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Budget Cuts and the Pelican Bay Hunger Strike - Keith Millea - 15-07-2011 The California prison hunger strike probably will not receive a lot a publicity.The situation NOW though,is starting to get serious.So,I think it is important to give a voice to those prisoners who are putting their lives on the line,for really,just very basic human rights. Published on Friday, July 15, 2011 by The Nation Budget Cuts and the Pelican Bay Hunger Strike by Allison Kilkenny Prisoners in California's Pelican Bay State Prison's Secure Housing Unit (SHU) began an indefinite hunger strike two weeks ago, and the reports coming in are harrowing. The Prison Reform Movement posted a testimonial earlier in the week from a SHU nurse, who stated the prisoners have not been drinking water and there have been "rapid and severe" consequences, adding that nurses are crying, and some of the prisoners have been unable to make urine for three days. The prisoners began the strike "in order to draw attention to, and to peacefully protest, twenty-five years of torture via [California Department of Correction and Rehabilitation]'s arbitrary, illegal, and progressively more punitive policies and practices," according to their official statement, dated July 1, 2011. Those torturous conditions (years of confinement in steel, windowless cages for more than twenty-two hours a day, no real access to natural light or human contact) are likely to only get worse during these times of economic austerity. Much attention was paid to Gov. Jerry Brown's plans to "realign" the prison system in order to reduce overcrowding and save the state money, but these orders followed months of harsh cuts that left prisons unable to adequately care for and supervise the hundreds of thousands of prisoners left in California's incarceration system. In May, Brown eliminated more than 400 positions at CDCR, in addition to 5,550 positions statewide. The move terminated 33 executive-level jobs at Corrections, and more than 100 management and supervisory positions. Many rightly criticized the whopping annual state prison payroll of $2 billion. However, California's huge prison budget doesn't stem from prisoners dining on caviar and lobster. The budget exploded because of "three strike" laws that rapidly expanded the jailed population. But even without such unfair laws, California's prison system would still be in trouble, according to the LA Times. Growing numbers of inmates arrive with communicable diseases (nearly a fourth of them have the tuberculosis virus), one in five has mental problems or brain damage, staffing numbers are already among the lowest in the country, and although a third of its employees are women, the department has a history of sexual discrimination. Furthermore, the department has an especially difficult time locating new employees to fill open positions in desolated locales where new prisons are opening. While some of the Pelican Bay prisoners' demands don't hinge on their prison being sufficiently funded (things like eliminating collective punishment, for example, can be done for free,) other items such as providing better, more nutritious food and expanding constructive programs will cost the state money, and during a time of budget cuts, the governor isn't likely to lend a sympathetic ear to society's pariahs. Brown will likely be able to neglect the prison system without a majority of his constituents retaliating against him in the voting booths. Unlike when he slashed school spending by $1 billion, Brown is this time neglecting a population that many people feel deserve whatever comes to them, even though, let's remember, prisons are supposed to rehabilitate individuals, and are not simply caves into which we throw and abandon human beings, leaving them to die. Additionally, movements like the Innocence Project have proven that innocent men and women are incarcerated all the time, and this should always be remembered when political leaders adopt cavalier "to hell with em all" attitudes. © 2011 The Nation Allison Kilkenny is the co-host of the progressive political podcast Citizen Radio (wearecitizenradio.com) and independent journalist who blogs at allisonkilkenny.com. Her work has appeared in The American Prospect, the L.A. Times, In These Times, Common Dreams, Truthout and the award-winning grassroots NYC newspaper The Indypendent. http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/07/15-6 Budget Cuts and the Pelican Bay Hunger Strike - Jan Klimkowski - 15-07-2011 Keith Millea Wrote:The California prison hunger strike probably will not receive a lot a publicity.The situation NOW though,is starting to get serious.So,I think it is important to give a voice to those prisoners who are putting their lives on the line,for really,just very basic human rights. Keith - I totally agree. However, I can just imagine Faux News' "fair and balanced" coverage of prisoners going on hunger strike. The neo-fascist presenters will likely be whooping it up and counting down the days..... Budget Cuts and the Pelican Bay Hunger Strike - Keith Millea - 15-07-2011 "Democracy Now!" has an excellent story on the Pelican Bay hunger strike.You can read the transcript,or watch the segment at the link below. http://www.democracynow.org/2011/7/15/protests_grow_in_solidarity_with_california Man,they're already talkin' Bobby Sands......... From Wiki: Robert Gerard "Bobby" Sands (Irish: Roibeárd Gearóid Ó Seachnasaigh;[1] 9 March 1954 5 May 1981) was an Irish volunteer of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and member of the United Kingdom Parliament who died on hunger strike while imprisoned in HM Prison Maze. He was the leader of the 1981 hunger strike in which Irish republican prisoners protested against the removal of Special Category Status. During his strike he was elected as a member of the United Kingdom Parliament as an Anti H-Block/Armagh Political Prisoner candidate.[2][3] His death resulted in a new surge of IRA recruitment and activity. International media coverage brought attention to the hunger strikers, and the republican movement in general, attracting both praise and criticism.