| LATEST NEWS |
| John Watson, UK Prisoner, secretly detained in Laos. |
31 July 2009
Foreign Prisoner Support Service has confirmation from sources inside Laos that Mr. Watson was transferred from Phonthong Prison to Somkhe Political Prison in Vientiane around 20 July 2009. Lao Authorities are denying this. His situation is of deep concern. He should be returned to Phonthong Prison immediately (foreigner’s jail in Vientiane) in accordance with Human rights Standards that the Laos Government signed onto on 7 December 2000 (UN Declaration of Human Rights). The Lao authorities are withholding his present location from the UK Embassy. This is in violation of the Vienna Convention.
Somkhe Prison is a domestic prison in Laos that is often used to house political prisoners, many of whom have been detained for indefinite terms, without trial, without charge, mostly for wanting democracy. It is a prison that inflicts severe punishment and torture on prisoners who are shackled and placed in a dark room for indefinite periods. Leg irons are usually attached to the prisoner’s legs or wooden leg stocks ranging from 12 to 14kg.
“One prisoner I know personally lost 20 kg in less than four months in Somkhe prison for not confessing during interrogation. One man I know spent an entire year in the dark room in Somkhe, only taken out during the day to be beaten. His crime.... wanting freedom and democracy” says FPSS advocate Kay Danes.
There are many prisoners detained throughout the world who commit crimes that should be punished, no one is denying that, but there are equally, if not more prisoners in Laos who haven't committed any crime. They are detained because it is perceived they are a threat to the ruling regime. International mandates that Countries like Laos sign in regards to the treatment of prisoners must be upheld.
“Imagine if you will, if you even can, what it must be like for someone detained unlawfully or wrongly. There are thousands of unlawful detainment cases in Laos because there is very little to no transparency of the system. This must change” says Kay Danes.
|
| Man expects to die for fathering child to save life |
Yorkshire Post - Leeds,England,UK
Kay Danes, of the Foreign Prisoners Support Service, said she was horrified at the latest news about Watson's circumstances. "John Watson said he would not ...
 v
Samantha Orobator: Was able to evade death by firing squad because she was pregnant. |
Published Date: - 29 July 2009 - By Robert Sutcliffe
A Halifax man who fathered a baby in a Laotian jail says he will now die for saving the woman from a prison firing squad.
John Watson, 47, has been transferred to the local punishment jail at Somkhe in Vientiane, the capital of Laos.
Before he left he told other prisoners: "You will not see me again."
Samantha Orobator, from London, became pregnant after she artificially introduced Watson's sperm into her own body.
The women and men's compounds at Phonthong Prison, Vientiane, where they were both incarcerated last year, are separated by a mesh fence.
When officials took her for a pregnancy test on April 4 she was found to be 17 weeks pregnant. The baby is due in September.
Miss Orobator faced the mandatory death sentence for trafficking 680 grammes of heroin, but Laos does not execute pregnant women.
The news emerged a day after Foreign Office Minister Chris Bryant signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Laos on a Prisoner Exchange Treaty.
He said he was hopeful that 20-year-old Miss Orobator, who was born in Nigeria but educated in England, could be flown home within a week.
"I very much hope that with any luck Samantha will be able to return in the next week or 10 days," Mr Bryant said.
Miss Orobator will also avoid paying a £42,000 fine.
"According to the law, of course she must pay all the fine and then leave Laos.
But in this case, again, because of her pregnancy, it's a special arrangement," Khenthong Nuanthasing, a spokesman for the Laotian government, said.
Kay Danes, of the Foreign Prisoners Support Service, said she was horrified at the latest news about Watson's circumstances.
He is in prison over drugs allegations.
"John Watson said he would not survive if he was transferred. 'That's the last you will ever know of me' he said. I was in contact with him up until around the time Samantha confessed.
"He has told other prisoners all of whom are in a state of panic in Phonthong.
"It's ironic that if what is said is true John Watson gave a life to save a life and now his own life is seriously in danger. He has saved Samantha's life. Now he may have given his own."
Mr Bryant said he was concerned about Watson. He said: "It is obvious he has lost weight and is clearly very concerned about his future."
Watson initially denied he was the father but confessed after Miss Orobator did.
Ms Danes knows Phonthong Prison well. She and her husband Kerry spent time there after being falsely arrested for smuggling gems.
They were released after several interventions by the Australian Government.
She said: "When we were at Phongthong one of the worst threats we could get was being told we could be transferred to Somkhe.
"It's a prison for enemies of the state, most of the prisoners there are political. If any foreigner is sent to Somkhe prison it is as a punishment.
"There is no exercise yard. The cells are tiny and many prisoners are just chained to the floor.
