on themselves," Colangelo-Bryan added. "Jum'ah understands that officers told the hunger strikers that if they challenged the United States, the United States would challenge them back using these tactics."
[ mathaba.net
Guantanamo strikers 'restrained'
9. februar 2006
Hunger striking Guantanamo Bay detainees are being strapped to chairs for hours to force-feed them through tubes, the New York Times has reported.
The tough treatment started after it was determined that the prisoners were trying to die, unnamed sources said.
Since December there has been a drop in the number of protesters from 84 to 4, spokesman Lt Col Jeremy M Martin said.
Human rights groups have challenged the US in the past over whether hunger strikers have been force-fed.
The US military defines a hunger strike as missing nine consecutive meals.
Responding to the New York Times article, Amnesty International renewed its call for international medical experts to be allowed to visit the strikers.
The organisation also said the US authorities should move to close the camp.
Solitary confinement
Detainees being force-fed are also restrained to stop them vomiting after feeding and placed in solitary confinement for extended periods to stop them drawing encouragement from each other, the New York Times report says.
Lt Col Martin, who is the chief military spokesman at the US detention facility, confirmed in a statement to the newspaper that "a restraint system to aid detainee feeding" was used.
But he said that force-feeding was administered "in a humane and compassionate manner" and only when necessary to keep the prisoners alive.
Citing unnamed officials, the New York Times said staff at the camp had become increasingly concerned that the hunger strike protest, which began in August, was getting out of control.
They were worried that if one of the inmates were to commit suicide it would increase international condemnation of the camp.
Despite the sudden sharp drop in the number of hunger strikers, Lt Col Martin refused to say that it was a result of the force-feeding.
"We haven't changed anything. Our processes and procedures are the same," he said. "But the numbers have fluctuated."
Held without charge
The hunger strikes began last summer as a protest against conditions at the prison, with 76 prisoners taking part. The number rose to 131 in September, then fell away, before rising again to 84 in December.
The camp was set up in 2002 to hold foreign terror suspects, many of them captured in Afghanistan. It currently houses around 500.
According to a report by two lawyers more than half of the detainees, who are being held without charge, have never committed any "hostile acts" against the US.
Mark Denbeaux and Joshua Denbeaux estimated that 55% "are not determined to have committed any hostile acts against the United States or its coalition allies", after analysing government documents regarding the prisoners.
They said that according to the documents only 8% were classed as al-Qaeda fighters and 60 prisoners "are detained merely because they are 'associated with' a group or groups the [US] government asserts are terrorist organizations".
The report also suggests that some of the detainees were caught by people seeking US bounties and their identities were never properly verified.
[ news.bbc.co.uk
Neuer Skandal im Lager Guantanamo
Zwangsernährung als Folter im Anti-Terrorkrieg der USA / Widerstand in Irak wächst
11.02.06
Während Präsident George Bush erneut »Erfolge« im »Anti-Terrorkrieg« meldet, sprechen neue Enthüllungen aus Guantanamo und über die Situation in Irak eine andere Sprache.
Am Donnerstag verbreitete USA-Präsident George Bush bei einer Rede im Washingtoner »National Guard Memorial Building« seine jüngste Version vom Erfolg im »Antiterrorkrieg«: US-amerikanische Nationalgardisten würden die afghanische Armee ausbilden, in Guantanamo die »gefährlichsten Terroristen der Welt« vom Zuschlagen abhalten und in Irak »den Kampf auf das Territoriums des Feindes tragen«. Der »Sieg im globalen Antiterrorkrieg« sei nur eine Frage der Zeit. Als Beispiel nannte Bush die Vereitelung eines angeblichen Al-Qaida-Anschlagsplans auf den mehr als 300 Meter hohen Library Tower in Los Angeles wenige Wochen nach dem 11. September 2001. Eine aktuelle, wenn wohl auch kurzfristige Erfolgsmeldung können sich die Washingtoner Antiterror-Krieger derzeit auf jeden Fall ans Revers heften: die gewaltsame Beendigung der Hungerstreiks von Gefangenen im Guantanamo-Lager.
