Category: Covid-19

In early May 2020, RT News reports

• Poorest in England MORE THAN TWICE as likely to die from Covid-19 as richest
• ‘Trying every trick in the book’: UK government changes rules to hit 100k coronavirus tests target
• US should have spent half its military budget on healthcare system instead of missiles

Poor most vulnerable

New UK figures show that the deadly coronavirus does indeed discriminate in unequal societies, and badly, revealing that Covid-19 deaths in the most deprived areas of England are over double the amount in the least deprived areas.

Data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Friday reveal the shocking consequences of being poor in England. For deaths involving Covid-19 between March 1 and April 17, the mortality rate in the most deprived areas was 55.1 deaths per 100,000 population, compared to 25.3 deaths in the least deprived areas.

The mortality rate of deaths involving COVID-19 in the most deprived areas of England was more than double that in the least deprived areas:

– most deprived: 55.1 deaths per 100,000 population
– least deprived: 25.3 deaths per 100,000 populationhttps://t.co/njvMrM5re4 pic.twitter.com/QJdzE9KU6h

— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) May 1, 2020

…

Editor’s Note: It would be interesting to see the prison statistics included in this report to see he disparity in risk between Judge Baraitser and the prosecution versus Julian Assange

Editor’s Note: Reading at the twitter thread above it is possible the death rate may be affected by relative risk of catching covid-19 ( say information or density ) and the death rate upon being infected may be more informative

Coronavirus Testing Rule Change

In its scramble to hit the target of 100,000 Covid-19 tests a day by the end of April, the UK government has revised the way it counts them, the Health Service Journal (HSJ) reports. UK health officials deny the claim.

A test would previously only have been counted in its tally once the sample had been processed in a laboratory, but that’s changed in the past few days, a senior source told the HSJ.

It’s alleged that the Department of Health and Social Care is now also including in its official numbers those tests that have simply been mailed out, regardless of whether the sample has been returned by the recipient. 

We’re now counting a home test as tests which have been sent to people’s homes.

HSJ reports that up to 50,000 of the tests that will be registered as having taken place by the landmark date of April 30 will actually only have been mailed. That figure will also include those home tests that recipients have merely agreed to receive in the randomized trial being undertaken across England.

In the past week, 23–30 April, the number of ‘actual tests’ reported by the government has increased dramatically, from 23,560 to 81,611.

…

Health Care versus Missiles Cost Benefit

The Covid-19 pandemic should be a rallying call to change an economic system that spends billions each year on the tools of war but can’t produce a decent healthcare system, bestselling author John Perkins told RT.

Perkins is best known for his book ‘Confessions of an Economic Hit Man,’ in which he describes how American corporate elites plunder other nations to enrich themselves.

The economic system that puts immediate gains above all else, which Perkins calls an “economy of death” may be as lethal to common Americans as to people in Latin America or Eastern Asia, he said in an interview with RT Spanish. One only needs to look at the death toll of the Covid-19 epidemic in the US to see the proof.

“Our annual military budget is something between $600 billion and $700 billion. But we’ve just spent about $3 trillion to fight coronavirus. If we had spent half of that military budget over the last 10 years creating a better healthcare system in this country, we would all be better off now. The world would be better off,” he said.

The big flaw of the current arrangement is that corporations don’t suffer financially for inflicting long-term damage.

“In a way, it boils down to the driving force behind the ‘death economy,’ which is to maximize the short-term profits regardless of social or environmental costs,” Perkins said.

…

On the 6th April 2020, the CoE Commissioner for Human Rights issued the statement

I call on Council of Europe member states to safeguard the rights and health of all persons in prison during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Convicted prisoners and persons on remand are among those most vulnerable to viral contagion as they are held in a high-risk environment: in general, detention facilities are not adapted to face large-scale epidemics, and the basic protective measures such as social distancing and hygiene rules cannot be observed as easily as outside, exposing prisoners to greater health risks. Furthermore, in many European countries the pandemic strikes in a context of overcrowded prisons and poor detention conditions in cramped, collective cells, with unsatisfactory health services, as well as higher rates of infectious and chronic diseases among detainees, such as tuberculosis, diabetes and HIV. Across Europe, a number of contaminations and some COVID 19-related deaths in prison have already been reported; tension in prisons has increased since the beginning of the pandemic crisis, leading to acts of protest (sometimes violent) in reaction to restrictions on visits or other activities.

