Category: News
Illinois moves up to No. 8 in the men’s AP Top 25, while Purdue reclaims the top spot from Houston
Purdue moved back to No. 1 in the AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll Monday ahead of Houston, which spent a single week there after leapfrogging the Boilermakers.
It’s hardly a two-team race for the top, though. Connecticut, Arizona and Duke also got No. 1 votes from the 61-member media panel in a poll that also saw No. 6 Louisville and No. 8 Illinois jump into the top 10.
The Boilermakers got 44 first-place votes after an impressive week that included a road win over then-No. 8 Alabama and a victory over Akron. Houston lost six of its No. 1 votes but still had 12 after beating Oakland and edging No. 22 Auburn in a matchup of Final Four teams from last season.
“We have a great group of guys,” said Purdue coach Matt Painter, who also picked up his 500th career win last weekend, “and just trying to go from one game to the other is really hard after you have such an emotional, big win on the road like we had.”
UConn remained No. 3 with three first-place votes after beating then-No. 7 BYU 86-84 on Saturday. That started a tough road for the Huskies that includes games against No. 4 Arizona on Wednesday and Illinois and No. 24 Kansas down the road.
The Wildcats swapped spots with Duke this week, moving up with two first-place votes thanks in part to a win over then-No. 15 UCLA. The Blue Devils received the remaining No. 1 vote ahead of their game against the Jayhawks on Tuesday night.
Louisville tied for the biggest climb in the Top 25, moving up six spots after beating then-No. 9 Kentucky 96-88 last week. Michigan fell one spot to seventh, while Big Ten rival Illinois also moved up six spots after beating then-No. 11 Texas Tech 81-77. BYU dropped two spots after its loss to the Huskies, while defending national champion Florida rounded out the top 10.
The losses by Alabama and Kentucky cost each three spots in this week’s poll, pushing them into the second 10. Gonzaga was next, followed by St. John’s and Texas Tech, which dropped four spots after its loss to Illinois.
Speaking of the Illini, they have climbed nine spots from No. 17 in the preseason poll, the highest they’ve been since they were No. 6 in the final poll two seasons ago. Staying there will be a test. Illinois plays plays the Crimson Tide on Wednesday night, UConn in a couple of weeks, No. 20 Tennessee the first week of December and then Ohio State, Nebraska and Missouri — all of them unbeaten this season — before Christmas rolls around.
“It’s the way you practice, the mental focus you have. Not reading all you guys’ stuff and the fans and everything else,” Illini coach Brad Underwood said when asked this week about how to keep early success in perspective. “I call it drinking the poison. And you can’t. You have to stay with what is vital and what is important.”
Rising and falling
The Illini joined Louisville and Gonzaga in making six-spot climbs this week, while the biggest falls came from Texas Tech and UCLA, which dropped four spots after a close loss to Arizona. N.C. State moved into the poll at No. 25 at the expense of Creighton.
Conference watch
The Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC led the way with six teams apiece in the Top 25, and the Big Ten and Big 12 had three each in the top 10. The ACC was next with four ranked teams, the Big East had two and the West Coast Conference one.
Watch list
San Diego State was the top team outside the Top 25, followed by Indiana, which appeared on 18 ballots. Keep an eye on Georgetown, which appeared on six ballots and entered the week 4-0; the Hoyas have not been ranked since the final poll of the 2014-15 season.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/17/ap-top-25-mens-basketball-poll-illinois-purdue/
Cooling Labor Market Drives Uptick In Gig-Platform Hours
Cooling Labor Market Drives Uptick In Gig-Platform Hours
We haven’t heard much in corporate media about short-term, flexible, on-demand work, otherwise known as the gig economy, but a new Goldman note offers color into what’s happening with these part-time jobs as the labor market cools.
Let’s take a look at the news cycle for mentions of “gig economy.” Notice how the topic surged in the early days of the Covid pandemic, when it became all the rage as people lost their jobs due to government-mandated shutdown of the economy. Many quickly turned to gigs for supplemental income, like driving for Uber or delivering for DoorDash. Now, mentions in corporate media have fallen back to roughly 2016 levels.
However, as the labor market cools, analyst Jessica Rindels said gig-platform hours have increased, suggesting displaced or underemployed workers are turning to Uber, DoorDash, and other gig opportunities.