[4] Budget Cuts and the Pelican Bay Hunger Strike - Keith Millea - 18-07-2011 Apparently,there is one death being reported by inmates so far.Also,there are reports of inmates that are in dire shape.This could/will get ugly,no doubt.......... Urgent state-sponsored prison torture protests uniting inmates, churches, towns Deborah Dupre , Human Rights Examiner July 15, 2011 Rights defenders, peace workers from all creeds and religions rally in defense of state-sponosered torture victims in American prisons As some 6000 participating inmates in thirteen California state prisons ended a second week of their historic hunger strike protesting what some human rights defenders identify as torture, this largest coordinated protest by state inmates is uniting over 300 religious groups and communities from California communities to Harlem to stand in solidarity with abused inmates and against US state-sponsored torture, while more inmates are dying from hunger and California state government officials conduct a disinformation campaign according to rights advocates. California's Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's state government is continuing its "disinformation campaign" about the hunger strike, declaring it was "probably synchronized … through organized criminal networks" reported SFGate of the San Francisco Chronicle Thursday. Terry Thornton, a California's state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) spokesperson said, "This goes to show the power, influence and reach of prison gangs. Some people are doing it because they want to do it, and some are being ordered to do it." Human rights defenders supporting the strikers dismissed the gang ties, and told the Chronicle that prison inmates across the California rallied to support the 150 prisoners who started the hunger protest inside Pelican Bay Prison's Secured Housing Unit. Oakland attorney, Carol Strickland who is working with the hunger strikers, stated, "I don't think this is something that represents gang control. This was an unusual example of unity among groups within the CDCR, and that's knocked them back in a way. "Here, the CDCR has managed to unite the groups inmates are seeing their enemy is not the brown person across the way." Strickland and other rights defenders are proving to be correct now that others across the nation are standing in solidarity with the Pelican Bay prisoners, just as inmates have done. Over 300 religious groups have called on the California government to respond to the inmates striking and solidarity fasts and other actions are surfacing across the US to end torture and cruel and unusual punishment in California prisons. The group that in May 2011, submitted a formal complaint to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, requesting his office to "investigate the widespread use of long-term isolation for prisoners in the United States in what are known as supermax prisons," the National Religious Campaign Against Torture issued a statement on Friday advising that California state government must respond to the hunger strikers. The ongoing hunger strike by California inmates has strengthened unity and is increasing membership in a consortium of national denominations and faith groups, regional organizations and local congregations according to Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture Rev. Richard Kilmer in a statement released on Friday to the Examiner. Rev. Kilmer explained that hunger strikes are the last resort a person takes when tortured. "Hunger strikes are the last resort of prisoners protesting inhumane confinement conditions," Rev. Kilmer said. "We have seen prisoners protest their treatment in this manner at Guantanamo Bay, and now inmates at Pelican Bay State Prison in northern California among various other prisons in California are taking similar drastic measures." At Pelican Bay Prison, hundreds of prisoners are held in prolonged solitary confinement, a practice that qualifies as torture due to its destructive physical and psychological effects on human beings according to Rev. Kilmer. "Conditions are so bad in California, these inmates prefer to starve themselves possibly to death rather than live another week in prolonged solitary confinement," Rev. Kilmer stated on Friday. "The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) vehemently believes that even those convicted of crimes are human beings with inherent dignity and worth, and they deserve humane treatment." NRCAT, headed by Rev. Kilmer, is a coalition of religious organizations committed to ending torture sponsored by or enabled by federal or state government in the United States. "Our members' moral convictions and our commitments to international and constitutional protections against cruel and inhumane treatment require that we call on the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to respond to the prisoners' reasonable demands, put an end to its egregious use of prolonged solitary confinement, and take immediate steps to improve the conditions in California's prisons." NRCAT works to end what it states is U.S.-sponsored torture, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in American prisons. Since January 2006 when NRCAT formed, over 300 religious organizations have joined it, including Catholics, evangelical Christians, mainline Protestants, Unitarian Universalists, Quakers, Orthodox Christians, Jewish, Muslims, Hindus, Baha'is, Buddhists, and Sikhs. Type of inmate inspiration that led the historic prisoner hunger strike In an update about the hunger strike in its first days, the following was written by an inmate at California's Corcoran Prison about a fellow inmate, 57-year old Haribu Mugabi Soriono, an imprisoned human rights worker. (See: //prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/voices-from-inside/a-brief-update-from-the-front-lines-of-the-struggle-at-corcoran/) "There has been an unfortunate development here, and though we knew the probability of this occurring was high, we didn't know it would come this sudden. At approximately 1845 hrs. (6:45 pm) for picking up trash and trays from our white and northern Mexican brothers, one of the CEOs here began to call our staunch a beloved brother Haribu Mugabi Soriono's name repeatedly. He did not respond. She