To prevent large-scale coronavirus outbreaks in places of detention, several member states initiated the release of certain categories of prisoners. Many others are adapting their criminal justice policies in order to reduce their prison population through various means, including temporary or early releases and amnesties; home detention and commutation of sentences; and suspending investigations and the execution of sentences. I strongly urge all member states to make use of all available alternatives to detention whenever possible and without discrimination.

According to the relevant human rights standards as indicated by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) in its COVID-19 Statement of Principles, the resort to alternatives to deprivation of liberty is imperative in situations of overcrowding and even more so in cases of emergency. Particular consideration should be given to those detainees with underlying health conditions; older persons who do not pose a threat to society; and those who have been charged or convicted for minor or non-violent offences. The decrease of the prison population is indispensable across Europe to ensure the effective implementation of the sanitary regulations and to ease the mounting pressure on prison personnel and the penitentiary system as a whole. Meanwhile, those released from detention who need support should be given appropriate access to emergency accommodation and basic services, including health care. Clearly, in this context, it is also all the more imperative that those persons, including human rights defenders, activists and journalists, who are – in some member states – detained in violation of human rights standards be immediately and unconditionally released.

Governments should also ensure that during the COVID-19 pandemic the human rights of all those who remain in detention are upheld while taking the specific needs of the most vulnerable detainees, persons with disabilities, pregnant women and juvenile detainees into account. Any restrictions imposed on detainees should be non-discriminatory, necessary, proportionate, time-limited and transparent. For instance, where restrictions to family visits and other outside contacts appear necessary, they should imperatively be mitigated by alternative arrangements such as extended access to phone or video communications. The absolute nature of the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment should never be compromised by measures taken in prisons including in the case of isolation for health reasons. All measures should be taken to protect the right to life and to health of prisoners and prison staff in line with WHO Europe’s recommendations. As stressed by the IASC Interim Guidance, prisoners should continue to have access to information, legal assistance and independent complaint mechanisms. Prison monitoring mechanisms should be able to continue to oversee the situation while taking precautions to avoid exposing people to further risks (“do no harm” principle).

To effectively meet the challenge of fighting the coronavirus outbreak in places of detention, member states should urgently adopt and implement a humane and comprehensive crisis plan supported by adequate human and financial resources, and which caters to the needs of those who leave prisons, those who remain in detention and prison staff. This should be done in consultation and co-operation with relevant human rights stakeholders, in particular National Preventive Mechanisms, other independent monitoring bodies, national human rights structures and human rights NGOs.

Read official announcement on CoE web site

On 3rd April 2020 Vozpopuli reports

The jurist and former judge of the National Court, Baltasar Garzon, was released on Thursday at the Ruber Clinic in Madrid, where he was treated for bilateral pneumonia derived from the coronavirus for which he was admitted on March 24.

In a statement sent to Europa Press, Garzon adds that since this Friday, and by medical prescription, treatment will continue in absolute isolation, in my home, for 14 days, “like so many thousands more people, until full recovery.”

The jurist, who currently works as a lawyer, thanks in the note “sincerely and deeply all the expressions of solidarity and affection” that it has received in recent days, “as well as the support of those who, persistently, every day at 8:00 p.m., confirm their solidarity from windows and balconies, towards the health services and all those who are watching over this health crisis , social and economic happen as soon as possible “.

All of these people, according to Garzon, are being a main component of the recovery of those who suffer diseases caused by the virus, especially to combat the loneliness that this generates.

“I want Special thanks to all medical staff., health, auxiliary and those who take care of feeding, cleaning and caring for the sick and sick, the enormous work they are doing, “says Garzon, adding that he has not been able to see their faces or say goodbye with a hug.

“I have only been able to see his eyes, behind the glasses and isolation masks, but in all of them I have verified clean looks of vocation, self-denial, sacrifice, harmony and dedication to others. I will always be indebted to all of you, “ends the note.

Waiter was the head of the Central Court of Instruction number 5 of the National Court, where he practiced for almost 22 years, from 1988 until May 14, 2010. In 2012 he was disqualified by the Supreme Court for eleven years for a crime of prevarication in competition with another against constitutional guarantees for intervening the communications of the leaders of the plot ‘Gurtel’ with their lawyers in prison.