Estimates suggest that 5% to 15% of Americans work gig jobs, with 2% to 4% involved in platform-based gigs. Overall, gig work has grown only modestly in recent years, but platform gig work has expanded at a 5% to 8% annual pace.
Here are the key takeaways about current gig economy trends via Rindels (full report can be viewed by ZeroHedge Pro subs in usual place):
This Analyst takes a deeper look at the gig economy, including both traditional gig work as well as platform-based opportunities such as Uber. With the labor market cooling, we ask whether the gig economy provides a meaningful source of income support to those who experience job loss or reduced hours and what it can tell us about the current state of the labor market.
Estimates of employment in the gig economy are wide-ranging, but the most credible suggest that 5-15% of the US population participates in gig work, broadly defined as any income-generating work outside of standard, long-term, direct-hire employment. Estimates of participation in platform-based gig work such as Uber are lower at 2-4% of the population. Most surveys that have been run for multiple years suggest, perhaps surprisingly, that growth in total gig employment has been modest at best, though growth in the number of platform gig workers has been much faster at roughly 5-8% annualized over the past few years.
How do gig workers compare to workers in traditional jobs? Recent Fed research using the NY Fed’s Survey of Informal Work Participation (SIWP) finds that gig workers are more likely to be younger, female, work part-time, and to hold multiple jobs compared to workers in traditional jobs. Unique data from Gridwise, an app that allows platform gig workers to compare potential earnings across services, show that platform gig workers spent 14 hours per week on average doing gig work this year and earned roughly $18 per hour of work.
How is gig work reflected in the official employment statistics? While only a subset of gig workers should be captured by the establishment survey, they should all in principle be captured by the household survey. That said, the SIWP suggests that some gig work is not reported in the household survey and that roughly 15% of people reported as unemployed or not in the labor force actually do some gig work, which implies that the employment to population ratio would be roughly 65% rather than 60% if it fully included gig workers.
Recent academic research shows that many lower-wage workers face high income volatility due to unpredictable changes in the weekly hours their employers give them. Does the gig economy—especially platform-based work—offer a meaningful new source of income support with a low barrier to entry to those who face job loss or reduced hours? Data from the SIWP indicate that nearly 50% of gig workers do gig work to earn extra money versus just 15% who do it as a primary source of income, and that 20% of people who took a pay cut, lost their job, or had their hours reduced took up gig work in response. However, gig workers only earn 50-65% as much per hour of work as they did in previous traditional jobs, and the support available to some workers in normal times would likely be inadequate for all job losers in a recession.
What can the gig economy tell us about the current state of the labor market? As the broader labor market has cooled this year, platform-based gig work opportunities have held up so far. We find that hours worked on gig platforms increased more this year in cities where payroll growth has slowed, suggesting that some workers might have taken up gig work to cushion negative labor market outcomes.
Earlier on Monday, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told CNBC hosts about “mixed signals in the job market …”
“I think that there could be a little bit of almost quiet time in the labor market because firms are finding the AI is making their workers so productive that they don’t necessarily have to hire the new kids out of college,” Hassett said.
This all suggests that a cooling labor market could push more workers into the gig economy, which in turn could increase the conversation around gig jobs.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 11/17/2025 – 13:25
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/cooling-labor-market-drives-uptick-gig-platform-hours
Corte Suprema de EEUU revisará política que restringe el número de solicitantes de asilo
Por MARK SHERMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — La Corte Suprema de Estados Unidos aceptó el lunes revisar una política utilizada en administraciones pasadas para negar a los migrantes la oportunidad de solicitar asilo en la frontera mexicana hasta que hubiera espacio para procesar las solicitudes.
Los jueces escucharán la apelación de la administración Trump sobre los fallos de tribunales inferiores que anularon la práctica conocida como “metering”, en la cual los agentes fronterizos estadounidenses limitaban el número de personas que buscaban asilo en los cruces fronterizos al prohibir que los migrantes pusieran un pie en Estados Unidos.
La administración presionó para que interviniera la corte incluso después de que el presidente Donald Trump suspendió el sistema de asilo el primer día de su segundo mandato y los defensores de los migrantes dijeran que los fallos de los tribunales inferiores no tienen un efecto práctico continuo.