Die seit dem Sommer vergangenen Jahres immer wieder aufflammenden Proteste von Häftlingen, die mit der Verweigerung von Nahrungsmitteln auf ihre hoffnungslose Situation aufmerksam machen und sich zu Tode hungern wollten, sind beendet. Dies berichtete der Sprecher des USA-Militärs in Guantanamo, Jeremy M. Martin, am Mittwoch. 80 der 84 Hungerstreikenden von Ende Dezember würden wieder Nahrung zu sich nehmen. Das Mittel, das die USA-Behörden anwandten, beschrieb die »New York Times« als »tough« (hart) – im Klartext: Zwangsernährung mit brutaler Folter.
Die Hungerstreikenden wurden der Zeitung zufolge nach dem bewährten Muster der gewaltsamen Einführung eines Schlauches durch die Nase »entwaffnet«. Es waren Angehörige von Sondereinheiten, die den an Spezialstühlen gefesselten Gefangenen Schläuche in die Innereien rammten. Anwälte berichteten, die Opfer seien dabei teilweise so schmerzhaft behandelt worden, bis sie blutige Klumpen ausspuckten, vor Schmerzen ohnmächtig wurden und danach die »freiwillige« Nahrungsmittelaufnahme zusagten.
Rumsfeld und Co. waren laut Presseberichten besorgt um die öffentliche Aufmerksamkeit, die mögliche Todesfälle bei Hungerstreikenden hervorgerufen hätten, und ordnete deshalb diese Methode der Zwangsernährung an. Laut »New York Times« hatte man in den vergangenen Wochen 25 »Fesselstühle« bei einer Firma im Bundesstaat Iowa bestellt, auf denen die Zwangsernährung durch Ärzte und Hilfspersonal dann auch vollzogen wurde. Das Pentagon dementierte den Bericht umgehend. Die von den Armeekommandeuren in Guantánamo ergriffenen Maßnahmen seien »human und mitfühlend«, sagte der Sprecher von US-Präsident George W. Bush, Scott McClellan.
Über das Schattenreich Guantanamo, das Washington vor Neugierigen verbirgt, dringen nur selten Nachrichten an die Öffentlichkeit. Unlängst legten zwei Anwälte allerdings einen Kurzbericht vor, der auf Angaben des Pentagon beruht. Demnach sind weniger als die Hälfte der angegebenen 500 Häftlinge angeklagt, gewaltsame Akte gegen die USA oder ihre Verbündeten begangen zu haben. Nur acht Prozent der Häftlinge seien Al-Qaida-Angehörige, 40 Prozent hätten mit dem Terrornetzwerk überhaupt keine Verbindung und 18 Prozent weder mit Al Qaida noch mit den Taliban.
Unterdessen wurde bei Anhörungen vor dem Senats-Außenausschuss am Mittwoch deutlich, dass sich der Zustand der irakischen Infrastruktur in jeder Beziehung weit unterhalb des Niveaus bewegt, das unter Saddam Hussein vor der Invasion durch die USA herrschte. Das so genannte Wiederaufbauprogramm, für das bereits 16 Milliarden Dollar ausgegeben wurden, habe keinerlei Erfolge gezeitigt, hieß es seitens mehrerer Zeugen im Kongress. Von der Ölproduktion über Elektrizität und Trinkwasserversorgung bis hin zur Müllabfuhr sei Irak seit der amerikanisch-britischen Invasion weit zurückgefallen, hieß es. Wie die Faust aufs Auge passte dazu ein anderer Bericht der Rechnungsbehörde der Regierung, der zu Anhörungszwecken ansatzweise freigegeben wurde. Demnach ist der irakische Aufstand schlagkräftiger als zuvor, Tendenz steigend. Seit März 2004 haben sich so die Angriffe auf irakische Sicherheitskräfte, auf Zivilisten sowie auf USA-Truppen und ihre Verbündeten verdoppelt und, je nach Fluktuation, vervierfacht. Allein im vergangenen Dezember habe es fast 2500 Angriffe gegeben, eine Zunahme um 250 Prozent im Vergleich zum März 2004.
[ nd-online.de
30. January 2006
GEORGIA
in einem knast in rustavi, nahe tiblisi, wurden bei einem riot ein gefangener und ein wärter / polizist verwundet.
INMATE, Policeman Injured in Prison Riot
One prisoner and one law enforcer were wounded as a result of a clash between inmates and police in a prison in Rustavi, near Tbilisi, on January 30.
Officials say that the inmates tried to stage a riot after the police unit of the Penitentiary Department of the Justice Ministry, started carrying out a search in the prison cells.