In his years in the National Court focused its work on the fight against the terrorist group ETA, his persecution of Galician drug trafficking was notorious, he investigated the state terrorism of the GAL and he gained international fame by ordering the arrest of the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.

Throughout his professional career he also fleetingly passed through politics -independent by the PSOE- and after his disqualification he has been an advisor to the International Criminal Court in The Hague and has led the defense of the founder of Wikileaks Julian Assange.

Read reporting article in Web24 News

‘The political nature of Julian Assange’s extradition process to the US can be proven beyond any reasonable doubt, as it involves large-scale espionage operations, violations of attorney-client privilege & cross-Atlantic legal pressures’

Baltasar Garzon head of Assange legal team

On the 28th April 2020, RT News reports on figures produced by the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS)

Shocking fresh statistics show the devastating impact Covid-19 is having on the UK, revealing that it has recorded its highest weekly death toll since comparable records began in 1993.

New figures released by the Office for National Statistics on Tuesday show that a total of 22,351 people died in the UK on the week ending 17 April 2020. This is the most deaths that occurred in any week since statisticians began compiling the figure 27 years ago. Staggeringly the grim statistic is 11,854 more than the five year average.

The stunning report also revealed that the death toll from Covid-19 in England and Wales was 53 percent higher than the figures announced by the government suggested.

…

The data indicates that the UK is on course to become one of Europe’s worst-hit countries in the coronavirus pandemic. The additional fatalities puts it ahead of France and Spain, as of April 17.

The shocking trebling of deaths in care homes in England and Wales in a matter of weeks contributed massively to the spiralling death toll. The stats office said that 7,316 people had died in care homes overall during the 16th week of 2020, almost treble the number reported in the 13th week.

Read full article RT News

On 18th April, the Howard League for Prison Reform launched a judicial review against the UK government.

Editor’s Note: material from the Howard League for Prison Reform’s
narrative about what the MOJ has been saying and (not) doing is very
useful

Judicial review 17 Apr 2020: Howard League and Prison Reform Trust issue government with letter before action over its response to coronavirus in prisons, which reads

The two leading prison reform groups in the country have today (Friday 17 April) sent a formal letter before claim to the Secretary of State for Justice, Robert Buckland, over the government’s failure to respond effectively to the coronavirus pandemic in prisons.

The letter, from lawyers acting for the Howard League for Penal Reform and the Prison Reform Trust, gives details of a proposed application for judicial review in relation to the Secretary of State’s response “to the obvious need…to substantially reduce the prison population to save lives and avoid a public health catastrophe both within prisons and beyond”.

It goes on to say that, in spite of government announcements including the introduction of an end of custody temporary release scheme, “the rate of releases has been too slow and too limited to make any substantial difference to the prison population and the plans as we understand them are incapable of achieving what the Secretary of State has publicly acknowledged is required”.

Coronavirus is now known to be in more than half of prisons in England and Wales. As of 5pm on Wednesday (15 April), 232 prisoners have tested positive across 60 prisons. Ninety-six prison staff, working in 38 prisons, and seven Prisoner Escort and Custody Services (PECS) staff have also tested positive. The number of confirmed cases has more than doubled in the space of 10 days.

The letter before action suggests a range of actions that the government could take to address the problem, including expanding the scope of the temporary scheme, expediting the consideration of release of pregnant women and mothers, and considering the release of all children in custody in line with international guidance and law.

Frances Crook, Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “The Secretary of State has accepted publicly that the number of people in prison must be reduced significantly in order to save lives. However, this has not – and cannot – be achieved by the measures that the government currently has in place.

“The rate of infection is accelerating, and the window of opportunity to protect people is vanishing. Ministers must rise to this challenge and act immediately to avert a public health catastrophe.”Peter Dawson, Director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: “Everything good about government action in tackling this emergency has been characterised by being early and decisive. On prisons, by contrast, it is a story of too little, too late. The scientific and operational advice couldn’t be clearer – if ministers are serious about following it, they must go much further, and do it now.”

The letter before action follows weeks of urgent correspondence between the two charities and the government about the spread of coronavirus behind bars.