El caso se argumentará a finales del invierno o principios de la primavera.
Dicha restricción se utilizó por primera vez durante la administración del entonces presidente Barack Obama cuando un gran número de haitianos apareció en el cruce principal hacia San Diego desde Tijuana, México. La medida se expandió a todos los cruces fronterizos desde México durante el primer mandato de Trump en la Casa Blanca.
La práctica terminó en 2020, cuando la pandemia de coronavirus llevó al gobierno a restringir aún más severamente a los solicitantes de asilo. El presidente Joe Biden rescindió formalmente el uso del “metering” en 2021.
Aun así, el Departamento de Justicia dijo que quería que los jueces escucharan el caso porque los fallos judiciales quitaron “una herramienta que las administraciones de ambos partidos habían considerado crítica para controlar el procesamiento de extranjeros inadmisibles durante los aumentos en la frontera”.
La jueza federal de distrito, Cynthia Bashant, falló en 2021 que el “metering” violaba los derechos constitucionales de los migrantes y una ley federal que requiere que los funcionarios examinen a cualquier persona que se presente buscando asilo.
Un panel del Tribunal Federal de Apelaciones del 9º Circuito ratificó el fallo de Bashant en una decisión 2-1. Doce de los 29 jueces del tribunal de apelaciones con sede en San Francisco votaron para volver a escuchar el caso, una señal fuerte que pudo haber captado la atención de los jueces.
Las personas que buscan refugio en Estados Unidos pueden solicitar asilo una vez que están en suelo estadounidense, independientemente de si llegaron legalmente. Para calificar, deben demostrar un temor de persecución en su país por razones específicas, como su raza, religión, nacionalidad, pertenencia a un grupo social particular u opinión política.
Una vez que las personas obtienen asilo, no pueden ser deportadas. Pueden trabajar legalmente, traer a su familia inmediata, solicitar residencia legal y eventualmente buscar la ciudadanía estadounidense. Ofrece un futuro permanente en Estados Unidos.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
Trump Offers Lifeline To UK ‘Thought Criminals’
Trump Offers Lifeline To UK ‘Thought Criminals’
Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,
The Trump White House is mulling political asylum for British free speech activists branded “thought criminals” under Keir Starmer’s regime, in one example offering refugee status to those prosecuted for silent protests outside abortion clinics as well as expressing online dissent.
The transatlantic intervention, said to be largely influenced by Elon Musk continually pointing to cases of the UK punishing people for “thought crimes,” signals America’s readiness to shield allies from creeping authoritarianism.
Administration insiders are intently exploring the option of offering visas and refugee status, focusing on figures like Livia Tossici-Bolt, prosecuted in March 2023 for holding a sign near a Bournemouth abortion clinic reading “Here to talk if you want,” and Adam Smith Connor, convicted for a vigil outside Poole Magistrates Court.
A source close to the process called the plan “serious,” noting officials are “beginning to consider” extending protections to gender critical activists, immigration critics, and even pro-abortion campaigners hit with “thought crimes.”
The White House is considering offering political asylum to British “thought criminals”, The Telegraph understands.
Read more here ⬇️https://t.co/GF3IarnyIX pic.twitter.com/bvfc8UcDwv
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) November 16, 2025
This echoes Trump’s October pledge to offer asylum to Europeans opposing mass migration, prioritising those “targeted for peaceful expression of views online.”
A source with knowledge of the decision-making affirmed: “There are some people inside the administration that are actively scouting for cases.”
Trump set a precedent earlier in the year by granting refugee status to white South Africans claiming racial discrimination, despite halting most other admissions post-January inauguration.
At the UN, Trump recently warned European officials “You’re destroying your countries. They’re being destroyed. Europe is in serious trouble. They’ve been invaded by a force of illegal aliens like nobody’s ever seen before. Illegal aliens are pouring into Europe.” He added that their countries were “going to hell” because of unchecked immigration.
In a GB News interview this past weekend, Trump once again directly tied the UK’s free speech crackdown to its immigration meltdown, declaring “If you don’t get [illegals] out, you’re not going to have a country left… You have areas in London where the police don’t even want to go anywhere near those areas. You have Sharia Law where they don’t even want to obey the laws of your country.”