"I have dealt with two American women of Hmong Laos origin who stayed in Phonthong and Somkhe.
"One woman lost 20 stone. The other died shortly after her release."
Ms Danes added: "Political prisoners go in there and we never hear from them again. The British authorities should be concerned.
"A British citizen Michael Newman died in Phonthong in May 2008 after being refused medical treatment. He just wasted away."
Newman, 42, from Warrington, was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in jail for essentially running a 'boiler room' – an illegal share operation – from Laos.
|
| Pregnant Briton Samantha Orobator to return to UK after Laos conviction |
From The Times - July 29, 2009
Pregnant Briton Samantha Orobator to return to UK after Laos conviction Chris Smyth |
A British woman who became pregnant in an apparent attempt to avoid the death penalty for drug smuggling in Laos could be home next week after an agreement was reached between British and Laotian ministers.
Samantha Orobator, 20, was instead sentenced to life after conceiving despite being held in a women-only jail wing. She is now likely to be transferred to complete her sentence in a British jail. She could be released within a few years.
A fellow British prisoner, John Watson, 47, who is reportedly the father of Miss Orobator’s child, can also apply for transfer under the memorandum of understanding, which was signed in Laos today by Chris Bryant, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office minister.
“I very much hope that with any luck Samantha will be able to return in the next week or ten days,” Mr Bryant said.
Miss Orobator is due to give birth in September and Mr Bryant said that it was safe for her to fly “only for another two weeks or so”.
Britain will be bound to uphold her sentence but it will be up to the High Court to set a minimum tariff. Miss Orobator is likely to be allowed to leave despite not having paid off a fine of more than £42,000.
“According to the law, of course she must pay all the fine and then leave Laos. But in this case, again because of her pregnancy, it’s a special arrangement,” Khenthong Nuanthasing, a spokesman for the Laotian government, said.
Mr Khenthong said that Miss Orobator had paid some of the fine and made arrangements to pay the rest. However, it is unclear how much has been paid. The Foreign Office has said that it is not paying the fine on her behalf.
Drug traffickers normally face execution under Laotian law but pregnant women are exempt. Last month Miss Orobator was found guilty of trafficking 680g of heroin. As well as life in prison, she was ordered to pay a fine of 600 million kip (about £42,600). Today’s agreement comes after months of diplomatic efforts, urged on by Miss Orobator’s family and the legal charity Reprieve.
In May the Foreign Secretary and the Laotian deputy prime minister signed a formal prisoner transfer agreement. However, with the treaty not due to come into force for several months, ministers pushed for the fast-track deal before Miss Orobator gives birth.
Miss Orobator, who was born in Nigeria, came to Britain at the age of 8 and was brought up in South London.
Friends have claimed that she was never involved in drugs. She had told them that she was going on holiday to the Netherlands in July last year. The next they heard she was in jail in Laos.
Laotian officials have suggested that she obtained sperm from Mr Watson while mixing in public areas of the prison. Mr Watson’s mother has said that her son told her that Miss Orobator was having his baby.
Mr Watson was detained in 2003 and is also serving a life sentence for drug smuggling.
Although the terms of the prisoner transfer agreement rushed through by Mr Bryant theoretically cover Mr Watson as well, diplomats are much less optimistic about his case. Mr Bryant, speaking to The Times on his return, raised concerns about the prisoner’s condition. He said: “It is obvious he has lost weight and is clearly very concerned about his future.”
Since her arrest Miss Orobator has been held at the Phanthong prison. Former inmates have described conditions as squalid and lawyers say that the meagre rations are inadequate for a pregnant woman.
Kay Danes, an Australian who spent ten months in the cell block where Miss Orobator has been held, has described abuse and neglect at the prison. "I've heard all the prisoners yelling at the top of their lungs, shouting for the guards when one of the inmates was dying and nobody comes. Nobody ever comes."
Babies behind bars
• Some prisons in Britain have special areas for pregnant women, but when the time comes to give birth prisoners are transferred to a local hospital
• Once they have given birth, prisoners can apply to be transferred to a specialist mother and baby unit, of which there are seven
• “Mother and baby units provide a calm environment in which the proper early development of the child can be fostered and in which the normal bonding of mother and child can take place,” a Ministry of Justice spokesman said. “The units also provide crèche facilities so that mothers have the time to tackle their own behaviour problems, like other prisoners”
• Women and their babies are not locked in cells in the units, but they do have to allow their babies to be searched
• Babies can stay with their mothers until the age of 18 months. After this they have to leave the prison to avoid becoming institutionalised, the Government says
|
| CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO THE NEWS PAGE |
|