Last week, the charities urged ministers to move further and faster to reduce the prison population and avoid “an intolerable human cost in terms of the lives of both staff and prisoners”. As of Tuesday (14 April), however, only 18 people had been released under the two schemes announced by the government in response to the crisis. Sixteen people – 13 prisoners and three prison officers – are reported to have died.

The Prison Governors’ Association has called for the prison population to be reduced by 15,000. This is understood to be in line with advice provided to the government by public health experts.

The Howard League and Prison Reform Trust handed ministers a report by Professor Richard Coker, Emeritus Professor of Public Health at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, which sets out the most up-to-date evidence concerning the nature, spread and transmission of coronavirus as it applies to prisons.

The report cites research that estimates fatality rates from the virus of up to 12 per cent, probably associated with early rapid spread and the breakdown of, or lack of access to, healthcare services.

It states that the risk of exposure to the virus to prisoners and staff is “far, far greater” than the risks to individuals in the wider community, adding that social distancing and personal infection control measures are “almost impossible” in prisons. It recommends that authorities “should consider alternative options to incarceration where feasible”.

As the virus continues to spread in prisons, prisoners who would otherwise be safe to release risk becoming critically ill in an environment not equipped to treat them. This puts not only their lives in danger, but also those of the prison staff trying to look after them.

The consequences of further delay will be felt far beyond prison walls. Professor Coker’s report reveals that, as large shared spaces, prisons act as “epidemiological pumps”, which can drive the spread of disease among the wider community.

Explosive coronavirus outbreaks within large shared spaces have acted as preludes to wider transmission among the general population, as has been seen in a cluster of cases associated with a ski-chalet in France and in church and hospital clusters in South Korea.

England and Wales are out of step with many other countries that have taken decisive action to protect health and life.

Northern Ireland is to release 200 of its 1,500 prisoners. Scotland has also said that it will release prisoners early.
Ireland has released prisoners who had already been determined suitable for early release.
France has released almost 10,000 people from prison in the past month.
Netherlands has stopped those who were due to be detained on short sentences from doing so for the time being.
Turkey is to release tens of thousands of prisoners.
In the US, various states have released hundreds of prisoners. In California alone, 3,500 people are to be granted early release in an effort to reduce crowding.

Notes to editors

1. The Howard League for Penal Reform is the oldest penal reform charity in the world. It is a national charity working for less crime, safer communities and fewer people in prison.
2. The Prison Reform Trust is an independent UK charity working to create a just, humane and effective prison system.
3. The Howard League and Prison Reform Trust are represented by Simon Creighton and Hamish Arnott of Bhatt Murphy Solicitors and Dan Squires QC of Matrix Chambers.
4. The letter before claim states that the current government response to the pandemic is considered to be unlawful for five reasons:
   (i) It is not a rational response to a crisis that requires a substantial reduction in the prison population to avoid significant loss of life to take steps that will have little substantial impact on that population (both in terms of the overall population and the population of overcrowded prisons).
   (ii) The Secretary of State has stated publicly that he will take steps to reduce the prison population so as to lower the risks to mass infection and loss of life within the prison estate. It is a breach of legitimate expectation to have failed to take steps which have any realistic prospect of doing so.
   (iii) Prison Rule 9A(1) authorises the Secretary of State to make a direction describing specified prisoners who can be released in response to the Coronavirus. The purpose of the provision is to enable the Secretary of State to make substantial reductions to the prison population across the prison estate and in individual prisons in order to reduce the risk of significant numbers of prisoners being infected. It runs counter to and undermines that purpose to have failed to take measures which will have any substantial effect on the prison population.
   (iv) The current response is contrary to the common law duty and human rights duties to protect life and health, especially of those most vulnerable to the disease.
   (v) The failure to publish the operational details of the release schemes is contrary to the legal requirements of fairness and transparency.
5. The letter before claim can be read in full on the Howard League website.
6. All published correspondence between the two charities and the Secretary of State for Justice, Robert Buckland, as well as the report by Professor Richard Coker, Emeritus Professor of Public Health at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, can be read on the Howard League website.
7. Frances Crook, Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, and Peter Dawson, Director of the Prison Reform Trust, are available for interview. To arrange an interview, contact the charities’ respective communications teams, whose contact details are given below.