The administration is also poised to revoke the visa of Imran Ahmed, boss of a Labour-linked NGO founded by Starmer’s chief of staff, after the group pushed online restrictions. Earlier, Starmer’s US trade deal bids nearly collapsed over Tossici-Bolt’s case, with a source insisting: “no free trade without free speech.”
This asylum initiative builds on Trump’s May 2025 dispatch of a U.S. Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour (DRL) team to London, led by senior adviser Samuel Samson, to meet arrested pro-life activists and affirm “the importance of freedom of expression in the UK and across Europe.”
The squad probed high-profile convictions like Lucy Connolly’s jailing for a social media post calling for asylum hotels to be set on fire after the Southport murders.
Trump’s moves expose the UK’s slide toward policing thoughts, from silent prayer bans to online censorship—offering a beacon for dissidents while pressuring allies to reclaim liberty before it’s lost to radical overreach.
* * *
Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 11/17/2025 – 13:05
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-offers-lifeline-uk-thought-criminals
Chicago journalist Andrea Hanis, an editor who helped launch Blue Sky, dies at 56
Andrea Hanis was a versatile journalist who spent almost her entire career working for Chicago newspapers, including the Tribune, where in 2013 she launched Blue Sky Innovation, a digital hub focused on Chicago’s emerging innovation economy, and served as its editor.
Those who worked closely with Hanis recalled her high journalistic standards, her strong work ethic, her effervescent personality, her upbeat spirit and her ever-present sense of humor.
“Andrea was a wonderful colleague and a lovely person, and she had such a rich history in Chicago working for the Sun-Times, Crain’s and then for the Tribune,” said former Tribune senior vice president and editor Gerould W. Kern. “She had an infectious personality that was really kind of a tonic for a newsroom and for anyone who worked with her and around her. She took on complicated jobs and did them exceptionally well.”
Hanis, 56, died of complications from brain cancer on Nov. 12 while in hospice care at the Warren Barr Gold Coast rehabilitation and nursing facility on the Near North Side, said former Tribune Content Agency president Joyce Winnecke, a longtime friend. Hanis, who had battled brain cancer for the past 14 months, had been a Lincoln Park resident until June, when she moved to the Streeterville neighborhood, and she also had a weekend home in Lakeside, Michigan.
Born in 1969, Andrea Marie Hanis was a native of Whiting, Indiana, and graduated from Whiting High School in 1986. She earned a bachelor’s degree in 1991 from Indiana University, where she worked on the school newspaper, the Indiana Daily Student, as managing editor and news editor.
After college, Hanis worked for the Louisville Courier-Journal newspaper in Kentucky for two years before moving to Chicago in 1993 to take a job at the Chicago Sun-Times. She was an assistant editor in features and was the paper’s lifestyles editor.
In 1998, the Sun-Times tapped Hanis to be editor of its travel section. Hanis also wrote a weekly column for the section and oversaw and edited a cadre of freelance reporters and photographers.
Hanis joined Crain’s Chicago Business in 2004 as an assistant managing editor, tasked with orchestrating a new features section, dubbed the Business of Life. One of her columnists was former Tribune staff reporter Shia Kapos, who wrote the “Taking Names” column for Crain’s starting in 2006 and who now writes the “Illinois Playbook” column for Politico.
“She was my boss and then became one of my closest friends. And when you’re a journalist, you hope that your editor is a great wordsmith to make your stories better, and then you also hope that your editor, who is your boss, is a great boss,” Kapos said. “But Andrea was one of the rare journalists who was an incredible wordsmith and the perfect boss. She was tough and she could be sharp at times, but she never made you feel bad about yourself in any way. She was great to work for. And we loved pulling together the Business of Life section because it was something new and different that hadn’t been done in Chicago.”
In 2011, Hanis joined the Tribune’s business section as its planning editor. Two years later, she took on a bigger role as editor of the business section’s new Blue Sky Innovation digital hub.
“We launched this startup, Blue Sky Innovation, looking at the startup and innovation space in Chicago because we were just coming out of the recession and so the whole idea of green shoots and businesses was important. But (Blue Sky) was also, in and of itself, a green shoots start-up for us,” Kern said. “So this was a very nontraditional kind of thing for us to do, and she took it and ran with it and did, I think, a fabulous job with it.”
