Tag Archives: solitary confinement

Action Alert: Call to Support the Bronx 120

hi all, please call and share. https://www.facebook.com/events/328787930803467/
Earlier this year, 120 young people were kidnapped under “conspiracy” charges, and are now languishing in various prisons across New York, with no knowledge of their fate, and increasing abuse at the hands of the prisons. We have had reports from families and from those incarcerated that they have been denied medical care, have had their mail censored from friends and family, have woefully short (1 hour a week) visitation, and that at least one defendant has been last, possibly held in solitary. We will not stand for the abuse of black and brown people from our community! Treated like slaves, shackled, with no direct charges, just assumptions based off of social media and white supremacy. Leading up to our Sept 9th Prison Strike NYC-Solidarity w BX120 and all prisoners event, we are asking people to call MDC at (718) 840-4200* and DEMAND:
-Immediate Medical Care for all Prisoners
-Release of all Communication, and an end to censorship of letters and communication.
-Extended visting hours and days
-NO DISCIPLINARY SEGREGATION FOR ANY PRISONER
– DROP ALL CHARGES AGAINST THE BRONX 120!!

CALL OFTEN! We need to show that these abuses will not go unnoticed! No rest for the officials until all are free!

We are also asking that people please watch the video of the raids and read the letter by Paula Clarke, one of the mothers and send to as many people as you can. There is also a link to donate for commissary. http://www.bronx120.org/

*this is the general number for the prison; we have heard from family that the specific number for complaints and prisoner communication just rings and rings…no surprise!!

Upcoming Hunger Strike: END Solitary Confinement and Inhumane Treatment in Santa Clara Co. Jails

From Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity

Please read and spread the below statement from people in solitary confinement in Santa Clara County, California, announcing their upcoming hunger strike to begin Oct 17, 2016 and clearly explaining their human and civil rights demands behind the strike. ACT IN SOLIDARITY by sharing the prisoners’ words, putting pressure on the Santa Clara County Sheriff during the strike (phone numbers provided in the statement), writing letters to the editor, and paying attention to further statements from the Prisoner Human Rights Movement in Santa Clara County Jails.

Prisoners’ Statement/Open Letter:

All the respect across the board! Now onto the following at hand.

The following will consist of an open letter addressed to all prisoners contained within all three facilities of Santa Clara County Jail, in regards to a peaceful protest in the form of an organized hunger strike.

First off, allow us to stress the fact that by no means is this to be considered an attempt to promote or benefit any form of gang, nor is this to be considered gang activity. This letter and its request/call for action is an attempt to enlighten and remain inclusive regardless of race, creed, or color of top/shirt due to classification. The content of this letter does not simply pertain to any one group segment, nor any isolated issue, but instead it pertains to all prisoners within the three facilities of Santa Clara County Jail.

We all have a stake at hand, and we all serve to benefit from any success that may transpire as a result of our collective efforts. Therefore, it is important that we try and visualize the impact and full potential of strength and power behind our force as united prisoners for a valid purpose and common beneficial interest. With this in mind, we are now reaching out to all like-minded prisoners who are willing and interested in banding together in a united stance of solidarity under the name of Prisoners’ Human Rights Movement (P.H.R.M.) in order to bring about real meaningful forms of change. Continue reading →

Wisconsin Prison ‘Dying to Live’ Hunger Strikers Continue Quest to End Prolonged Solitary Confinement – LaRon McKinley Bey

From Arawak City Anarchist Black Cross, by Laron McKinley Bey, #42642

In a nation that would not tolerate shutting in zoo animals 23-24 hours per day the State of Wisconsin has no compunction confining prisoners to indefinite isolative Administrative Confinement (AC) alone in a parking-space size cell for 164 of the 168 hour week.  Such prolongued social, environmental, and occupational isolation and lack of stimulation is well known to pose a substantial risk of harm to mental and physical health.

Norman Uhuru Green and I, 2 of the longest standing Wisconsin prisoners held in this type of endless isolation at 18 years, and nearly 28 years respectively, together with Cesar DeLeon, form the 3 remaining original ‘Dying to Live’ movement hunger strikers who continue to refuse to eat or drink in hopes of forcing an end to the state’s practice of indeterminate seclusion.