"As a result of the clash, one prisoner was slightly injured, while one employee of the special troops was wounded in his head," Spokesperson for the Penitentiary Department Salome Makhradze told Civil Georgia.
Meanwhile, relatives of the inmates staged a rally outside the prison, protesting against "police brutality" in the prisons and claiming that the prisoners were brutally beaten-up.
[ civil.ge
30. January 2005
AUSTRALIA
5 jugendliche die im acmena jugendknast in south grafton / nsw inhaftiert sind, haben wärter mit einem messer bedroht und dann einige stunden im knast randaliert und dabei angebl. einen schaden von $ 80.000 bis $ 100.000 verursacht.
die 5 gefangene hatten einen antrag gestellt in einen anderen knast verlegt zu werden
Juveniles trash detention centre
Five juvenile inmates threatened staff with a knife before trashing and flooding parts of a NSW detention centre in Grafton last night.
The Acmena Juvenile Justice Centre in South Grafton was placed in lockdown after police gained control of the situation at 9.30pm (AEDT) after being called to a reported riot about two hours earlier.
Three of the inmates managed to climb onto the roof and set at least two fires.
A Juvenile Justice Department spokesman said three inmates climbed into the roof cavity of an accommodation block at the Northern Rivers jail for more than two hours, from 7pm (AEDT) last night.
The spokesman said two separate fires, involving a lounge chair and an inmate's personal items, were extinguished while the trio were in the roof.
No evacuations were required, and no-one was seriously injured.
"Everyone at the centre is in lock down now in their rooms and the situation is under control," the spokesman said.
Chief Inspector Darren Spooner, of Grafton police, said five inmates had trashed and flooded the Clarence wing while Acmena staff were threatened with a knife.
"Five young blokes locked themselves in the Clarence wing, which is one of the three wings at the facility - they threatened staff with a makeshift knife," he said.
"They have caused around $80,000 to $100,000 damage including trashing computers, printers all of the admin things, got into the roof and pulled out electricity cables, they have cracked windows, thrown food and flooded the place; it's now under about four inches of water."
It was believed the five inmates had earlier requested transfers to another justice centre.
Chief Inspector Spooner said eight policeman, ambulance officers and an eight-member squad of firemen had been sent to the Swallow Road facility.
"The staff at the facility (Acmena) have protective gear and helmets, which they can use to control situations, but the way things are set up is they have to call a manager, who is often off-site as most of these incidents happen at night, and then the staff have to call the police. It's usually all over by the time they can use the equipment," he said.
"And it means that while this was happening Grafton didn't have any police," he said.
Tonight's disturbance follows the Christmas riots at Acmena in 2003, when detainees set fire to a building, damaged equipment and held police and staff at bay for hours.
The five youths involved will be charged with affray and malicious damage. They will appear in Grafton court today.
Chief Inspector Spooner said the youths would be be transferred from the juvenile justice system to the Department of Corrective Services.
Member for Clarence Steve Cansdell, who went to Acmena after being told of the disturbance, said Acmena staff were not properly trained.
He said he would be approaching Juvenile Justice Minister Tony Kelly for answers.
The centre is understood to cater for about 30 inmates, but NSW Opposition spokeswoman for Juvenile Justice Catherine Cusack said she had been told it was presently holding up to 35, mainly Aboriginal youths.
[ smh.com.au
28. January 2006
BURMA / MYANMAR
während einer auseinandersetzung zwischen gefangenen und wärter wurden zwei gefangene von wärtern getötet . von den 80 verprügelten gefangenen sind 17 schwer verletzt, 4 sind in lebensgefahr.
warum es zu der auseinandersetzung kam wird nicht erwähnt.
Prisoners beaten up and killed in Burma’s Kalemyo Prison
Jan 28, 2006 (DVB) - During a riot between prisoners and prison authorities at Sagaing Division's Kalemyo Jail in northwest Burma on 24 January, inmates including political prisoners were severely beaten up, according to someone who was released from the prison recently.Private tuition teacher and Monya Township National League for Democracy (NLD) youth member Nyunt Aung was said to be among those beaten up badly.