Amina Elahi, a Blue Sky Innovation reporter from 2014 until 2017 who now is Louisville Public Media’s managing editor for news, said Hanis’ leadership and mentorship were “very influential” for her. Elahi said she regularly passes to her own staff what she learned from Hanis.
“She had very high standards in editing and in the stories she would green-light, and despite all of that, it was always fun to work with her,” Elahi said.
Several colleagues noted that one of Hanis’ mantras in running Blue Sky Innovation was “identify and destroy nonsense.” That line was emblematic, colleagues said, of how she approached the stories covered.
In 2019, Blue Sky Innovation’s staff members, including Hanis, were transferred to other duties. She took on an assignment writing editorials for the Tribune. The following year, she was one of several journalists to accept a voluntary separation package and left the Tribune.
In 2021, Chicago Daily Law Bulletin president and publisher Peter Mierzwa hired Hanis to be the editor of the venerable legal newspaper. He called her “a natural mentor, always willing to guide younger staff members, helping them grow not only as journalists but as professionals.”
“At her core, Andrea was a journalist through and through — someone whose deep roots in reporting, editing and storytelling shaped every decision she made,” he said. “Those of us who worked closely with her will especially remember her humor: smart, warm and often punctuated by an unmistakably genuine laugh that could brighten even the busiest newsroom. We shared a vision for change in our news operation, and her commitment to accountability, reliability and doing the work the right way helped bring that vision closer to reality.”
About a year ago, Hanis resigned from the Daily Law Bulletin amid her cancer treatment. She had no immediate survivors.
Winnecke and her husband are planning a memorial service for Hanis, to be held in January.
Bob Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/17/journalist-andrea-hanis-obituary/
CTA Holiday Train returns to Chicago on Black Friday
The CTA’s Holiday Train returns to town on Black Friday, the agency announced in a news release Monday.
The decked-out holiday train, a CTA tradition for more than three decades, will make appearances on all of the agency’s rail lines beginning Nov. 28. It will launch that day from the Midway Orange Line station.
The CTA’s holiday bus will travel on 19 of the CTA’s bus routes this season, with its run lasting Nov. 25 through Dec. 20.
Passengers on certain holiday fleet runs will have the opportunity to take photos with Santa. The holiday fleet schedule — along with details regarding Santa’s availability — are listed on the CTA’s website.
When the holiday vehicles are in service, prospective riders can track their whereabouts live online. The CTA’s online train tracker will indicate the holiday train’s whereabouts via a candy cane icon, the agency said. Passengers must pay regular CTA fares — $2.25 for the bus and $2.50 for the train. The CTA’s holiday fleet is sponsored by Allstate.
Also Monday, tickets for Metra’s holiday trains were set to go on sale at noon. Metra will run holiday trains on the Metra Electric, BNSF, Milwaukee District West, Rock Island and Union Pacific Northwest lines this year, with dates for each run listed online. Tickets cost $10 and must be purchased in advance, the commuter rail agency said.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/17/cta-holiday-train-black-friday/
57-year-old bicyclist struck by vehicle, killed in Country Club Hills
A 57-year-old bicyclist in Country Club Hills died Saturday after being struck by a vehicle at Crawford and 178th Place, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Darvell E. Barber, of Country Club Hills, was pronounced dead at about 6:30 p.m. at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, the medical examiner’s office reported. The cause of death was listed as blunt force injuries from being struck by the vehicle.
Country Club Hills police declined to share more information, citing an ongoing investigation.
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/17/bicyclist-killed-country-club-hills/
EEUU revela adorno conmemorativo para su 250.º aniversario
Por DARLENE SUPERVILLE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Cuando la organización sin fines de lucro que planea las celebraciones del 250 aniversario de Estados Unidos decidió que quería un adorno para conmemorar ese hito en la historia, su liderazgo sabía exactamente a dónde acudir para obtener orientación.
America250.org trabajó con la Asociación Histórica de la Casa Blanca, que desde 1981 ha vendido un popular adorno de árbol de Navidad en honor a un presidente o un aniversario clave de la Casa Blanca. Ahora se venden más de un millón de esos adornos cada año.
Los dos grupos trabajaron juntos para producir un recuerdo para marcar el aniversario, oficialmente conocido como el semiquincentenario, y America250.org lo presentó el lunes.