notified the tower 'Soriono's unresponsive, called EMT and notify the watch commander.' "Then the alarm was triggered. Multiple custody and medical staff responded, but because Haribu was unconscious he could not comply with their directions to come to the door and cuff-up. A tactile team was assembled and they entered his cell. As they were putting him in mechanical restraints he regained consciousness briefly, and quickly lost it again. EMTs arrived, he was secured to the gurney and rushed by ambulance to A.C.H. (Hosptial) where he remains. "Comrade Haribu is a 57-year-old veteran prisoner and human rights activist who just waged and won a protracted battle with cancer (Leukemia) and suffers from multiple chronic medical conditions, yet he started fasting two days before the hunger strike started, in solidarity with our Afrikan brothers and sisters in the Horn of Afrika suffering famine and death with no food or water because of a 2-year drought. "A beloved brother went five days without eating, knowing his body was already severely damaged to uphold our collective pursuit of basic human rights and dignity. This brother brave death to free us all from torture without end, and to make you all aware that it's being carried out right here in the borders of your nation; not halfway around the world in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, or some CIA blacksite No Right Here in Pelican Bay, Corcoran, and Tehachapi SHUs; human experimentation torture units are being ran and expanded. Haribu is an inspiration to us all, a hero of the people, and his undaunted fighting spirit abides with us all. "Pray for our beloved brother and comrade pray for us all." San Francisco to Harlem, rights defenders standing in solidarity with inmates ask other human rights and peace groups to do same Isolation used as punishment in prisons across the country confines prisoners alone in a cell, 23 hours a day, for weeks, months, and even years, a condition that would result in charges against people if they did the same to pets. Some inmates are released from these conditions directly to their families when they complete their prison sentence. NRCAT works to enable people of all faiths to advocate for legislation that would limit or end the use of isolation. As for some of the now dying California inmates, a prison spokesperson told San Francisco Chronicle that the prison staff will not force-feed inmates, but will allow them to die. Some are already in renal failure. World Can't Wait activists in San Francisco have joined daily protests all week and encourage citizens across the nation to find a way to "speak out and protest, whether in the streets, or via letters to the editor, calls to radio shows, or to CA prison officials." An "Emergency Demonstration & Speak Out" will be held Saturday, July 16 at noon in Harlem in solidarity with Prisoners on Hunger Strike at Pelican Bay State Prison's Security Housing Unit (SHU). The demonstration will be at the State Office Building, Harlem, 125th St. & Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. Travis Morales, of Revolution Books stated Friday, "Some of the prisoners are close to death. All people and voices of conscience need to step forward urgently! This is the most significant resistance by prisoners in the U.S. to torture and inhumane and barbaric conditions since Attica, 40 years ago. "By standing up and resisting, these prisoners are asserting their own humanity, and by doing so, challenging others to reclaim their humanity by standing with the prisoners. Everyone should ask themselves what it says about the conditions that prisoners face that they are willing to starve to death rather than live another day with torture and barbaric treatment. People everywhere need to know about these prisoners, why they are on a hunger strike, and on that basis support them." Morales highlights that conditions in the Pelican Prison Security Housing Unit are similar what tens of thousands of prisoners across the U.S. share in "supermax" prison facilities, including in New York. "Prison authorities use sensory deprivation and solitary confinement with no human contact that have been documented to lead to mental illness and is deemed as torture under international law, brutality, lack of medical care, inadequate food, denial of legal due process, and more." http://www.examiner.com/human-rights-in-national/urgent-state-sponsored-prison-torture-protests-unites-inmates-churches-towns Budget Cuts and the Pelican Bay Hunger Strike - Magda Hassan - 18-07-2011 Thank you for this important but underreported story Keith Budget Cuts and the Pelican Bay Hunger Strike - Keith Millea - 23-07-2011 PELICAN BAY HUNGER STRIKE ENDS ON DAY 21 The hunger strike succeeded in:
* putting the prisoners' demands on the CDCR and political agendas * bringing the issue of torturous SHUs (supermax/control units) to public attention and to mainstream media
* mobilizing support throughout California, nationally, and internationally for their reasonable demands Make your voices heard in the months to come.
-- Keep the pressure on until the 5 core demands are fully met!
-- Public awareness is all that protects the hunger strikers from retaliation. UPDATE: July 21, 2011
Budget Cuts and the Pelican Bay Hunger Strike - Magda Hassan - 06-10-2011 Legendary Comedian Dick Gregory On Hunger Strike To Protest Capital Punishment, Death of Troy DavisVIDEO HERE Civil rights activist and comedian Dick Gregory was among the people who filled the 2,000-capacity Jonesville Baptist Church that hosted Troy Davis' funeral on Saturday in Savannah, Georgia. Afterward, he told Democracy Now! he was starting a year-long hunger strike that night to protest against the death penalty. "I will not be eating solid food until next fall," Gregory says. He called on others to pray and meditate that "the truth will come out" in Davis' conviction for the 1989 killing of off-duty police officer, Mark MacPhail a crime which Davis has always maintained he did not commit. [Includes rush transcript] Filed under Troy Davis, Death Penalty Email to a friend Help Printer-friendly version Purchase DVD/CD [TABLE] [TR] [TD="class: labels"] [URL="http://www.democracynow.org/2011/10/3/stream"]LISTEN[/TD] |