Appendix: Three Incidents of Prison TortureCase 1: AqabaNew York, September 17, 2007 Col. Abd al-Karim al-Radaida Dear Colonel al-Radaida: Human Rights Watch has been closely following the investigation into and prosecution of those implicated in the beating of Firas (Sbaih) Zaidan in Aqaba prison, where he was found dead on the morning of May 10, 2007. We are pleased to note that the Jordanian National Institute for Forensic Medicine has issued an amended autopsy report for Zaidan. We also note that the prosecution has consequently reportedly upgraded the charges to “excessive beating resulting in death” against some of the defendants from the Public Security Directorate’s ‘Aqaba Correction and Rehabilitation Center. We nevertheless remain concerned that the efforts by the prosecution have not fully exhausted all means to establish the truth of the events that led to Zaidan’s death at Aqaba prison and of finding all those responsible. Human Rights Watch’s concern is based primarily on information gathered during a visit to Aqaba prison on August 27, but also on our observation of the investigation and the prosecution’s efforts to date. In Aqaba prison we spoke to six prisoners who related in detail the beatings sustained by Zaidan. Some of them said they that investigators never asked them for a statement. Some also said that the prosecutor had only taken one or two trips to the prison to gather evidence. All of them reported ongoing intimidation by current prison staff not to testify, or, once called, not to testify to identify the staff responsible for the beatings. Human Rights Watch further believes that more should have been done to save Zaidan’s life. Other officers should have intervened, since some of the beatings took place in plain view. An officer in the video monitoring room should have seen the beatings take place on his screen and intervened. The hospital staff treating Zaidan on May 9 would have found a severely beaten person, but decided to forego an examination and send him back to prison. Lastly, the circumstances of how the chemical substance Clomipramil found in Zaidan’s blood entered his body have not been fully investigated. We also submit a list of questions to the prosecution (see enclosure) to assist it in seeking answers to questions relating to the cause of death and those responsible. Human Rights Watch has obtained accounts from Aqaba prison officials and prisoners that shed light on some of these questions, which we share with you below. We have kept the names of the individuals who spoke to us confidential at their request. The names of potential witnesses are listed should you consider their testimony potentially useful. Please do not hesitate to contact me with further questions. I look forward to hearing from you about the course of the prosecution and trial. Sincerely, Christoph Wilcke 1) List of questions to the prosecutor Cc: 1) H.E. Dr. Bassem Awadallah, Director, King’s Office, Royal Court 2) Maj.-Gen. Muhammad Majid al-‘Aitan, Director, Public Security Directorate 3) H.E. Shaher Bak, Commissioner-General, National Center for Human Rights 4) The family of Firas Zaidan Memorandum Concerning the Investigation Into the Treatment of Firas Zaidan at ‘Aqaba Correction and Rehabilitation Center, May 6-10, 2007A prisoner at Aqaba prison found Firas Ism’ail Mahmud Zaidan dead in his solitary confinement cell on the early morning of May 10, 2007 after prison guards had severely beaten Zaidan over the previous three days. Zaidan was treated for “erratic behavior” at Princess Haya Military hospital in ‘Aqaba on May 9, the day before he died. Cause of death and Zaidan’s health An initial autopsy performed in Aqaba, dated May 10, found contusions and abrasions on Zaidan’s head, back, buttocks and flanks. A first autopsy report at the Amman National Institute for Forensic Medicine, dated May 12, and erroneously listing May 11 as the date of death, found “multiple and numerous contusions …covering nearly 15-20%” of the body, in addition to “severe oedema” of the lungs. A third, undated autopsy report by the National Institute, which included laboratory testing, determined “severe respiratory failure” resulting from the “toxic effects of Clomipramine” in a “concentration [of 14.3 micrograms per milliliter of blood] that exceeds by one hundred times the acceptable therapeutic concentration” as the cause of death. Human Rights Watch submitted these autopsy reports for review to a forensic pathologist who has worked extensively on the detection of torture, and we have consulted with several renowned clinical psychiatrists in the United States about dosages and counterindications of Clomipramine, as well as symptoms of an overdose. These experts found the third autopsy report to be well-conducted, but expressed doubt about the extremely high doses of Clomipramine found in the body. The National Institute for Forensic Medicine has completed a fourth autopsy report, dated August 21, based on re-testing blood and