“Two people died on that day,” a local resident of Kalemyo told DVB. “They were beaten up until their heads were flattened and they died on the spot. Around 80 were beaten up and 17 are said to be in a serious condition. The 17 were just left unconscious in their cells. It happened like that. It is not known what will happen next. They are being treated inside the prison. Among them, 4 are said to be in a serious condition…it is not known whether they will live or die. A young boy who was released yesterday said that. He said that Nyunt Aung was among those left in that state.”Nyung Aung was actively involved in organising NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s trip in May 2003 and he was arrested and sentenced to three years in prison for giving ‘illegal’ private lessons.
[ english.dvb.no
24. January 2006
ISRAEL
2. 200 palestinensische gefangene im negev knast begannen heute einen hungerstreik.
DETAINEES started hunger strike at the Negev detention camp
The Palestinian Maan News Agency reported on Tuesday that the Prisoners Media Center announced that 2200 Palestinian detainees in the Israeli Negev Detention camp began a hunger strike on Tuesday.
The detainees decided to go on hunger strike in protest to the mistreatment and collective punishment they face in detention.The Media Center reported that the detainees in ten sections at the facility are barred from their visitation rights.The administration decided to bar hem from their visitation rights after they held a celebration for Fateh movement marking the 41st anniversary of its founding.
[ imemc.org
24. January 2006
BRAZIL
im agenor martins de carvalho knast in ji-parana im bundesstaat rondonia haben gefangene einen
wärter erschossen, 3 gefangene sind bei dem anschließenden schußwechsel erschossen worden.
etwa die hälfte der 300 gefangene haben versucht nach der schießerei zu fliehen, wurden aber von schwerbewaffneten wärtern und polizisten daran gehindert.
wenn der chef der wärter und der sicherheitsdirektor im knast ankamen, wurden sie von den gefangenen als geiseln genommen.
zum zeitpunkt des artikels gab es keine verhandlungen weil die gefangenen die durchsuchung von zellen nach waffen verweigern.
Four killed in prison riot in Brazil
SAO PAULO, Brazil " A prison riot in Brazil?s remote Amazon jungle state of Rondonia has left four people dead and inmates on Tuesday threatened to kill two hostages ? the prison?s warden and security director" officials said.
The uprising began Monday night at the Agenor Martins de Carvalho prison in Ji-Parana, 1,335 miles northwest of Sao Paulo, according to Rondonia state police spokesman Lenilson Guedes.
"Inmates called out to the guards saying that a prisoner was ill and had to be taken to the infirmary," Guedes said by telephone. ?When three guards entered the cell to escort the prisoner to the infirmary, three inmates opened fire with .38 caliber revolvers." He said it was unclear how the inmates got the guns.
"One of the guards was shot through the heart and died instantly and three inmates died in the ensuing shootout with the other two guards," Guedes added.
About half of the prison's 300 inmates took advantage of the confusion and tried to escape, but were stopped by heavily armed guards and police.
When prison warden Joel de Araujo Pereira and security director Eliseu Segatto Pereira arrived to calm things down, they were grabbed by prisoners and held hostage, Guedes said.
"Neither hostage has been harmed by the inmates, who are serving time for a wide range of crimes ranging from rape and murder to petty larceny," he said.
Negotiations to release the two hostages and end the uprising were at an impasse because the prisoners refuse to allow authorities to search their cells for hidden weapons, Guedes said. He added that officials had agreed to all of the inmates' demands, such as sentence reductions and longer visiting hours.
The rebellion took place one month after inmates in another Rondonia prison took 200 relatives hostages in a four-day uprising.
Prisoners at the Urso Branco State Prison, in Rondonia?s state capital of Porto Velho, released their hostages after authorities met their main demand by returning one of their leaders from another prison. No one was hurt in that uprising.
The Urso Branco prison was also the site of a bloody five-day uprising in April 2004 that left 14 inmates dead, many of them hacked to death and tossed from the prison's roof. Prisoners held about 170 relatives hostage then, most of them women.
That rebellion only ended after authorities agreed to replace the prison director, give prisoners the right to visits from their children, provide more recreation space and give inmates more frequent dental care.
In 2002, police killed 26 inmates to crush a rebellion at the same prison. AP
[ thedailyjournalonline.com
19. January 2006
USA
5 gefangene, die wegen immigrationdelikten im knast harrison street county knast in brownsville/ texas inhafiert sind, haben aus protest gegen verfaultes essen und ihre behandlung durch die wärter
( "werden schlimmer wie hunde behandelt") sich geweigert ihre zellen für eine reperatur zu verlassen.
daraufhin wurde der knast unter lockdown gestellt und 12 riotpolizisten gerufen.
nach einigen stunden endete das ganze angeblich friedlich.
die fünf wurden in einen anderen knast verlegt.
