Latest news with #solitaryconfinement
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
The plight of Jimmy Lai shames us all
Dictatorships use solitary confinement as a form of torture, designed to break the prisoner's spirit. Under international law, 'prolonged solitary confinement' is defined as exceeding 15 days. British citizen and 77 year-old media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai, in jail in Hong Kong, has now exceeded 1,600 days in solitary confinement, yet has committed no crime. He has already served several prison sentences on multiple trumped-up charges, including 13 months for lighting a candle and saying a prayer at a vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. He is currently on trial under Hong Kong's draconian National Security Law, imposed by Beijing in 2020, and could face life imprisonment, simply for standing up for the human rights and democratic principles that China pledged to guarantee when it was handed control of Hong Kong from British rule. The authorities appear determined to drag his trial out for as long as possible. When it started at the end of 2023, it was due to last 30 days. Multiple adjournments have meant that closing submissions will not be heard until August this year and the verdict and sentencing may not come until the end of the year, making it a two-year trial process. This outrageous foot-dragging is designed to test the mental strength of Mr Lai, his family and his legal team. Despite widespread international condemnation, Mr Lai continues to be held in a tiny cell for more than 23 hours a day, deprived of natural light, and permitted less than an hour a day for physical exercise in a confined space. This is dehumanising and brutal treatment more often associated with 'maximum security prisons' for extremely violent offenders, while Mr Lai just lit a candle to commemorate a massacre that China has tried to erase from history, and exercised his freedom of expression by founding and publishing a successful newspaper. He is in jail for journalism, and for his opinions. Mr Lai, who is diabetic, has been denied access to independent medical care, and denied the right to his first choice of legal counsel, when British barrister Tim Owen KC was barred from representing him. His international legal team has received numerous outrageous threats. Even the right to receive Holy Communion has been restricted which, for Mr Lai as a devout Catholic, is a particularly poignant cruelty. Several governments around the world – including the United Kingdom, United States and Australia – have called for his release, as have the Canadian and European Parliaments. Five United Nations Special Rapporteurs – independent experts on freedom of expression, freedom of association, torture, the independence of judges and lawyers, and counter-terrorism and human rights – and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention have expressed concerns about the case. But the key question is what is the British government actually doing to free its citizen? It is not that no one seems to care – plenty of sympathy and support has been expressed for Mr Lai's plight. The fact that both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves have raised the case in their exchanges with China's leaders is welcome. A cross-departmental approach from the Government is the right strategy. But the important question is how was it raised? In passing, as a box-ticking exercise, or in a meaningful way? If Mr Lai dies in jail, what will be the consequences for China's relations with the United Kingdom, and have they been spelled out? It is time to turn sympathy into action, and words into meaningful measures. That is why an open letter to the prime minister last week by 22 former prisoners or relatives of former prisoners from around the world, asking him 'to do everything in your power to bring Jimmy Lai home', is so powerful and significant. Among the signatories are people whose own plight once looked dire. They include Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza and his wife Evgenia, former Iranian prisoner Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her husband Richard, Chinese-Australian journalist Cheng Lei who was jailed in China, Paul Rusebagina who was imprisoned in Rwanda and the former Soviet dissident For these reasons, they urge the United Kingdom to take urgent steps to secure Mr Lai's release, 'before it is too late'. They call on the prime minister to meet Mr Lai's family as a matter of urgency, and to take 'robust, principled, strategic action'. President Donald Trump has said that Mr Lai's case will be on the table in any US-China trade talks. The United Kingdom must be equally strategic in identifying what leverage it can use to free Mr Lai. It must make it clear to Beijing that Mr Lai's continued imprisonment – and the risk that he might die in jail – is not in the interests of either China or Hong Kong. Not if it wishes to remain a significant business partner. Other countries have been able to secure the release of their citizens from China. Australia worked hard to free Cheng Lai, as did Canada in the case of its citizens Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, and Ireland with the detention of businessman Richard O'Halloran. The United States spares no effort in securing the release of its citizens unjustly imprisoned abroad. Sir Keir Starmer therefore must step up to free Mr Lai. Mr Lai's name must be on the lips of every world leader, every diplomat, every journalist and every Parliamentarian until he is freed. He should never have been arrested in the first place, but after four and a half years of his detention in solitary confinement it is time to say clearly to Beijing: enough is enough. Free Jimmy Lai now.