gall samples, which found the Clomipramine levels in the blood to be 0.45 microgram per milliliter of blood, and determined the cause of death to be the “compounding of combined factors … of injuries, increased by bleeding, and the effect of inhibition of the sympathetic nerves, in addition to the toxic effects of Clomipramine medication, and of an ailment of the heart muscle.” The report’s finding rules out the amount of Clomipramine in Zaidan’s body as the sole cause of death. Nevertheless, Human Rights Watch wants to bring your attention to the following issues: According to Article 24 of the Law of Correction and Rehabilitation Centers (Law No. 9 of 2004), “the doctor of the [Correction and Rehabilitation] Centre must conduct a medical exam of the inmate and present a report of his state of health in any of the following cases: a) at the admission to the Center of [the inmate] and before his release from it and upon his transfer from one Center to another; b) Before placing the inmate in solitary confinement and after releasing him from it.” According to an official in the Aqaba prison administration, speaking to Human Rights Watch on August 27, Zaidan “never received medical examination or treatment while in prison.” A doctor should have examined Zaidan upon admission on May 6. The prison administration official said a doctor usually sees a new prisoner “on the day of admission or the next day,” since a doctor only comes to Aqaba prison from 9am to 1pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Zaidan could have thus seen the doctor on Monday morning, May 7, approximately 14 hours after being admitted. Dr. Muhammad XX (full name uknown), the doctor at Aqaba prison on duty on August 27, told us that he cannot prescribe psychiatric drugs for patients, saying that a specialist at an ‘Aqaba Ministry of Health clinic must do so. There is no information to indicate that Zaidan had taken Clomipramine prior to entering Aqaba prison or that he received it in prison from the doctor. However, ‘Amir Jamil, from Rusaifa, and Fahd al-Ka’ba, from Madaba, who are reportedly both in Swaqa prison now, were two of Zaidan’s bed neighbors in Wing 1, where he spent around 10 hours from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday, May 7. Fellow prisoners in Wing 1 said that Jamil and Ka’ba received psychiatric drugs from the guards every day, and that the pills in questions were called “Roche 2.” Furthermore, the prison administration informed Human Rights Watch that it keeps drugs for prisoners in the safe storage facility (Amanat), where prisoners leave all their belongings upon admission, and that drugs requiring refrigeration are kept in the refrigerator of the market, where a prisoner is also employed. The safe storage facility and the market appear to be easily accessible to guards. Medical records should reveal which medicines containing Clomipramine, were present at ‘Aqaba prison, who received them, and who had access to them between May 6 and 10. On May 9, reportedly around 2.30pm (others said it may have been later in the day), prison officials took Zaidan to Princess Haya Military Hospital, where a doctor injected Zaidan with a dose of Haloperidol, based on the guards’ description that he was “having mental problems.” Apparently, the doctors noticed bruising on Zaidan’s exposed arms, but did not perform an examination or ask further questions, releasing him back to prison. Article 29 of the prison law states that: “A) If an inmate dies, … B) The doctor of the Centre must present a report of the situation of the deceased inmate in the Centre and in particular the following: 1) the type of illness that he was complaining about and the date he began to be affected by it; 2) Last date of a [medical] examination that the doctor carried out before the death; 3) Date of death and the time it occurred.” Only the first autopsy report, prepared in ‘Aqaba, mentions Zaidan’s visit to Princess Haya Military hospital. There is no medical report on Zaidan at the time of death and none of the reports mentions the time of death. Repeated, severe beatings The autopsy reports refer to signs of extensive beatings, and the fourth autopsy report lists injuries as a result of beatings as one contributing factor causing death. According to prison administration officials and eyewitness prisoners Human Rights Watch spoke with, Zaidan entered Aqaba prison around 7pm on Sunday, May 6, and was processed normally (registered, hair cut). At that time, an eyewitness who spoke to Zaidan reported that he acted normally. After 8pm, guards placed Zaidan in the holding cell (shabaka), which has metal bars and is located outside the general prison wings. Any officer passing from the prison wing to the administration building would pass the shabaka. Human Rights Watch has found that it is common for a newly admitted prisoner to be placed in the shabaka for a period lasting between a few hours and a day. The prison administration and some of the eyewitnesses