Response to COVID-19 and prisons which reads

• 17 April 2020
  Judicial review: Howard League and Prison Reform Trust issue government with letter before action over its response to coronavirus in prisons
  Read our media statement
  Read the letter before claim: pre-action protocol for judicial review
  
• 8 April 2020
  Media statement:
  Howard League and Prison Reform Trust urge ministers to move further and faster to protect prisoners, staff and public from coronavirus
• 8 April 2020
  Letter to Rt Hon Robert Buckland QC MP, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice on Covid-19 and prisons: the need for urgent further action
• 2 April 2020
  Media statement:
  Howard League and Prison Reform Trust call for further early release to protect prisoners, staff and wider public from coronavirus
• 2 April 2020
  Report by Professor Richard Coker, Emeritus Professor of Public Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, on Covid-19 and prisons in England and Wales
• 1 April 2020
  Letter to Rt Hon Robert Buckland QC MP, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, on Covid-19
• 27 March 2020
  A blog by Frances Crook on releasing women from custody
• 27 March 2020
  Letter on judicial decision making concerning children in the criminal courts in light of the Coronavirus pandemic
• 18 March 2020
  A blog by Frances Crook on measures which government could consider to release prisoners
• 11 March 2020
  Letter to Rt Hon Robert Buckland QC MP, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, asking for a statement about what precautions he is taking on coronavirus in prisons

Related discussions
Nacro: COVID-19 and keeping people in the criminal justice system safe

On the 16th April 2020, The Australian Assange Campaign sent this email to every Member and every Senator in Federal Parliament

Subject: That Julian Assange be Treated Humanely and in Accordance with International Standards 

I am writing on behalf of the Australian Assange Campaign. On March 25, Mr Assange’s bail application citing COVID-19 risks was rejected. I fear that Julian Assange may not survive the COVID-19 outbreak now spreading rapidly through the UK prison systems. 

With the unfolding of the COVID-19 pandemic, both the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister publicly offered support for Australians overseas. I ask you to ensure that Australia urgently makes good on these promises from our foremost Parliamentary representatives. 

As a nation, we need to ensure urgent high-level, strong diplomatic representations for the release of Mr Assange from Belmarsh Prison to monitored home detention as he fits all of the grounds noted for such early release by leading organisations such as the World Health Organisation, Amnesty International, the United nations and the UK Prison Officers Association. These organisations have been unanimous in calling for the release of all non-violent detainees. For consideration: 

• Mr Assange is a non-violent remand detainee with no history of harm to the community. He is not convicted and is thus entitled to the presumption of innocence. 
• Doctors of Mr Assange warn he is at high risk from dying if he contracts COVID-19 as he has a pre-existing chronic lung condition. 
• There are multiple reports that COVID-19 is rapidly spreading throughout UK prisons. There are infections and a reported COVID-19 death in Belmarsh Prison [15]. 
• There are reports that the prison is short-staffed and normal activity regimes are suspended. 
• Mr Assange is in poor mental health due to spending much time in solitary confinement over recent years and prison COVID-19 lockdown measures are further exacerbating his mental health. 

As a nation, we need to ensure that the UK justice systems urgently give further consideration to the very reasonable request by Mr Assange’s lawyers that this non-violent Australian detainee be released into home detention with a GPS monitored curfew and with security monitored by a private security firm answerable directly to the court.

And this is not a big ask, I am just asking you make enquiries to ensure Julian Assange is offered the same rights as other Australian citizens and is treated humanely and in accordance with international standards 

Thank you for your time, 

Matthew Bretherton 

Secretary Assange Campaign Inc 

(www.assangecampaign.org.au) 

************************

Background Notes And Reading: 

• Prime Minister’s Statement

The Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison has advised 
‘No Australian will have to go through this (the pandemic) alone‘
and this has been tweeted by the Australian High Commissioner to the UK, George Brandis [1] (27^thMarch) 

Assange supporters have sent over 900 emails to His Excellency Georg Brandis QC urging support for Julian Assange. 
The Australian Assange Campaign is not aware of any being answered,. 