On June 7, 2016, a group of 10 Wisconsin prisoners in solitary confinement at the Waupun and Columbia correctional institutions began refusing nourishment to expose the inhumane conditions of their confinement, and to facilitate dignified treatment of all humans.  Within a few weeks the Department of Corrections had obtained court orders to force-feed Uhuru, DeLeon, and I 3 times daily which entails being placed in full restraints, and then strapped into a ‘restraint chair’ and having a nasal-gastro tube inserted in one nostril to the stomach where a liquid mixture of nutrition is funneled.  Besides violating the sanctity of our bodies, this procedure is an invalid state response to a dignified struggle and it can cause significant internal injury.

Continue reading →

Hunger strikes protesting solitary confinement proliferate within Wisconsin’s prisons

[Find a current list of hunger strikers and contact information here: https://solitarytorture.blogspot.com/2016/07/list-of-hunger-strikers.html

Please call DOC Secretary Jon Litscher at Phone: 608-240-5000 docweb@wi.gov and demand that he meet the hunger striker’s demands.]

by Solitary Torture

Hunger strikes by some state prisoners protesting abuses of solitary confinement at the Waupun Correctional Institute are reportedly spreading to two other state prisons, according to prisoners’ rights advocates.

The Coalition of Prisoner Supporters has also received reports of dozens of hunger strikers at Columbia Correctional Institution, according to a letter from prisoner Robert Ward.  The Wisconsin Department of Corrections has refused to release the number of prisoners involved in the hunger strikes at any of the state prisons.

The so-called “Dying to Live” hunger strikes are an attempt by prisoners to abolish long term solitary confinement in Wisconsin, according to Coalition member Ben Turk of the Milwaukee Industrial Workers of the World. LaRon McKinley-Bey and Ras Uhuru Mutawakkil (state name Norman Green) have drafted a proposal of new rules for DOC’s use of solitary confinement. These rules were delivered to the DOC along with a rally and protest by 20 members of the Coalition of Prisoner Supporters on July 5  at WI DOC central office, according to Turk. Continue reading →

Phone blast for Ely Hunger Strike

From Denver ABC

July 18 – July 19

As of July 12th, prisoners at Ely State Prison (Nevada) went on hunger strike in protest of the policies and conditions of the Disciplinary Segregation Units. We’ll be publishing their names shortly. We encourage everyone to send them letters to boost their morale and let them know they are supported. It’s been confirmed that six prisoners are still going strong with the hunger strike. Warden Renee Baker has given some prisoners their MP3 players back. She also said to send a kite if without shower shoes, and a free pair will be given. Both prisoners and supporters believe she is only doing this to dissuade them, but the hunger strikers have said they will NOT give up until all demands are met! Continue reading →

Action Round Up July 7th!

Prisoner supporters across the country are keeping up the pressure on prisons!

13592760_288673674810581_382776854150334616_nIn New York people gathered for a fundraiser on the 3rd, and a noise demonstration on the fourth. They gathered outside a federal prison in Brooklyn which houses federal pretrial, federal sentenced, and a lot of immigration cases. Also at this prison are a number of the 120 people arrested during a raid of public housing project in the Bronx a couple of months ago.
“Outside we chanted “brick by brick, wall by wall, we will make this prison fall” and inside, over the fence, we saw fists raised and heard others banging on their cell windows.”

‪The demo was co-organized by mothers and organizers up in the bx at the houses, iwoc, and abc.  Here is video and pictures, from the facebook event.

20160705_121739In Wisconsin, folks turned out lots of solidarity for their comrades on hunger strike. They held banners over the freeway all week, and spent from 8 am to 1 pm at busy intersections outside the WI DOC central office, creating a very visible presence, then they delivered a letter, including new rules for solitary confinement, written by the hunger strikers, as a way to move toward resolution.

Video is online here.

Update and Summary of Wisconsin Hunger Strike

rally 6 21 16Wisconsin DOC is force feeding prisoners.

We have confirmed at least two of the perhaps dozens of prisoners who have been refusing food since the week of June 10th are being force fed by WI DOC officials. Using a practice which has been condemned by the American Medical Association (AMA) and the Red Cross as a form of torture and “never ethically acceptable,” Wisconsin DOC personnel have been forcing a feeding tube through the nose and down the throat of their restrained and struggling captives three times a day since last weekend.

