Dubai's penal institutions have gained notoriety for their harsh conditions, with prisoners crammed into congested cells, subjected to torture for confessions, and battling severe diseases.
The al-Awir central prison, located in the desert far from the emirate's renowned beaches, houses both male and female convicts, including murderers and terrorists, in separate facilities.
According to the Daily Mail, Western tourists and expatriates, often without formal charges or coerced into admitting to crimes, are incarcerated alongside dangerous criminals in unsanitary, confined cells. A report earlier this year indicated that rape is a daily occurrence in the prison, with violent assaults perpetrated by both inmates and guards.
The conditions in these prisons came under scrutiny when it was revealed that Tori Towey, an Irish air hostess, was facing the possibility of incarceration in the facility after being charged with consuming alcohol and attempting suicide following alleged domestic abuse. However, following intense diplomatic efforts, travel restrictions on her were lifted, allowing her to return home.
Former inmates have shared harrowing accounts of their experiences in Dubai's prisons. Karl Williams, a British national who was imprisoned for a year in 2012, detailed in his memoir witnessing men being stabbed to death, enduring electric shocks to his testicles, and fearing that corrupt police would gang-rape him.
"I saw men get stabbed in the neck and others sliced down their faces. Blood splattered every surface as prisoner after prisoner was sliced," Williams wrote. He also claimed that the prison was controlled by Russian gangsters who used HIV-positive inmates to rape and infect others as a form of punishment.
Williams, along with fellow Brits Grant Cameron and Suneet Jeerh, claimed they were subjected to electric shocks and had guns pointed at their heads during their time in al-Awir. "They pulled down my trousers, spread my legs and started to electrocute my testicles," Williams wrote. "It was unbelievably painful. I was so scared. I started to believe that I was going to die in that room." Their lawyers also claimed they were forced to sign documents in Arabic at gunpoint, allegations that the Emirati police have denied.
In the al-Awir prison, inmates are required to maintain a shaved head, and women are reportedly required to wear head coverings. Punishments include bans on television and phone calls, with phone access severely limited and visitors rarely permitted. Overcrowding is rampant, with up to 20 people sharing cells designed for three or four individuals.
While most high-profile accounts of these grim conditions have come from men, it is feared that the situation for women is even more brutal. Dinchi Lar, a former inmate, stated that in her cell, a minimum of 10 people shared three bunk beds, forcing her to sleep on the floor.
"There's nothing like personal space... you are sleeping and somebody is in your face. You're literally sleeping on top of another person," she told ITV. Over a three-month period, Lar said she was only able to step outside and see the sun for a 15-minute period.
Zara-Jayne Moisey, a British former prisoner who was incarcerated after reporting her own rape, recalled the horrific conditions she was forced to endure at the filthy Al-Barsha prison. "It was the most frightening experience of my life, absolute torture, and all because I went to the police about what happened in the hotel room," she told The Sun.
Inmates have reported both scorching heat and freezing temperatures due to "extreme" air conditioning. Illness is widespread in the prisons, with one British former inmate contracting tuberculosis while incarcerated. Human rights campaigners have claimed that those with chronic health conditions are denied adequate medical care. A 2019 report found that HIV patients in al-Awir were denied life-saving treatment.
The pandemic exacerbated the situation, with the cramped conditions making social distancing impossible, leading to a surge in Covid cases. The lack of nutrition and freezing temperatures further worsen the health conditions, with images revealing the grim food served to inmates. Lar stated that inmates in her jail were not seen by a doctor unless they were "at the point of death."
Those who manage to leave Dubai's prisons are often deeply affected by their experiences. "When I came home I found it very hard to adjust. I used to wake up in the middle of the night screaming and crying, not knowing why," Williams told the Press Association following his release. He added, "I'm not sure why this happened to me. If I knew that I would have been able to avoid the situation."
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