El adorno de edición limitada, hecho a mano, presenta la Declaración de Independencia, el documento que el Segundo Congreso Continental utilizó para anunciar su separación de Gran Bretaña el cuatro de julio de 1776. El presidente Donald Trump tiene una copia colgada en la Oficina Oval.
Un lado del recuerdo presenta el documento impreso en lino y el otro lado muestra banderas estadounidenses ondeando sobre la Casa Blanca y el logotipo de America250 con los años 1776-2026 en una cinta roja. El adorno está adornado con oro de 24 quilates.
Los organizadores dicen que ven la celebración de la fundación de Estados Unidos como una oportunidad para ayudar a unir a un país políticamente dividido.
“Es un momento para reflexionar sobre los últimos 250 años y, aún más importante, hacia dónde nos dirigimos en los próximos 250”, declaró Jennifer Condon, vicepresidenta ejecutiva de America250.org.
Condon manifestó que espera que el adorno desempeñe un pequeño papel en ese esfuerzo como “un símbolo de esta unidad que estamos tratando de alcanzar”.
Es raro que la asociación de la Casa Blanca lance un adorno fuera de su serie navideña anual. Stewart McLaurin, presidente de la asociación de la Casa Blanca, comentó que su organización sin fines de lucro había ayudado a crear una pieza de colección “que encarna el espíritu y la historia de nuestra nación”.
Está hecho por la empresa de Rhode Island, propiedad de veteranos, que produce los adornos de la asociación de la Casa Blanca, y se venderá exclusivamente a partir del lunes en America250.org por 26,95 dólares, y en enero en el sitio web de la asociación de la Casa Blanca.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/17/eeuu-revela-adorno-conmemorativo-para-su-250-aniversario/
New York Jets bench struggling QB Justin Fields for Tyrod Taylor, AP source says
The New York Jets will start Tyrod Taylor at quarterback over Justin Fields on Sunday in Baltimore, a person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press.
The move by coach Aaron Glenn sends the embattled and struggling Fields to the sideline for the Jets (2-8), who are coming off a 27-14 loss Thursday night at New England.
Glenn said last week he would evaluate all positions over the weekend, leaving the door open for a change at quarterback. And he decided to make the switch to Taylor, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Monday because the team didn’t announce the move.
The Athletic first reported that the Jets were benching Fields in favor of Taylor.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/17/new-york-jets-justin-fields-benched/
Aumentan muertes de palestinos en prisiones israelíes; custodio describe abusos generalizados
Por SAM MEDNICK
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — La cifra de palestinos que mueren bajo custodia israelí se ha disparado hasta casi 100 personas desde el inicio de la guerra en Gaza, según un informe publicado el lunes por una organización de derechos humanos que dice que la violencia sistemática y la negación de atención médica en prisiones y centros de detención contribuyeron a muchas de las muertes analizadas.
El panorama que se desprende del informe de Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (Médicos por los Derechos Humanos-Israel, o PHRI) coincide con las conclusiones de The Associated Press, la cual entrevistó a más de una docena de personas sobre abusos en prisiones, negligencia médica y muertes, analizó los datos disponibles y revisó informes de autopsias. La AP habló con un exguardia y una exenfermera de una prisión, un médico israelí que atendió a presos desnutridos llevados a su hospital, exdetenidos y sus familiares, abogados que los representan, así como con organizaciones de derechos humanos.
El exguardia de una prisión militar célebre por el trato duro que inflige a los palestinos dijo a la AP que los detenidos con frecuencia eran encadenados y golpeados con porras y patadas, y que esas instalaciones tenían el sobrenombre de “cementerio” debido a que muchos prisioneros morían allí. Accedió a hablar con la AP para crear conciencia sobre la violencia en las cárceles israelíes y lo hizo bajo condición de anonimato por temor a represalias.
De las 98 muertes de prisioneros documentadas por PHRI desde el ataque contra Israel del 7 de octubre de 2023 que desencadenó la guerra, 27 ocurrieron en 2023, 50 en 2024 y 21 este año, la más reciente el 2 de noviembre. PHRI dice que la cifra real de fallecidos durante este período es “probablemente mucho mayor”, y señala que Israel se ha negado a proporcionar información sobre cientos de palestinos detenidos durante la guerra.
