National Geographic - Locked Up Abroad

A View From Behind Bars  with Dick Atkins

Attorney Dick Atkins, the so-called “Houdini of Fast Escapes from Foreign Prisons,” has spent more than 28 years helping Americans get out of legal trouble abroad — helping to win freedom for over a thousand Americans held in foreign custody.
His services are sought by congressmen seeking help for detained constituents, travel insurance companies looking into high-stakes claims, people who call his hotline, which offers around-the-clock legal advice, and human rights organizations like Amnesty International who refer those seeking help for friends or loved ones in trouble abroad. Some of his clients are travelers to developing countries who have found themselves in jail after breaking laws they didn't know existed.
Through his experience, Mr. Atkins has become proficient in describing the world's most notorious and unexpected tourist traps, the worst prisons on Earth and how to avoid getting sent to them. Below is his advice should one become Locked up Abroad.  

SAUDI ARABIA
The view from behind bars:

• Bail is almost always denied.
• Use of torture is allegedly widespread.
• Access to legal counsel during interrogation and trial is not guaranteed.
• Penal code includes beheading and public flogging.

What will get you locked down:

• Using or possessing alcohol (zero tolerance).
• Breaking morality laws — including dress and head-covering codes for women — which are enforced by religious police.
• Possessing pornography.
• Engaging in homosexual acts.

Atkins’ advice:

• Remember that a confession may be the most practical way to prevent interrogation from escalating to actual torture — and give you time to seek legal representation.

INDIA
The view from behind bars:

• Inadequate food and medical care.
• Lengthy detention times before trial (without bail) are common.
• No prisoner transfer agreement exists between India and the United States.
• Americans can be targeted for extortion by the corrupt, underpaid police.

What will get you locked down:

• Disputes over business contracts can be settled by the criminal justice system.

Atkins’ advice:

• Discreet payments, or baksheesh, could get you out of trouble or get you better treatment.

MEXICO
The view from behind bars:

• The police have been accused of torturing U.S. citizens to extract confessions.
• Meals and medical care are often inadequate; in some cases, you may have to pay out of pocket for all your prison expenses.
• Conditions can be violent; an American was allegedly beaten to death in jail by inmates and a prison guard in 2000.
• Detention while waiting for a trial can last for weeks or longer.
• Inmates are sometimes targeted for extortion by underpaid prison guards and officials.

What will get you locked down:

• Possession of firearms and/or ammunition almost always results in jail time.
• Drivers involved in accidents in which someone is seriously hurt are automatically jailed — sometimes for months — pending determination of fault and payment of restitution.

Atkins’ advice:

• If you are jailed, make sure that your lawyer knows about the Prisoner Transfer Treaty and that everything possible is being done to get you transferred to an American prison.

PERU
The view from behind bars:

• Harsh prison conditions made worse by inmate violence or extreme altitude.
• Slow judicial processes mean long pretrial detention times.

What will get you locked down:

• Extremely harsh drug laws.

Atkins’ advice:

• Coca leaf preparations are traditionally used to counter the effects of altitude sickness by locals and tourists alike; avoid all other forms of coca.

THAILAND
The view from behind bars:

• Despite generally good treatment by prison officials, prisons are overcrowded, extremely humid and uncomfortable.
• Slow judicial processes can result in long pretrial detention times.

What will get you locked down:

• Drug-related offenses can be punished with a lifetime prison sentence or the death penalty.

• Many (mostly women) are duped into becoming drug mules when they agree to transport a package or suitcase out of the country in exchange for money or a free vacation.

Atkins’ advice:

• Despite the availability of cheap drugs, remember the consequences.

CHINA
The view from behind bars:

• Isolation:  It is extremely difficult to contact people who are in Chinese jails.  No prisoner transfer treaty exists between the United States and China.
• There is no independent monitoring of Chinese prison conditions.

What will get you locked down:

• The criminal justice system is used to enforce business contracts in a dispute.
• There are currently around 30 Americans jailed for business-related offenses in China.  (Many claim that they are in jail for refusing to pay bribes).

 Atkins’ advice:

• If you’re arrested in China?  Pray.

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03/09 Reprinted from National Geographic Adventure Magazine / Source: www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0312/exclusive.html

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