gave conflicting accounts about whether guards beat Zaidan in the shabaka for the first time on Sunday night or on Monday night. Hani al-Taqarna is said to have been in the shabaka with Zaidan on the first night. On Monday, May 7, before 9 am, guards put Zaidan in Wing 1, where he occupied the first bed in the right row of beds, and / or the one bed in front of it that is parallel to the wall. There, fellow inmates said, he acted strangely, drinking water from a plastic cup with cigarette butts, cursing others and banging his head against the wall, but that he had quieted down by the evening. The prison administration said he cursed prisoners and the authorities and that guards removed him due to complaints from fellow prisoners. Prisoners said that in the late afternoon, possibly around 7 p.m., guards Lafi al-‘Amiri, Musa al-Huwaitat, and Qadr al-Tawra entered the room. Zaidan was sitting in the lower bed belonging to Mahmud Jawwad, who was absent due to a court date. The guards told Zaidan to get dressed, and, when he refused, al-‘Amiri and al-Huwaitat swung from the upper bunk bed and hit Zaidan, in the face and chest with their boots, before taking him outside. The prosecution’s charge sheet lists slightly different names for these guards. After that, prisoners heard Zaidan’s screams, apparently from being beaten, from the direction of the shabaka. That night, eyewitnesses reported that al-Tawra, al-‘Amiri, and al-Huwaitat beat Zaidan with four white electrical cables and sticks in the shabaka. A possible further witness to these events is Cesar Ibrahim Haniya. At the time, there were four persons in the shabaka with him, but the guards only beat Zaidan, who was reportedly cursing guards and prisoners alike. The eyewitnesses said that the guards did not hit Zaidan’s head. They beat him around 15-20 times, each time for about five minutes. He remained in the shabaka until about 1 a.m., after which guards took him into a solitary confinement cell. Zaidan was walking by himself at that time, the eyewitnesses said. On the morning of Wednesday, May 9, a prisoner saw Zaidan lying naked in his solitary confinement cell. He was bleeding and drooling from his mouth. Zaidan was semi-unconscious. Prisoners Badr Yahya Baraka, Ali Salih al-Karaduna (?), Wajdi Salama Abu Qadhum, Ma’mun Harb and Muhammad Nayif al-Mu’mani reportedly dressed Zaidan and carried him to the shabaka. There, Hassan Tallaq, a guard, beat Zaidan very hard with a cable for about 15 minutes. Other prisoners nearby said they heard screams coming from the shabaka around 9 a.m. that they identified as being Zaidan’s. They said the sounds of the beating lasted for around 30 minutes. Eyewitnesses said guard Musa al-Huwaitat beat Zaidan with a one-meter-long cable, belonging to the air conditioning, that was knotted together. At that point, Zaidan had been chained to the shabaka, with his hands outside, in a crouching position, because the handcuffs were chained low to a metal bar. Zaidan was wearing only his pants. One eyewitness said that Huwaitat’s beating lasted about 10 minutes. Prisoners said that at 10 am, Zaidan was taken back to solitary confinement. When guards from the night shift arrived around 4pm, eyewitnesses saw guards beat Zaidan again, this time in the kitchen corridor, which is close to the solitary confinement cells. Guard Lafi al-‘Amiri was reportedly one of those who beat Zaidan, since he was working two consecutive shifts that day. This time, eyewitnesses observed beatings to the head, and blood and “white stuff” coming from an area close to Zaidan’s temple. One further potential witness to these events is ‘Asim Shishtawi, from Aqaba (possibly in Ma’n prison now). Before or just after that beating, guards reportedly took Zaidan to hospital. According to one eyewitness, guards beat Zaidan after his return from hospital in the kitchen corridor on the evening of May 9. A prisoner found Zaidan dead in his cell while serving breakfast the next morning, May 10. Ongoing problems with the investigation and prosecution According to the ‘Aqaba prison administration, the public prosecutor for ‘Aqaba visited the prison soon after Zaidan’s death. According to the prisoners, the ‘Aqaba prosecutor came twice, once after Zaidan’s death, and another time in mid-July. According to some prisoners, several current and former prisoners at ‘Aqaba have given statements to the prosecutor. However, other eyewitnesses to the beating of Zaidan said they had not been asked to provide statements. All prisoners with knowledge of the events said that that the prosecutor only asked to see named individuals and did not ask for other potential witnesses. Furthermore, several prisoners who met the prosecutor said that he was primarily interested not in the beatings of Zaidan, but in how he may have ingested drugs. All witnesses complained of intimidation by guards, especially by guard Hassan Tallaq, but also by Nizar XX and Salah XX (full names unknown). They said guards had made