Menos de 30 palestinos murieron bajo custodia israelí en los 10 años anteriores a la guerra, según PHRI. Pero desde la guerra, la población carcelaria se duplicó con creces y alcanzó los 11.000 reclusos, debido a las detenciones masivas, principalmente en Gaza y Cisjordania. El número de presos fallecidos creció aún más rápidamente durante ese período, según datos de PHRI.
PHRI documentó las muertes mediante entrevistas con exdetenidos y personal médico penitenciario, análisis de informes elaborados por médicos que presenciaron autopsias a petición de las familias de los presos fallecidos, y la confirmación de decenas de fallecimientos a través de solicitudes de acceso a la información.
“La alarmante tasa en que la gente muere bajo custodia israelí revela un sistema que ha perdido todos los controles morales y profesionales”, expuso Naji Abbas, un director de PHRI.
El año pasado, el jefe del sistema penitenciario israelí —el ministro de Seguridad Nacional Itamar Ben-Gvir— se jactó de haber reducido las condiciones carcelarias al mínimo legal. Bajo la presión de organizaciones de derechos humanos, las condiciones mejoraron ligeramente.
El Servicio Penitenciario de Israel declaró que opera conforme a la ley. Declinó comentar sobre el número de fallecidos y remitió cualquier consulta al ejército israelí.
El ejército reportó estar al tanto de que algunos detenidos han muerto, incluidas personas con enfermedades preexistentes o lesiones relacionadas con el combate. Pero el portavoz del ejército, Nadav Shoshani, afirmó que la cifra de muertos en el informe del PHRI está inflada, aunque se negó a decir cuál cree el ejército que es el número real.
El ejército indicó que se evalúan las denuncias de abuso o condiciones inadecuadas, y que quienes violan el código de conducta militar son castigados y, en ocasiones, sometidos a investigaciones penales.
Ordenan a guardias reducir el número de muertes
Aunque al principio se mostró reticente, el exguardia de la prisión militar de Sde Teiman, en el sur de Israel, dijo haber participado con el tiempo en las golpizas a los prisioneros.
Una mañana, al comienzo de la guerra de Israel contra Hamás, el guardia llegó a trabajar y vio a un palestino inmóvil y tendido de lado en el patio; sin embargo, ningún guardia se apresuró a ver qué había sucedido con el hombre, quien ya había fallecido.
“Fue como que todo sigue igual con el muerto”, dijo el guardia, quien desconocía la causa de muerte.
Los prisioneros estaban siempre encadenados de manos y pies, y eran golpeados si se movían o hablaban, reveló el guardia, quien agregó que casi todos preferían orinarse y defecar donde estaban en lugar de pedir ir al baño.
La exenfermera de Sde Teiman expuso que las cadenas utilizadas para inmovilizar las manos y los pies de muchos prisioneros causaron heridas tan graves que algunos requirieron la amputación de extremidades. Habló bajo condición de anonimato por temor a represalias. Durante las varias semanas que trabajó allí a principios del año pasado, no presenció ningún fallecimiento, pero añadió que el personal a veces hablaba sobre la muerte de detenidos. Renunció al trabajo porque no le gustaba el trato abusivo que recibían los prisioneros, apuntó.
El ejército refirió que el uso prolongado de esposas solo se aplica en casos excepcionales cuando existen “consideraciones de seguridad significativas”. Incluso en esos casos, se tiene en cuenta el estado de salud de los detenidos, expuso. Solo unos pocos prisioneros de Gaza son tratados de esta manera actualmente, agregó.
Los comandantes —quienes también participaron en las golpizas—ordenaron a los guardias que redujeran el número de muertes, según el guardia de Sde Teiman, quien pasó varios meses allí.
Al final se instalaron cámaras, lo que ayudó a mitigar el abuso, manifestó. Veintinueve prisioneros han fallecido en Sde Teiman desde que comenzó la guerra, según PHRI.
A principios de este año, un soldado israelí fue declarado culpable de abusar de palestinos en Sde Teiman y sentenciado a siete meses de prisión, según el ejército, que dijo que esto demuestra que existe rendición de cuentas.
No obstante, los abogados de los prisioneros expresan que Israel rara vez lleva a cabo investigaciones serias sobre la presunta violencia y que esto agrava el problema.
