Monday 9 September 2013

Hunger Strike ended-DAY 60

The Hunger strike has now come to an end, Many prisoners stopping after 60 days of no food.

Hunger-striking inmates seeking an end to California’s use of solitary confinement concluded their two-month protest Thursday, three days after state lawmakers pledged to hold legislative hearings on conditions in the state’s maximum security prisons. Corrections department officials also agreed to meet with strike leaders to discuss their demands, something they previously had refused to do.

Friday 5 July 2013

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San Quentin State Prison Inmates hunger strike 
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"To be born has been a curse,
Life, nothing more then a cruel joke,
full of sorrow & pain.... a torture.
Death will be the sweet release,
which I will welcome.
For only death can set me free"
- A/C inmate 2013-

July 8th 2013 marks the beginning of an attempt to have their voices heard. Hundreds of inmates across California prisons commence their nonviolent peaceful protest of their subjection to decades of indefinite state-sanctioned torture, via long term solitary confinement. This protest comes in the form of a hunger strike/work stoppage of indefinite duration until CDCR signs a legally binding agreement meeting their demands, the heart of which mandates an end to long-term solitary confinement.

The undisputable fact is that many of the inmates have been held in solitary confinement for the past 10 to 40 years. It is hard to imagine. Those of you who have visited Alcatraz may recall posing for a picture in one of the tiny dirty dark cells. Those cells are not just a tourist attraction, they are a reality for hundreds of men and women in California's prisons.

These men and women are locked up in 5 x 3 cells for 23 1/2 hours on most days. No human contact is allowed except the guard that holds their elbow as they are escorted too and from their cell. They watch their loved ones behind glass at visits, some of them having never been able to hold their children. Their diet is largely carbohydrate based to mask any potential signs of poor nutrition and starvation. They are discriminated against by race- punishing all inmates of that same race should another inmates behaviour fall out of line. This involves "lockdown's" that can continue for months at a time. As if they weren't kept in their cells enough. On a lockdown there is no yard, no visits, no library. Only coming out to shower. One small luxury is that of mail. Even mail is often "lost", stamps are stolen,items removed from it under the excuse of "suspicious".  Life with loved ones inside is constantly lived in the past as mail is often delivered to the inmate up to 4 weeks after being mailed.




Why is it that the inmates feel they need to strike?

Inmates have reached breaking point where they can no longer sit back and be a victim to this unfair and illegal system that is in place.

A previous hunger strike took place 1st- 20th July 2011, and from Sept. 26 to Oct. 13, 2011. CDCR promised to change some of it's laws and systems but as yet nothing has taken place.

What goes on behind the walls of these prisons is not just punishment, it's torture. These prisons are not just designed to keep people behind walls, they are designed to break down a person mentally, physically and emotionally. Once on death row they are disempowered, have no rights, no voice. How ironic that recently the R was added to CDC. Standing for "Rehabilitation"

What are the prisoners demanding?

1. End Group Punishment & Administrative Abuse

2. Abolish the Debriefing Policy, and Modify Active/Inactive Gang Status Criteria

3. Comply with the US Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons 2006 Recommendations Regarding an End to Long-Term Solitary Confinement

4. Provide Adequate and Nutritious Food

5. Expand and Provide Constructive Programming and Privileges for Indefinite SHU Status Inmates.( E.g A weekly phone call, one photo per year, coloured pens, longer visiting hours, contact visits)

If this moves you I encourage you to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! Whilst inmates are disempowered we all have the freedom of speech, the access to internet/twitter/facebook. We can be voices to the disempowered.

1- Educate yourself (See below for access to sites and more information)
2- Sign the petition/ write to the governor http://www.change.org/petitions/support-pelican-bay-shu-prisoners-five-core-demands-hunger-strike
3- Write to the inmates that are going through this to send your support
4- Spread the word

Visit www.prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com for more information

Visit: www.minutesbeforesix.blogspot.co.uk

Visit: http://deathrowdiary.blogspot.co.uk/

Visit: http://carlos-breakingboundaries.blogspot.co.uk

READ: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dead-Deliverance-Steve-Champion/dp/0982351380