• Foreign Minister’s Statement

Senator the Hon Marise Payne issued a DFAT advisory (24 March) [2] 

Australians unjustly detained overseas

‘… Prison conditions in the context of the pandemic are of concern to Australia. My Department and I have made multiple, high-level, strong diplomatic representations on such cases … 

I am also concerned in particular for the health, safety and wellbeing of Australians unjustly detained overseas and those who continue to be held in detention despite a compelling humanitarian case for furlough or the remission of their sentences.

We will continue to advocate strongly for them, and others in unjust detention or with humanitarian cases for clemency, and to ensure they are treated humanely and in accordance with international standards.’

In the last few weeks, the senator has been carbon copied on over 3,500 emails from Assange supporters addressed to various key players in the UK, for example, the Chair of the NHS who has ultimate medical responsibility in a UK prison. These emails express growing distress and disbelieve at the management of the COVID-19 risks in UK prisons.

• COVID-19 in the UK 

Over Easter the United Kingdom overtook both Iran and China to become the 6^thmost infected country in the world on the John Hopkins COVID-19 dashboard [19]. They have now reported over 10,000 deaths due to the virus and reported over 90,000 infections. 
Social distancing restrictions seem to have broken the initial geometric growth cycle and it is settling at a linear growth of around 5,000 new infections reported per day. 
With over 20,000 new infections reported over Easter it is suspected that contact tracing, which has been so successful in Australia, is no longer an effective containment mechanism in the UK. 

• References

1. ‘No Australian will have to go through this alone’ 

The Prime Minister is right. No Australian will go through #COVID19 alone. If you’re an Australian in the UK and you need our support, call our crisis line at 020 7887 5555 or go to https://t.co/rZAQuhR8T1 pic.twitter.com/2vctesI5vi

— George Brandis (@AusHCUK) March 27, 2020

2.Australians unjustly detained overseas

https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/marise-payne/media-release/australians-unjustly-detained-overseas

3. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet 

Urgent action needed to prevent COVID-19 ‘rampaging through places of detention

https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25745&LangID=E

4. British prisoners ‘will die’ from coronavirus

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/coronavirus-outbreak-prisoners-will-die-andrea-albutt-a4386451.html

5. London hospitals facing ‘tsunami’ of patients (Chris Hopson) 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/26/london-hospitals-facing-tsunami-of-coronavirus-patients-overwhelmed

6. The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) condemns UK treatment of Julian Assange in US extradition trial

According to his lawyers, Mr Assange was handcuffed 11 times; stripped naked twice and searched; his case files confiscated after the first day of the hearing; and had his request to sit with his lawyers during the trial, rather than in a dock surrounded by bulletproof glass, denied.

https://www.ibanet.org/Article/NewDetail.aspx?ArticleUid=c05c57ee-1fee-47dc-99f9-26824208a750

7. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe released from Iran prison

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-51937629

8. WHO -Prevention and control of COVID-19 in prisons and other places of detention

The rights of all people affected by the COVID-19 outbreak must be upheld, and all public health measures must be carried out without discrimination of any kind. According to international human rights law, it is the responsibility of the State to ensure that people in prisons and other places of detention enjoy the same standards of health care that are available in the outside community, without discrimination on the grounds of their legal status

http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/health-emergencies/coronavirus-covid-19/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-technical-guidance/coronavirus-disease-covid-19-outbreak-technical-guidance-europe/prevention-and-control-of-covid-19-in-prisons-and-other-places-of-detention

9. Doctors For Assange

Covid-19 warning in Reply to Australian Government

https://doctorsassange.org/doctors-for-assange-reply-to-australian-government-march-20

Statement on Assange Bail Hearing over Coronavirus Risk

Doctors4Assange Statement on Assange Bail Hearing over Coronavirus Risk

10. Nils Melzer, UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment

UN expert on torture sounds alarm again that Julian Assange’s life may be at risk

https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25249

Demasking the Torture of Julian Assange

https://medium.com/@njmelzer/demasking-the-torture-of-julian-assange-b252ffdcb768

11. Amnesty International – Assange bail application highlights COVID-19 risk 

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/03/uk-assange-bail-application-highlights-covid19-risk-to-many-vulnerable-detainees-and-prisoners/

12. Craig Murray: Beyond Words 8^thApril 

The prisons are now practising ‘cohorting’ across the estate, although decisions currently lie with individual governors. Prisoners who have a cough “any cough“ are being put together in segregated blocks. The consequences of this are of course potentially unthinkable. 