Como muestra del clima de opinión pública, la abogada principal del ejército israelí fue obligada a renunciar recientemente tras reconocer que ella había aprobado la filtración de un video de vigilancia que está en el centro de una investigación sobre acusaciones de graves abusos sexuales contra un palestino en Sde Teiman. La filtración, que pretendía defender la decisión de su oficina de procesar a los guardias por los presuntos abusos, provocó en cambio fuertes críticas por parte de líderes israelíes de línea dura quienes se inclinaron por los guardias.
Varios soldados fueron acusados en ese caso, que aún está pendiente ante el tribunal militar.
Negligencia y abuso médico
Resulta difícil determinar con certeza la causa de muerte de la mayoría de los presos. En ocasiones, a petición de las familias, Israel autorizó a médicos que presenciaran las autopsias y proporcionó informes sobre lo observado a sus familiares.
Ocho informes revisados por la AP revelaron un patrón de abuso físico y negligencia médica.
En uno de ellos, Mohammad Husein Ali, un hombre de 45 años que falleció en el centro de detención de Kishon, presentó múltiples signos de agresión física, que probablemente le causaron una hemorragia cerebral, según el informe. También se observó el posible uso excesivo de restricciones físicas. Su familia dijo que tenía buena salud antes de ser detenido en su domicilio en Cisjordania. Falleció una semana después de su encarcelamiento.
Husein Ali ya había cumplido una condena en una prisión israelí tras ser sentenciado por activismo extremista, manifestó su familia. Pero agregaron que no tenía vínculos con milicianos cuando fue arrestado el año pasado.
Tras la detención de Husein Ali, su hija de 2 años se quedaba mirando por la ventana y llamaba a su papá, contó Hadeel, su esposa. “Decía “papá, ¿Dónde está papá?”, pero con el tiempo dejó de preguntar”, añadió al secarse las lágrimas.
La desnutrición contribuyó a al menos una muerte, según PHRI: provocó que un joven de 17 años falleciera por inanición.
En septiembre, el Tribunal Supremo de Israel ordenó que se sirviera más y mejor comida a los presos palestinos. Las organizaciones de derechos humanos reportan que la situación ha mejorado ligeramente.
El ejército aseveró que los detenidos reciben tres comidas al día, aprobadas por un dietista. Añadió que cada detenido es examinado por un médico al llegar y, quienes lo necesitan, son sometidos a revisiones periódicas.
Un exprisionero no puede olvidar lo que presenció
Sariy Khuorieh, un abogado israelí-palestino de Haifa, dijo que fue detenido al inicio de la guerra después de que Israel lo acusara de incitar a la violencia a través de sus publicaciones en redes sociales. Durante los 10 días que pasó en la prisión de Megido, Khuorieh refirió haber visto morir a un hombre tras ser golpeado repetidamente.
Khuorieh manifestó que el hombre de 33 años y padre de cuatro hijos, originario de Cisjordania, era golpeado casi a diario. El hombre —y algunos de sus familiares— tenían vínculos estrechos con Hamás, según un funcionario de seguridad palestino y una persona que conocía a la familia, quienes hablaron bajo condición de anonimato por temor a represalias.
La noche anterior a su muerte, el hombre gritó de dolor durante horas mientras estaba en confinamiento solitario, dijo Khuorieh, quien contuvo las lágrimas al relatar lo sucedido. El hombre pidió repetidamente la presencia de un médico, pero nadie acudió, agregó.
Un portavoz del Servicio Penitenciario de Israel no quiso comentar sobre el caso.
Un informe sobre la autopsia del hombre, al que tuvo acceso la AP, indicó que la causa de la muerte no era concluyente, pero que presentaba hematomas antiguos y recientes, incluidas costillas rotas. El informe notificó que se podía asumir que la violencia contribuyó a su muerte.
Cuando los guardias abrieron la celda del hombre, lo patearon y golpearon antes de llamar a un médico, quien intentó reanimarlo y luego lo declaró muerto, contó Khuorieh, quien sostuvo que vio lo que ocurría a través de la pequeña ventana en la puerta de su celda.
Una vez que declararon muerto al hombre, Khuorieh agregó que uno de los oficiales se rio y dijo: Hay “uno menos” que atender.