CBS News
2 days ago
- Health
- CBS News
California bill proposes pilot program for single-occupancy prison cells
In a unique alliance, prisoners at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center and California district attorneys are championing legislation to reform California's prison system by introducing a pilot program for single-occupancy cells. Ken Oliver, who spent nearly 24 years incarcerated — eight of those in solitary confinement — turned that trying time alone, in a cell the size of a closet, into an opportunity for self-improvement. "I literally turned my cell into a law library and studied the law for four years," Oliver recalled. "Had I had a cellmate, I would not have been able to do that." AB 1140, sponsored by Assemblymember Damon Connolly, whose district includes San Quentin, mandates the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to implement a pilot program for single-occupancy cells by January 1, 2027. If approved, the program will designate four adult prison facilities where at least 10% of the incarcerated population will be housed in single-occupancy cells. The bill emphasizes the importance of restorative sleep and reduced stress in promoting rehabilitation. Studies cited in the legislation highlight that overcrowded conditions can lead to increased stress and health issues among inmates. "It causes less stress," Oliver says of single-occupancy living for those incarcerated. "That actually soothes me a little bit, calms me down, allows me to go to things in a different perspective. When I'm forced to navigate that with another person, I'm actually restricting a piece of myself, or repressing a piece of myself because there's another human being in close proximity that if I don't do that, may cause violence, may cause death, which has happened in multiple cases inside the Department of Corrections." San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins leads regular symposiums with inmates, whom she calls residents, at San Quentin. She worked alongside those serving time to craft the legislation. "It is probably the most unimaginable partnership between a district attorney and inmates in a prison," she told CBS News Bay Area. "They have an overwhelming desire for us as prosecutors to understand the road that got them here. They also want to give back so that other people, other kids, youth, young people, don't end up in the same place." Vincent O'Bannon, who collaborated with Jenkins on the legislation during his 15-year tenure at San Quentin, emphasized the potential benefits of single-occupancy cells. "Just being alone takes a great weight off of you," he stated. "When you can go to a cell and know you don't have to share it with anyone else, and you can just walk in and relax. It makes a difference." As Oliver reflects on his past and the potential impact of AB 1140, he remains hopeful. "Never fun to go back into the dungeon," he said, referring to his time in confinement. Yet, he believes that the system that once confined him is now taking steps to enhance public safety and rehabilitation both inside and outside prison walls. The state Assembly is expected to vote on the legislation next Tuesday. If approved, it will go to a vote in the Senate.
ABC News
17-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
Oatlands Gaol's colonial-era solitary cells unearthed below old pool
In tiny cells uncovered at a central Tasmanian town, prisoners were once given nothing more than a bucket, a straw mattress and a blanket. Only 1 metre by 2 metres in size, the cells were a place of punishment for those who committed "minor infractions" — but the average stay was between two and three weeks. "You potentially could be in there 20 hours a day," said Allan Townsend, the history projects officer for Tasmania's Southern Midlands Council. The recently unearthed solitary cells belong to the colonial-era Oatlands Gaol, which opened in 1837 and was the largest regional house of correction in then-Van Diemen's Land. "If you did something really terrible that needed a long sentence, you'd probably be sent to Port Arthur," Mr Townsend said. "But for, say, two years or under, you'd wind up here." Mr Townsend is part of the local archaeological team working to uncover the former correctional facility buried under what used to be a council swimming pool in Oatlands. It later became a municipal jail in 1863 but, due to lack of use, was decommissioned in the 1930s. Later in that decade, much of the complex was demolished because of neglect. Mr Townsend said the complex, which had two-storey-high walls and was visible from anywhere in town, became an unwanted symbol for residents at the time. After World War II, the rest of the yard was filled to house a memorial swimming pool for the town, burying a part of local history beneath it. Brad Williams, the manager of the Heritage Projects team within the council, said they were forging ahead to restore what remained of the complex. "Even though we couldn't have access to much of the site because it was still an operating recreational facility at the time … we knew then that we had quite substantial archaeological remains," he said. The most recent excavation this year uncovered the solitary and condemned cells. Mr Townsend said it was "just sheer luck" that the construction of the pool in the 1950s did not compromise the structure of the site. "It didn't obliterate the solitary cells on the ground floor of the old gaol," he said. "It didn't obliterate the well [or] the wall between the male and the female yard." The gallows, uncovered in 2013, have also been re-exposed in this round of works. "Oatlands, Launceston and Hobart were the only places where people could be executed," Mr Williams said. "We've excavated the foundations of where about 15 people were executed." Mr Williams said team members were working with the Tasmanian Heritage Council to obtain a permit and further explore the site, so they could get a better idea of what else may lie beneath the surface.
CTV News
16-05-2025
- CTV News
Outrage after woman with intellectual disability arrested, spends 8 days in solitary confinement
Montreal Watch There's growing outrage after a young woman with a severe intellectual disability was arrested and spent eight days in solitary confinement.
CTV News
16-05-2025
- CTV News
Disabled woman put in solitary confinement for over a week
There's growing outrage after a young woman with a severe intellectual disability was arrested and spent eight days in solitary confinement.