JAIL standoff ends peacefully
A small group of federal inmates who claimed they were tired of being served “rotten food” and “treated worse than dogs” confronted county jailers Wednesday during an hour-long standoff that ended peacefully.
The incident began during a 5 a.m. breakfast when five federal inmates at the Harrison Street county jail in downtown Brownsville complained about their meal, according to reports.Officials locked down the jail and suspended morning visits to all inmates at the downtown facility after the five inmates allegedly refused to leave their cells to allow a maintenance crew to work on a plumbing problem.The inmates’ names are being withheld at the request of the U.S. Marshals’ Office, They are being held on immigration and other charges and allegedly became aggressive toward county detention officers.
In what officials called a “heavy-handed” response, more than 12 members of the county’s SWAT team arrived at 9:20 a.m. Wednesday, wearing riot gear and carrying paint rifles, attracting attention of passersby and area employees.“It’s a strong message to the rest of the inmates that we’re not going to tolerate any misbehavior by any prisoners,” Sheriff Omar Lucio said.The uprising was quashed at 10:15 a.m. with officials calling the operation a success.“Fortunately, we didn’t have to use any of our equipment, just the force of our presence,” said Chief Deputy Gus Reyna, who oversaw the SWAT team operation.
Lucio said the inmates would be punished administratively for not following jail procedures and were moved to the Carrizalez-Rucker Detention Center in Olmito.While being escorted out of the downtown jail, the four exclaimed that they were protesting “rotten food” and being “treated worse than dogs.”Consul Victor Manuel Treviño with Mexican Consulate of Brownsville said his office received a complaint about the food from one of the men who is a Mexican national.
Treviño said sheriff’s department cooperated with his office and allowed Mexican officials to go to the old county jail and visit the man at the Carrizalez-Rucker facility.Although consulate officials determined that the food the prisoners were being served for lunch was “adequate,” Treviño said his office would continue to investigate the case in addition to continuing their work to protect the rights of other Mexican nationals housed in local jails.According to Brownsville Herald archives, the incident is the second time since December that the county’s SWAT team has been called to the downtown facility.During a Dec. 2 incident, six inmates held three jailers hostage, prompting a SWAT team raid of the downtown facility.
[ brownsvilleherald.com
13. January 2006
USA
bei auseinandersetzungen im knast san quentin / kalifornien wurden 23 gefangene und zwei wärter verletzt.in einer kantine des knastes sollen gefangene untereinander gekämpft haben, die wärter setzten pfefferspray und schlagstöcke ein.
14 gefangene sind bis jetzt wegen ihrer beteiligung an der auseinandersetzung in isolation.
AN Quentin Prison riot injures 23 inmates, 2 officers
Twenty-three inmates and two correctional officers were injured in a riot that broke out in a San Quentin State Prison dining hall Thursday night.
The violence began about 7 p.m., after about 260 inmates had taken their seats in a prison cafeteria, when a group of Latino inmates began assaulting other inmates, prison spokesman Sgt. Eric Messick said.
Correctional officers quelled the uprising using pepper spray and batons, Messick said. One officer suffered a sprained knee and another was struck in the head and chest.
One inmates was treated at an outside hospital for a fractured jaw and returned to prison at 3 a.m. today; another was stabbed; six inmates suffered wounds made by a slashing weapon; and 15 others had cuts and bruises, Messick said. None of the injuries was life-threatening.
Initially, prison officials suspected that the attacking inmates had targeted black prisoners, Messick said, but that theory was dropped when officials realized that prisoners of all races had been injured.
Prisoners in the so-called Badger unit -- which houses new inmates -- remained on lockdown this afternoon, a condition that is likely to continue through the scheduled execution of Clarence Ray Allen at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, Messick said.
The rest of the prison was operating normally, he said.
The prisoners in the dining room at the time of the fight consisted of new arrivals from county jail and parole violators, Messick said. Those serving long prison terms are kept in a separate section of the prison.
