Imprisoned CIA Torture Whistleblower John Kiriakou Pens “Letter from Loretto”

[Magda Hassan]

CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou Desperately Needs Your Help

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Catherine J. Frompovich
Activist Post

As many readers know, I'm a pen pal with CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou, who is serving time in the federal pen at Loretto, Pennsylvania. I've not heard from him in a while and was wondering why since I sent him a Valentine card and also two paperback books, which I know he enjoys having.

Well, can you imagine how I felt when I received an email from Brian Sonenstein at Firedoglake.com telling me about what's happened to John and how John's been worked over by the corrections officers (Cos) at the prison. Please read this report for disturbing details.

John is being threatened with what's termed "diesel therapy" which, in prison parlance, means he can be transferred from prison to prison around the country every week so that he cannot receive phone calls, mail, or that his family would not know where he was imprisoned.

Several strategies are in gear to help John, which readers, hopefully, will engage in:

1. End the Illegal Retaliation Against John Kiriakou Call the Bureau of Prisons 202-307-3250 Please read this for ideas of what to say.

2. Send letters to: Federal Bureau of Prisons, 320 First St. NW, Washington, DC 20534. See sample letter #1 below copied from a person who made a comment on the website

Sample Letter #1

Mr. Charles Samuels, Director
Federal Bureau of Prisons
320 First St., NW
Washington, DC 20534

Dear Mr. Samuels:

I'm writing in regard to John Kiriakou, Register No. 79637-083, the former CIA agent and whistleblower imprisoned at the federal prison in Loretto, Pennsylvania.

Mr. Samuels, I am shocked and outraged to learn of the brutal and thuggish treatment of Mr. Kiriakou by the staff at Loretto Prison for exercising his Constitutionally guaranteed right of free speech, something he did not lose when he became a political prisoner.

From reports I read at the website Firedoglake, Mr. Kiriakou has on more than one occasion been the victim of guards riffling through his cell, making a mess of it, and even removing property from his cellmate in the hope that would turn the cellmate against him and cause Mr. Kiriakou to stop writing his now-famous "Letters from Loretto." On one occasion, a prison official tried to remove his desk from his cell. Mr. Kiriakou has also been threatened with "diesel therapy," moving him constantly from one prison to another.

This has to stop. Please instruct Mark A. Kirby, the warden at Loretto, to put a stop to this bullying behavior. It is beneath the dignity of the Bureau of Prisons, it punishes Mr. Kiriakou for exercising his Constitutionally guaranteed freedoms and it gives America a black eye around the world, as it shows that our talk about human rights is nothing more than idle prattling.

Sincerely yours,
Your signature

Cc: Congressman James Moran 2239 Rayburn HOB, Washington, DC 20015

Sample Letter #2

Mr. Charles Samuels, Director
Federal Bureau of Prisons
320 First St., NW
Washington, DC 20534

Dear Mr. Samuels:

I'm writing to demand the Bureau of Prisons end its illegal retaliation against imprisoned CIA torture whistleblower John Kiriakou (79637-083).

John has been a model prisoner during his time in FCI Loretto. He even stopped his letter writing - which is his First Amendment right - at the prison's request. But after the Bureau of Prisons went back on a deal for John to spend nine months in a halfway house, he spoke up, and the Bureau's response has been wholly unacceptable.

John has been subject to surprise searches. Prison officials told him they'd break his desk off his cell wall. He has even been threatened with so-called Diesel Therapy. I'm calling to demand the Bureau of Prisons immediately stop this illegal retaliation.

Sincerely,
Your signature

As Brian Sonenstein says,

If we don't act quickly, the Bureau of Prisons could take the next step and force John to spend the rest of his sentence on the move and incommunicado under the farcical justification that it was "related to a bedspace' issue or for [his] own safety."

Please do what you can to help a true patriot. Those who did the waterboarding aren't doing the time for their crime, but John Kiriakou is. I know John will be very grateful, as I am.