threats against them and their families, while on other occasions giving them preferential treatment, suggesting that they not testify or, if they had already given their statements, that they not identify the guards or recount the beatings in court. Prisoners said that four of the five guards who participated in the beatings have been charged with a crime and consequently left the prison service, but that one other guard [name withheld], had also participated. They said intimidation of witnesses continued as of August 27. It is highly likely that other guards saw, or at least knew of, the repeated beatings, since the shabaka is a much frequented area. Human Rights Watch also inspected the monitoring room of Aqaba prison on August 27. The monitoring official, who said he had worked there for one year, said that video monitoring takes place 24 hours a day. The monitoring is computer-based, with five large computer monitors displaying about eight different camera shots per monitor, in addition to one larger camera in the monitor’s center. The cameras film the corridors and other common spaces, such as the dining hall. Clearly visible on August 27 was some of the area inside the shabaka and the space surrounding it, as well as the area of the corridor outside the solitary confinement cells, though not the inside of the cells. The monitoring official described his job as observing, and, in the event of an irregular occurrence, of making a recording of it. He said that no routine recordings are made. Human Rights Watch also notes that previous charges of “neglect of duties,” “acting against orders,” and “abuse of power,” as stipulated in the charge sheet dated June 3, have reportedly been amended to “excessive beating resulting in death,” according to a person familiar with the investigation. We urge you to increase your efforts to gather all relevant evidence, including eyewitness accounts, medical records and treatment, to find all those responsible for the death of Firas Zaidan, including those who, in the course of their duties as prison officials or medical personnel, should or could have intervened to prevent Zaidan’s death. We are also extremely troubled by accounts of witness intimidation, reported statements from high officials in the Public Security Department trying to obfuscate the fact that guards had beaten Zaidan or that the beatings were related to his death, and the inconsistent findings in the autopsy reports relating to the presence of Clomipramine in Zaidan’s body. We expect you to take immediate steps to stop such interference in the course of justice. * * * Questions to the Prosecutor:
Case 2: SwaqaMemorandum, September 5, 2007 To: Khalid al-Majali, Ministry of Interior, Corrections Department Re: Events at Swaqa Correction and Rehabilitation Center on August 26, 2007 Dear Mr. al-Majali, I wish to thank you for your efforts in facilitating Human Rights Watch’s recent visit to a select number of Jordanian Correction and Rehabilitation Center’s, in particular the return visit to Swaqa on August 26. As you probably know, we saw a large number of injured inmates on that day who had apparently injured themselves. We also documented mass beatings and forced shaving of heads and beards that took place in Swaqa after our first visit there on August 21. The injuries were apparently a protest against earlier beatings and forced shavings. We have prepared a memorandum to assist you in your internal investigation, and in that of the prosecution, should there be any. We have furthermore documented shape, color and location of bruises of over 10 prisoners subjected to alleged beatings between August 21 and 26. Please do keep me updated on the scope and course of the internal investigation as well as any prosecutions. Yours sincerely, Christoph Wilcke Events at Swaqa Correction and Rehabilitation Center on August 26, 2007 On August 21, three Human Rights Watch (HRW) staff members and an interpreter visited Swaqa from 9am to 5:30 pm. We spoke for two hours with director Hani al-Majali on his last day as director at the facility. We then interviewed prisoners in several wings and wards of the facility, including room 220 in Wing I, the solitary confinement cells, the Murder and Attempted Murder Ward, the Drugs Ward, and Wards 13 and 14, which hold Islamist prisoners whose cases fall within the jurisdiction of the State Security Court. During that visit, HRW documented numerous abuses, including repeated instances of intentional and severe beatings by security personnel, which were inflicted on prisoners as punishment for perceived infractions. At around 6 p.m. on August 25 HRW learned of allegations that prisoners at the facility had been subjected to abuse as a result of our August 21 visit to Swaqa. We informed Khalid al-Majali, an official in the Corrections department, of the allegations and of our desire to return to Swaqa the next day. Khalid al-Majali said that he informed the assistant to the director of Public Security, and