Families fear for detained Americans
COVID-19 spreads in world’s prison systems
WASHINGTON – As the number of coronavirus infections in Russia increases exponentially, Paul Whelan’s family is more terrified than ever about his fate.
The 50-year-old Michigan man has already spent more than 16 months in a Moscow prison on espionage charges amid escalating concerns about his physical and mental health.
Now, Whelan and other Americans detained by hostile governments face a new threat, as prisons around the world become breeding grounds for COVID-19.
“You think, ‘Well, it can’t really get any worse’ ... and then the pandemic comes,” said David Whelan, Paul’s twin brother.
“From what we understand, the PPE (personal protective equipment) that prisoners are given is a face mask and an onion a day. I guess the onion is for vitamin C or something,” David Whelan said.
President Donald Trump has long touted his success in securing the release of Americans held abroad, and State Department officials have used the pandemic to ratchet up pressure on some foreign governments to free detained Americans.
“If you are wrongfully detaining Americans during this time, and they become infected and die of coronavirus, we will hold your government strictly responsible,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at an April 29 news briefing. “All wrongfully detained Americans should be released immediately.”
But Pompeo isn’t the only diplomat to seize on COVID-19 as an opening for prisoner negotiations – nor have other governments been shy about highlighting the danger of coronavirus infection
in American prisons. The Bureau of Prisons has reported 2,100 coronavirus infections among prisoners and 320 cases among staff. At least 42 inmates in the U.S. have died from COVID-19.
Last week, Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., Anatoly Antonov, posted an open letter to the U.S. State Department, Justice Department and Bureau of Prisons, pleading for the release of Russians who have committed nonviolent offenses and have underlying health conditions.
“Their life and health are under the threat,” Antonov wrote in his letter posted on Facebook.
Similarly, Iranian officials have said they want to negotiate a prisoner swap with the U.S.
“We hope that as the outbreak of the COVID-19 disease threatens the lives of Iranian citizens in the U.S. prisons, the U.S. government eventually will prefer lives to politics,” Ali Rabiei, an Iranian cabinet spokesman, said on Sunday, according to an Iranian outlet. He said Iran
was ready to talk without conditions, but the U.S. had not responded.
A State Department spokesman did not respond directly to Rabiei’s remarks but said the Trump administration continues to prioritize the release of Americans detained in Iran and elsewhere. The spokesman, who was not authorized to speak on the record, said Iran had agreed to extend a medical furlough for Michael White, an American Navy veteran who contracted COVID-19 in an Iranian prison in March.
After White became infected, he was transferred into the custody of the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, which acts as a diplomatic mediator between the U.S. and Iran.
“We remain concerned for Mr. White’s health, as well as for the health and safety of all U.S. citizens wrongfully detained in Iran,” the spokesman said.
Iran was hit early and hard when the novel coronavirus began spreading across the globe. To date, it has reported more than 100,000 infections and 6,600 deaths, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker.
Russia has become a hot spot more recently – reporting 11,656 new cases on Sunday alone. Overall, Russia has 220,000 reported infections and more than 2,000 deaths. Critics say the death toll is likely much higher than that, and it’s unclear what’s happening inside Russia’s prisons.
Amnesty International has warned of a looming catastrophe – saying the Russian penitentiary system is already overcrowded, with poor ventilation and inadequate medical care and lax sanitary conditions.
On April 28, the Russian news agency Interfax reported 271 cases of coronavirus among employees of the federal penitentiary service and 40 cases among prisoners.
David Whelan said Russia has closed its prisons and courts to outside visitors, meaning U.S. Embassy officials have not been able to visit his brother even as his trial began in late March. He said Paul mentioned getting a face mask and his daily onion ration in a note he sent through his lawyers; the note asked for help obtaining some legal documents for his trial.
The Russian government has accused Whelan of espionage; his family says the charges are absurd and flat-out false. The State Department and U.S. Embassy officials in Moscow have also questioned Russia’s spying allegations and expressed concern about his treatment.
“We also continue to monitor Mr. Whelan’s case closely and to press for fair and humane treatment, unrestricted consular access, and access to appropriate medical care,” said the State Department spokesman. “We will continue to raise Mr. Whelan’s case at every opportunity and will continue to press for access to the court hearings, which have been closed to the public up to this point.”