Beyond Words

13. Express Star 27^thMarch 

27 inmates test positive for Covid-19 in 14 different prisons

https://www.expressandstar.com/news/uk-news/2020/03/27/27-inmates-test-positive-for-covid-19-in-14-different-prisons/

14. Express Star 7^thApril 

A total of nine prisoners have now died after contracting Covid-19 (one in Belmarsh) 
Some 107 prisoners had tested positive for Covid-19 in 38 jails. 
There are 19 prison staff in 12 jails who have contracted the virus as well as four prison escort and custody services staff. 

https://www.expressandstar.com/news/uk-news/2020/04/07/covid-19-prisoner-death-toll-rises/

15. News Shopper 7^thApril 

Multiple cases of coronavirus have been confirmed inside Belmarsh Prison, and one inmate has died after contracting the virus. 

https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/18363807.first-coronavirus-death-confirmed-inside-belmarsh-prison/

16. The Guardian 7^thApril 

Coronavirus will thrive in British jails: prisoners face a death sentence

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/apr/07/coronavirus-thrive-british-jails-prisoners-face-death-sentence#maincontent

17. Daily Mail 7^thApril 

Calls for 15,000 prisoners to be freed from UK jails to ease coronavirus crisis 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8195787/Covid-19-Prisoner-death-toll-rises.html

18. RT News 30^thMarch 

‘ONE IN FOUR’ UK doctors forced off work as Covid-19 pandemic causes severe headache for healthcare system

https://www.rt.com/uk/484499-doctors-coronavirus-ill-nhs/

19. John Hopkins Covis-19 Dashboard 

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

On 15th April 2020, Jude Fleming writes

The UK Ministry of Justice Is Not Above the Law: Corporate Manslaughter includes Gross Negligence and Death in Custody.

In British law “Corporate Manslaughter” includes gross negligence but what the UK Government is doing to Assange right now should be deemed a Corporate Homicide. The difference between “manslaughter” and “homicide” is intent. Right now he is trapped in Belmarsh while COVID19 rips through the prison. The UK decided to release some prisoners under new COVID19 mitigation measures to reduce numbers and risk of death in custody, but Assange does not qualify. Why is he ineligible for release under new COVID-19 temporary release measures? The answers don’t make sense. As an extradition target, he’s not currently serving a custodial sentence nor awaiting an upcoming sentencing hearing. He is a remand inmate, not a convicted criminal, and the upcoming US extradition trial will roll into a Supreme Court appeal. He needs to be convicted of a crime in the UK in order to have an upcoming sentencing hearing, therefore he is excluded from these emergency measures. Technically, Assange is innocent and that puts him into British limbo and excluded from bail release.

“The Ministry of Justice confirmed with AAP that Julian Assange, who is being held on remand in Belmarsh prison, will not be temporarily released because he’s not serving a custodial sentence and therefore not eligible. The government is also working to expedite sentencing hearings for those on remand to reduce crowding in jails, but the Australian won’t be affected by that measure either.”

Translation: Under no circumstances shall Julian Assange be released, even temporarily, to prevent his foreseeable and probable death in custody.

…

Julian Assange is a sitting duck. The US and the UK know this. Their combined efforts to crush him have left his life hanging in the balance. He is too close to death for them to release him on humanitarian grounds. It would undermine their intentional, slow homicide. The public would be horrified if he reemerged from the gallows. The scent of death is palpable and pungent. The homicide is nearly complete. It would take a scant withholding of his medicine, psychiatric treatment, or food and water to push him into his readied body bag.

“Her Majesty’s Homicide” is unfolding with apparent impunity. To deny Assange bail is to intentionally advance his death. It must stop now.

The UK Government is not above the law.

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On 9th April, the Co-Chairs of the Bring Julian Assange Home Parliamentary Group wrote to the Chair of the UK Justice Committee and the Lord Chancellor and Secretary for State for Justice.

COVID-19 is in the UK's prisons. #JulianAssange is at high risk due to his chronic lung condition and must be released into home detention. He is no risk to the public. Our letters to the UK Government. #politas #auspol pic.twitter.com/Hr8bRE9Dfb

— Andrew Wilkie MP (@WilkieMP) April 9, 2020