indicated that we should address a request in writing to the minister of interior. At 9 a.m. on August 26 HRW sent the attached fax to the minister of interior seeking permission for a return visit to Swaqa. At 10 a.m., two HRW staff members and an interpreter arrived at Swaqa, where thenew director, Majid al-Rawashda, invited the delegation to visit the facility at around 10.30 am. The delegation first spoke to al-Rawashda for about 45 minutes. He acknowledged that he had had the heads and beards of prisoners shaved, for reasons of “cleanliness” – in particular, because of the prevalence of lice. He explained that “we took harsh measures to sort out the problems caused by the troublemakers,” whose number he put at 50, in order to “protect the 90 percent of respectful, law abiding prisoners,” who cannot complain of prisoner-on-prisoner violence “because their relatives outside would be in danger.” Asked about what caused him to take “harsh measures,” al-Rawashda mentioned cleanliness and “prisoner-on-prisoner violence.” During the last 10 minutes of the conversation, ‘Amid Fayiz XX, the new head of Jordan’s prison services, was present. He did not speak. After the visit, HRW asked director al-Rawashda again about any specific serious incident since beginning his tenure at Swaqa that led him to take “harsh measures.” Al-Rawashda said that there had been none. Shortly after 11 a.m., the director, a Preventive Security officer, and several guards accompanied the HRW delegation into the prison. The situation was quiet. In the main, downstairs corridor, the doors to a few wards were open and prisoners were walking around freely, while the doors to other sections and wards were locked. Director al-Rawashda introduced the delegation to an older prisoner who showed us scars he said he had inflicted upon himself. The members of the HRW delegation had previously seen such scars on the chests, arms and legs of prisoners in all Jordanian prisons they had visited (Muwaqqar, Swaqa, Salt,Qafqafa), and in particularly high numbers in Qafqafa and Swaqa. HRW staff then spoke briefly with several prisoners in the Murder and Attempted Murder Ward, as well as at greater length with prisoners in the Islamist wards 13 and 14. While in ward 13, researcher Christoph Wilcke heard screaming and loud noises coming from an area immediately to the left and below ward 13(when facing the prison administration building). This was at around 12.30 p.m. The screaming lasted only a very short time (less than a minute), but was repeated several times, sometimes sounding as if it came from a direction to the right of ward 13. Joanne Mariner, who was in ward 14 at the time, did not hear any noises coming from outside. Between around 12 and 1 p.m. Wilcke and Mariner were conducting interviews with prisoners regarding allegations of beatings that had occurred since HRW’s last visit on August 21. At around 1 p.m. Christoph Wilcke left ward 13 and descended the stairs, which lie behind the doctor’s office. The guards informed Wilcke that there had been some problems and asked him to wait for a while in the exercise yard. At the time, Wilcke had intended to visit other wings and wards of the facility. A few minutes later, he left the exercise yard and saw a large number of bloody footprints in the corridor leading to the doctor’s office. While standing in the corridor for several minutes, Wilcke observed at least 10 injured prisoners, most of them stripped to their underwear, and some bleeding heavily from wounds to the head and the extremities, walking into the doctor’s office. They did not speak to Wilcke or the guards, and seemed slightly dazed. A guard then led Wilcke into the doctor’s office, “to see for yourself.” The small room was crowded with injured inmates, possibly over 40 of them; blood was everywhere on the floor and the walls. The room was so crowded with the injured that there was almost no room left to stand. A doctor was working frantically to apply bandages. At least three times, prisoners carried other injured prisoners into the doctor’s office. Some had lost consciousness, and one prisoner’s stomach was heaving rapidly. While exiting, one of the prisoners spoke to Wilcke, saying, in front of the guards, “the guards beat us.” This was an isolated utterance. The wounds of the injured prisoners looked like they were the result of cutting by sharp objects. Although we did observe some head wounds, most of the wounds were long cuts on the chest, arms and thighs, deep enough to be bleeding profusely. We did not observe the infliction of the injuries. Nor did we observe any of the guards making physical contact with any of the prisoners, except for one instance in which a guard assisted an injured prisoner in reaching the doctor’s office. Wilcke waited for some time in the officers’ Monitoring Room ( Muraqaba) behind the holding cell(Shabak) and, after consulting with the officers, decided to go with some of them to inform Joanne Mariner and her interpreter