Fourteen prisoners were sent to isolation, and more may be headed to "the hole," as it's called, depending on what the investigation turns up, Messick said.
Prison officials recovered nine weapons used to stab and slash that inmates had fashioned out of toothbrushes and pens.
[ sfgate.com
11 January 2006
AUSTRALIA
10 männer die unter dem verdacht mitglieder einer terroristischen vereinigung zu sein festgenommen wurden, befinden sich im barwon knast im hungerstreik. 4 der männer sind in isohaft.
TERRORIST accused won't eat
TEN men accused of being part of a terrorist organisation have gone on a hunger strike over prayer time in prison.
The men, who began the strike on Monday, want to be able to pray together on Friday afternoons and on special religious occasions.
They have also complained they had not been getting enough food.
Ahmed Raad said through his wife, Marian, that they were being treated like animals.
"We must do this to show them that we need our rights," he said.
"We are being locked up and treated like animals and we haven't even been proven to be guilty of anything.
"We are innocent Muslims who just liked to express their political point of views.
"I thought people had a right to an opinion in this country."
All of the accused are in separate cells in Barwon Prison's Acacia unit.
Six of the men, including Mr Raad, are allowed out of their cells from 9am to 2pm in pairs.
But Abdul Nacer Benbrika, Fadal Sayadi, Izzydeen Atik and Ezzit Raad, who has lost 15kg since being arrested in November, remain in solitary confinement.
The hunger strike came to a head over the denial of a request to pray the Eid prayer together, which coincides with a ritual known as Hajj, which involves a pilgrimage to Mecca.
In letters sent from Mr Ahmed Raad to his wife, he says he is also not getting enough food.
Mrs Raad said the men in Unit Four of the prison were able to pass things and communicate to each other and would only give up when they could exercise their religious beliefs.
"We want the governor to know they are being treated unfairly.
"They're being treating like animals.
"I said to my husband 'when are you prepared to give up'?
"He said, 'We're not . . . this is serious'.
"I can't say they would die for this, but they're willing to go as far as they can take it.
"They want the Friday afternoon prayer time, at the Duhr time, which at the moment is at 1 o'clock.
"It changes with the sun. It goes forward every day."
She said her husband was strip searched each time he was given a contact visit with his daughter, Nusaibah, born while he has been on remand.
Defence lawyer Rob Stary, representing all 10 accused, said he believed they had a legitimate grievance.
"Apart from being in solitary confinement, they just want to be treated on an equal basis," Mr Stary said.
"They don't want to be discriminated against because they are Muslim.
"There is no other prisoner on remand that I am aware of being denied a right to attend a church service in a congregational form."
Mr Stary said the prisoners did not have a management or disciplinary problem and "behaved in an exemplary way".
Corrections Commissioner Kelvin Anderson said it would not be swayed by a hunger strike.
Mr Anderson said prison authorities had worked closely with Muslim leaders so the alleged terrorism suspects had special food, prayer times and places to pray.
[ heraldsun.news.com.au
6. January 2006
HONDURAS
angeblich kam es bei einem kampf zweier rivalisierender banden um den drogenhandel im national-penitentiary, dem größten bundesknast ,der in einem randbezirk der hauptstadt tegucigalpa ist, zu mindestens 13 toten und einem verletzten.
soldaten wurden um den knast postiert weil befürchtet wird das es entweder zu weiteren kämpfen kommt oder zu einem ausbruch.
der knast ist wie alle 24 knäste des landes überbelegt. die gebäude wurden für 1.500 gefangene gebaut, zur zeit sind 3.100 menschen in den baufälligen gebäuden inhaftiert.
Drug turf war blamed for Honduran prison violence
Authorities: Shootings that killed 13 were 'premeditated'
A battle to control drug sales inside Honduras' top federal prison led to grisly, premeditated violence between rival inmates that left at least 13 dead and could result in more violence, authorities said Friday.
National Penitentiary Director Lt. Marvin Ramos, who was suspended indefinitely by President Ricardo Maduro following Thursday's deaths, said the violence was sparked by a conflict between two rival bands of inmates in the "White House," a two-level, 100-square-meter (1,000-square-foot) cell block housing 400 of the prison's most dangerous inmates.
"The fight began because of a struggle between the two bands -- one of which lives on the upper floor and the other one on the lower -- to dominate drug sales at the National Penitentiary," Ramos said.