On Tuesday, Cesar DeLeon, one of the most vocal of the hunger strikers was finally able to contact his family to describe the procedure, which he had already endured many times. During his weekly fifteen minute video visit with his sister Erika he said that staff often leaves the tube in his throat for a long time after the actual feeding, that the procedure causes bleeding and that they laugh at him and mock him while conducting it. According to the AMA inserting a feeding tube in an unwilling patient risks tearing the esophagus, or accidentally filling the lungs with fluid, both potentially fatal injuries. Tristan Cook, the DOC’s Communications Director has assured the public that the DOC is monitoring the hunger strike, indicating that DOC Director Jon Litscher is aware of and responsible for his staff’s conduct with these prisoners. Continue reading →

Wisconsin prison officials begin force feedings as solitary confinement protest continues

From WisconsinWatch.org

Wisconsin prison officials begin force feedings as solitary confinement protest continues

The Department of Corrections has obtained court orders to force feed three inmates participating in a hunger strike aimed at ending long-term solitary confinement

By

Chance Zombor, 36, leads a protest against the practice of solitary confinement at a rally in Madison Tuesday. Zombor has spent time in isolation at Waupun and Oshkosh correctional institutions. About 30 people marched to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections headquarters to deliver a letter arguing against the use of solitary confinement in Wisconsin prisons. Along the way they shouted "Our passion for freedom is stronger than their prisons!"

Coburn Dukehart/Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism

Chance Zombor, 36, leads a protest against the practice of solitary confinement at a rally in Madison Tuesday. Zombor has spent time in isolation at Waupun and Oshkosh correctional institutions. About 30 people marched to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections headquarters to deliver a letter arguing against the use of solitary confinement in Wisconsin prisons. Along the way they shouted “Our passion for freedom is stronger than their prisons!”

Continue reading →

Wisconsin hunger strikers to take aim at long-term solitary confinement

From WisconsinWatch.org

About a dozen inmates at Waupun vow to bTalib Akbar at Wisdomegin refusing food June 10 to protest administrative confinement, in which prisoners are held in isolation for years, even decades

By

Dee J. Hall/Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism

Talib Akbar, who spent several years in solitary confinement in Wisconsin prisons, speaks during a Feb. 4 listening session in Madison sponsored by Wisdom, a statewide faith-based prison advocate group. “Believe me it was torture. When you are released, you are dysfunctional.”

About a dozen Wisconsin prisoners plan to launch a hunger strike beginning next week aimed at ending a form of indefinite solitary confinement that officials use to keep order in the institutions, according to an inmate advocacy group.

Laron Mckinley

Wisconsin Department of Corrections

LaRon McKinley Bey has sued the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, alleging his 25 years in a form of solitary confinement constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

Continue reading →

DYING TO LIVE Food Refusal Starts June 10th

From SolitaryTorture.blogspot.com

Download flyers:
Outside WI (print 2 sided and cut in half)
WI FullWI 1/4 sheet (print 2 sided and cut in half)

Humanitarian Food Refusal Campaign  Against Solitary Torture

June10th Wisconsin prisoners held in long term Solitary confinement at Waupun Correctional Institution will start a “Food Refusal Campaign.” The wish to bring the horror of Administrative Confinement (AC) to the public’s Attention and end this torturous practice. Solitary confinement for more than 15 days has been deemed “torture” by the United Nations but Wisconsin the DOC has held many prisoners in isolation for decades. AS the debate and outrage grows nationwide, join us in supporting these prisoners who are making a courageous sacrifice to Wake Us Up.

 
prisoner  in “obs”- the”Treatment” for trying to harm oneself

Madison Rally         
1pm. Fri June 10
at the Capital Building
Contact: 262-443-7831
Sophiaorganizer1@gmail.com

Milwaukee Rally
Noon, Saturday June 11
At the County Courthouse
Contact:414-379-2374
argentum111@me.com

Both events will have a life-sized replica of the tiny cell these prisoners spend years in. There will be families of AC prisoners speaking as well as activists, and legislators. ALL are welcome and needed.

Sign our petition at

https://www.change.org/p/wi-doc-secretary-jon-litscher-waupun-prisoners-begin-food-refusal-to-protest-solitary-torture

Use social media to let your friends and coworkers know about this! Continue reading →