of the events and lead them out of prison. In ward 14, Wilcke spoke again with some Islamist prisoners there, while Mariner and the interpreter were led back to the Monitoring Room. As the two walked there, several dozen bleeding prisoners walked by them down the corridor, wearing only their underwear. Mariner and the interpreter spoke briefly to a few prisoners, who said that the prison population was protesting against the beatings they had recently suffered. Mariner and the interpreter then went to the Monitoring Room, where they waited for about 15 minutes. During the time they were waiting, a number of bleeding prisoners walked through the room. They also saw a guard walk in and out of the main corridor carrying a make-shift metal stick(about 75 cm long). At around 2 p.m., Wilcke joined Mariner and the interpreter in the Monitoring Room. As the members of the HRW delegation exited the main area of the correctional facility, they saw three prisoners who were passed out in a reception area immediately behind the entrance door. The three were not receiving medical attention at that time, although medical assistance and a stretcher were arriving as the delegation left. On each of the four times Wilcke walked through short spans of corridors connecting wings, he observed injured prisoners who were mostly coming from, or going in the direction of, the ground floor to the right of the Monitoring Room (facing the administration building). The guards were few and mainly left the gates open. The injured prisoners and others did not use threatening words or gestures to each other, the guards, or HRW. There was no more screaming, and, apart from some rushing of injured prisoners to the doctor’s office, the situation, while not under control, seemed calm, despite the large number of injured prisoners. On the way into the administration building, some prisoners shouted from their wards to HRW “Did you see? Did you see what they do here?” HRW also observed about 40 special forces personnel lined up in about four rows of 10 persons, with black face masks, which some wore, and others took off upon seeing HRW. They were carrying police truncheons and other items on their belts that the HRW delegation could not identify. From 2-2:30 p.m. the members of the HRW delegation again spoke to Director al-Rawashda, informing him of serious concerns regarding retaliation against prisoners who spoke to HRW on the previous visit, and of fears of retaliation for the current visit. We urged Director al-Rawashda not to use force unless necessary, and only to use such force as is appropriate. Al-Rawashda showed us a sharp iron stick wrapped with cloth at one end, ca. 75 cm long, intimating that these kinds of weapons were being used by prisoners to injure themselves. HRW told al-Rawashda that the bloody injuries they had seen appeared to be self-inflicted. Al-Rawashda said that some prisoners forced others to injure themselves. On leaving the prison, Human Rights Watch observed a loosely gathered group of around 50 special forces personnel, some with masks, at least one playing with white plastic handcuffs as if beating someone, another doing the same with what appeared to be three electrical cables twisted and knotted together, another one with what resembled a wooden baseball bat, and one person with a large, bulging, yellow cloth sack with sticks sticking out of it. It appeared that the sack contained improvised weapons. As the delegation was driving up to the main gate, another vehicle transporting 20 or more special forces personnel arrived. Outside the administration building, the civil defense corps was loading three ambulances with injured prisoners. As the delegation was exiting the facility, another ambulance arrived. Within an hour of leaving the facility, Human Rights Watch informed the National Center for Human Rights and the Human Rights Department of the Ministry of Interior of the facts as observed and described in this memorandum. Further observations: The HRW delegation received numerous credible and convincing accounts on the evening of August 25,which we confirmed during our visit on August 26, regarding a mass beating that occurred at Swaqa on Wednesday, August 22. Starting at approximately 3:30 p.m. that day, the new director al-Rawashda made the rounds of the facility. He reportedly said that on the order of the Public Security Directorate, he was authorized to use force. Security forces proceeded to enter each wing and ward, one after another, beating each detainee before leading him to have his head and beard shaven. The beatings occurred in the cells and in the large courtyard between the administration building and the prison wings. Prisoners consistently and separately described hearing screams and the sounds of beatings, in addition to describing their own beatings. One prisoner observed a security guard with a bloodied uniform. Prisoners said that the beatings individually took around 3-10 minutes. The entire set of beatings