Letter to the Editor

Dear Sir,

I am currently working with a lawyer in Abu Dhabi for the release of an Indian national who has been there for four years and a Sri Lankan national who has been there 16 years.

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Al-Wathba is overcrowded. It is dirty. The toilets, showers and washbasins are constantly in a state of disrepair.

Water is unavailable on a regular basis and sometimes for hours on end. It is a basic deprivation of the right to decent sanitation.

Food is of poor quality; there is no nutritional value. The drug Bromazepan is added to tea twice a day. This drug has lasting side effects.

During the three months I spent at Al Wathba, I was exposed to HIV, Hepatitis B and C and Tuberculosis. I have since been under medical supervision and been tested for every conceivable disease.

Fortunately, I have been cleared but I am concerned for the other prisoners, pregnant mothers, children and babies who all receive this drug one way or the other.

The prisoners are cut off from the world in every way. For the first two months of my incarceration, I was not permitted to see any visitor… no letters or phone calls were allowed. Lashing was regular.

I have now made a report to Amnesty International in the hope that we can make the world more aware of the total lack of human rights and the devastation of human life.

Regards,

Yvonne Randall, New Zealand