Soon after the shootout, inmates' bodies lay in pools of blood within the cellblock, all with stab wounds apparently inflicted by homemade knives and 10 bearing gunshot wounds.
Each of those 10 received an execution-style shot to the head, though some already were dead at the time.
One of the victims had been decapitated.
Forensic Medicine Deputy Director Arturo Alvarez, who conducted autopsies on the bodies, said he believed that two or three inmates were responsible for the killings, but he did not say why.
"The killers are still inside the National Penitentiary, and we have to be prepared for new incidents because the tragedy was premeditated," he said.
Police and guards regained control of the facility located on the outskirts of the capital, Tegucigalpa, and soldiers were posted outside the prison amid fears that criminal groups might have started the gunbattle to cover a larger uprising or mass escape.
Unlike many recent outbreaks of prison violence, however, this clash did not appear to involve the feared "mara" street gangs that have taken part in violent prison riots in the past.
Honduran Security Minister Armando Calidonio said officials had yet to determine how inmates smuggled guns into the prison, but he said police were "intensively investigating."
Guards found two 9 mm pistols, two grenades, small amounts of marijuana and cocaine, and six cellular phones in a search of the cell block, Ramos said. One pistol was a police-issued gun.
Ramos acknowledged that a large number of prisoners use cell phones to communicate with the outside world and said guards have arrested female visitors who smuggled drugs and guns in their bodies.
Like other Honduran prisons, the National Penitentiary is aging and overcrowded. The facility was built to hold 1,500 inmates, but currently houses more than 3,100.
Alvarez called the prison a "university of crime" because "an inmate is jailed for a minor offense and then learns to survive in a world of high crime."
Authorities initially thought at least 30 inmates had been injured but then lowered that number to just one: a prisoner identified as Carlos Alberto Flores, 34, who was being treated at a Tegucigalpa hospital. Flores had been sentenced in 2003 to 20 years for murder.
The inmates who were killed had been convicted of drug trafficking, sex crimes, kidnapping and bank robberies, authorities said.
Honduras' 24 cramped and crumbling prisons, housing 13,000 inmates, have frequently been the scene of riots and fights. In the past seven years, nearly 200 inmates, mostly gang members, have died in jail.
At the National Penitentiary, 28 inmates were killed by fellow prisoners last year and in 2004 nearly 600 prisoners rioted to protest the transfer of four of their leaders to another facility. No injuries were reported in that riot.
Also in 2004, a fire broke out in a cell block housing 182 gang inmates at another prison in the northern city of San Pedro Sula, killing more than 100 prisoners.
[ edition.cnn.com
4. January 2006
USA
drei tage nach einem riot im cherokee park youth center, einem psychiatrischen jugendknast in tennessee, wurden 5 der beteiligten jugendlichen angeklagt , u.a. wegen körperverletzung und widerstand bei der festnahme.
FIVE teens face charges after center riot
Five teenagers face charges including assault and resisting arrest three days after a riot at a psychiatric treatment center for youths, authorities said.
The teens got out of control Sunday night at the Cherokee Park Youth Center, and some used construction equipment they found to make weapons, which they brandished at staff members and each other, police said.
Neighbors called security there poor and said teens routinely escape.
The five teens arrested face charges including resisting arrest, aggravated assault, rioting, assault on an officer and reckless endangerment. Their names were not released because they're minors.
They were taken to the Upper East Tennessee Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Johnson City and have a court appearance set for Tuesday.
[ tricities.com
4. January 2006
MEXICO
bei einem fünfstündigen riot in einem knast in dem bundesstaat veracruz wurden 4 gefangene verletzt.
angeblich haben sich die gefangene gegenseitig verletzt.
FOUR hurt in riot
Four inmates were hurt, one of them seriously, in a riot Tuesday at a prison in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, authorities announced.
The riot, which lasted five hours before being brought under control by security forces, began early in the morning in the Perote municipal jail, which houses some 920 inmates.
The state?s interior secretary, Reynaldo Escobar Pérez, told a press conference on Tuesday that the violence started when some 40 prisoners protested the strict monitoring by prison guards to prevent the entry of alcohol into the facility and restrict access to women.
During the morning, the prison inmates attacked one another, injuring four, one of whom was hurt badly enough to require hospitalization in Jalapa, the state capital.
[ eluniversal.com.mx
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