lasted at least six hours, with some prisoners saying that they lasted until midnight, or nine hours. Members of the HRW delegation observed a number of prisoners with deep bruises on their backs, upper arms, and legs, which were said to be the result of these beatings. The shape of the bruises, especially on the backs of prisoners, was most commonly two to three cm thick and between 20 and 70 cm long, with coloring from light yellow to dark violet. There were also some round bruises, more commonly on legs and arms, and some long surface wounds to the skin. In addition, at least two prisoners had bruises on the backs of their head. One prisoner, Ala’ al-Tair, died that night, apparently from being beaten, according to three inmates who claimed to have seen al-Tair. The National Center for Human Rights confirmed that al-Tair’s corpse showed signs of heavy beatings. Neither the government spokesperson, H.E. Nasser Judeh, nor the spokesperson of the Public Security Directorate, Major Basheer Da’ja or Swaqa Prison Director al-Rawashda mentioned the mass beatings or an alleged death in custody from beatings publicly or to the HRW delegation. Case 3: MuwaqqarJordan: Prison Burning Deaths Need Independent Investigation Police Investigation Ignores Evidence, Intimidates Witnesses (New York, May 8, 2008) – King Abdullah should order an independent investigation into the events surrounding the deaths on April 14 of three prisoners at al-Muwaqqar prison east of Amman, Human Rights Watch said today. Despite ample evidence of misconduct, and potentially criminal acts by prison officials, police authorities told Human Rights Watch that their investigation into the incident will vindicate the prison officials, setting out that they acted correctly. “The police investigation is an attempt to whitewash the events leading up to the burning to death of three inmates in Jordan,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “It has lost all credibility.” Since the deaths of the three prisoners, the police have placed in solitary confinement many of those detainees in al-Muwaqqar who were eyewitnesses to the events. Security officials have prevented lawyers, family members and human rights investigators from visiting them. Witnesses report that police have intimidated them and have ignored accounts that at least two of the men burned to death had been seriously tortured just prior to the fire, shedding doubt on whether the men had in fact died accidentally. The governmental National Center for Human Rights (NCHR) issued a report on April 16, based on its investigation at al-Muwaqqar on April 15, confirming beatings and ill-treatment at the prison before the fire. It is not disputed that at around noon on April 14, approximately 28 prisoners in Cell 3 of Section A of the newly-built al-Muwaqqar prison set their foam mattresses alight as a protest to events at the prison. Prisoners occupying neighboring cells joined in the protest, shouting and inflicting harm on themselves with sharp objects. In response, the prison perimeter guards (Darak) entered the prison building to secure the burning cell. What happened next is contested, but ultimately, when the Civil Defense later extinguished the fire in the cell, they found the burned bodies of Firas al-‘Utti, Hazim Ziyada, and Ibrahim al-‘Ulayan. The police claim that the prisoners had barricaded the doors of the burning cell with beds to prevent the guards from opening them. However, one eyewitness denies this; he described in detail how prisoners were shouting for the Darak and prison guards to open the door of the burning cell, but that they idly stood by for around 10 minutes before opening the doors. Two other eyewitnesses also said that before opening the door, the Darak fired a gas container into the cell. Guards reportedly shot one prisoner in the chest with one or more rubber bullets. When the Darak opened the doors, the eyewitnesses claim that all 28 prisoners left the cell. The NCHR pointed out that the doors of the cell open to the outside, allowing the guards to open the doors regardless of any barricade inside the cells. Eyewitness accounts According to two eyewitnesses, the fire was almost extinguished by the time the doors were open to allow the prisoners to exit the cell. One eyewitness said that the Darak viciously beat those who exited, “splitting open their skulls.” The NCHR recorded blood stains in the rooms, corridors, and the exercise yard. Then, eyewitnesses said, the Darak pushed 18 people back into Cell 3. These 18 include the three whose bodies were found, as well as Majid Khatir, Abed al-Khaffash, Muhammad al-Tabbash, and Faisal al-‘Udwan, whose whereabouts are now unknown. After the cell door had been relocked with the 18 men inside, a second, much bigger fire started and it was that fire which the Civil Defense extinguished when they arrived about 15-20 minutes later, two eyewitnesses said. The NCHR report notes that a fire hose belonging to the prison was in place 4 meters from the burning cell. One day before the incident, Human Rights Watch met with the director of the Public Security Directorate (PSD), Brig.-Gen. Mazin al-Qadi, who promised that the PSD (which includes the police and the prison service) would be fully transparent in its dealing with Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch also spoke with police officials on April 15, April 20, and May 5. A Human Rights Watch researcher visited the outside of the prison on April 15 and witnessed a large presence of security guards. The officials insisted that there was no wrongdoing by any security forces, including both Darak and prison guards, in connection with the April 14 fire, and that the police investigation would conclude soon. Families left in the dark The families of the three dead prisoners and eyewitnesses told Human Rights Watch that all three who died had complained during visits days before the fire about ill-treatment, in particular by a Captain ‘Amir Qutaish, who they claim insulted and beat them. An eyewitness alleges that on April 13 this officer suspended Firas al-‘Utti and Hazim Ziyada, two of the men later burned in the fire, for four to five hours from a wall with their hands shackled behind their back (the shabah torture position) while beating them. This was in response to the fact that some 100 prisoners had started a hunger strike that day protesting ill-treatment. Families and eyewitnesses told Human Rights Watch that Qutaish had bad relations with al-‘Utti and Ziyada dating back to a period that the men had spent in a different prison. Al-‘Utti also reportedly tried to warn a visitor to the prison that Qutaish had allegedly made threats against them just five days before the fire. One eyewitness said that Qutaish threatened al-‘Utti, Ziyada and another two prisoners with ill-treatment again only hours before the fire on April 14. Three eyewitnesses spoke of the frequent morning searches, beatings, and insults by prison guards and the shabah-style torture of prisoners who resisted the searches. After the fire, the prison administration placed all surviving prisoners from Cell 3, Section A and the roughly 100 other prisoners who had witnessed the events either into solitary confinement or separate from the remaining prison population after they had briefly been treated for smoke inhalation, burns, or injuries from beatings. At dawn on April 15, they transferred between 15 and 60 prisoners to other prisons. Their families and lawyers have been unable to visit the isolated prisoners, “by order of the Ministry of Interior,” one family member told Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch knows of at least five families unable to visit their loved ones in prison since the incident. The prison also prohibited the visiting NCHR representatives from seeing these prisoners. Eyewitnesses also said that the police put pressure on the transferred prisoners to exonerate the security forces of the deaths and warned them not to mention that complaints about torture had given rise to the protest. On April 20, four days after issuing its critical findings on al-Muwaqqar, the executive director of the NCHR, Shaher Bak, resigned. “King Abdullah has an obligation under human rights law to set up an independent commission with judicial powers to investigate the torture, protests and response to the fire in al-Muwaqqar prison, as the police authorities have clearly shown themselves incapable of holding their own members to account,” said Whitson. Human Rights Watch is concerned that, even with evidence of criminal culpability on the part of the members of the Public Security Directorate, there are significant obstacles in the way of prosecution. In Jordan, a police court has jurisdiction over all cases in which members of the PSD stand accused of crimes. The PSD director appoints police officers as judges of the police court as well as the police prosecutors, and he retains the right to reduce sentences. Such a tribunal fails to meet any standard of independent judicial scrutiny. The police court has a poor record of holding police to account for abuses. In March 2008, the police court sentenced two officers who beat an inmate to death in Aqaba prison to two-and-a-half years in prison, but only after private efforts by the family of the deceased, the US embassy, and Human Rights Watch to bring the perpetrators to justice. Before these efforts, the police court merely charged the men with “abuse of authority” and “violating orders and directives.” In December 2007, the police court sentenced the director of Swaqa prison to two months in prison for “exercising unlawful authority resulting in harm,” then commuted the sentence to a fine of JOD120, or about US$170. The prison director had beaten, and forcibly shaved the heads and beards, of almost all 2,100 inmates at Swaqa prison, Jordan’s largest, on his first day as director there (http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/08/30/jordan16770.htm ). |