Unconstitutional Solitary Confinement in America (tags)
police state
Mass Support for Chelsea Manning (tags)
police state
Albert Woodfox: 41 Years in Solitary Unjustly (tags)
police state
Terrorism, COINTELPRO, and the Black Panthers -An interview with Angela A. Allen-Bell (tags)
In her new law journal article, “Activism Unshackled & Justice Unchained,” law professor Angela A. Allen-Bell concludes that the US government’s multi-faceted response to the BPP, primarily within the framework of the FBI’s infamous COINTELPRO, was indeed the very definition of terrorism. Bell writes that “the magnitude of the unwarranted harm done to the BPP has not yet been explored in an appropriate fashion. Much like a fugitive, it has eluded justice.” As a result, “the FBI's full-scale assault on the social movements of the 1960s and 1970s remains an open wound for the nation itself. This is more than a national tragedy; this is a human wrong.
Panthers in the Hole: French Angola 3 Book Illustrates US Prison Crisis (tags)
Amnesty International France and La Boîte à Bulles have published a 128-page French language graphic novel entitled Panthers in the Hole. The book's co-authors David Cénou and Bruno Cénou present with visual art what Amnesty France describes as "la tragique histoire des Trois d'Angola" (the tragic story of the Angola 3). We interview Nicolas Krameyer, who is head of the Individuals at Risk / Human Rights Defenders Program for Amnesty International France.
Rock, Rap & Speakout vs Poverty, Prisons & War (tags)
For the 15th year marking International Women’s Day in Southern California, on March 8th a warm and sunny Saturday, a mixed race and enthusiastic crowd of approximately 450 women, men, quite a lot of young people, and lots of children gathered for a free concert and speakout at the MacArthur Park Band Shell in Los Angeles.
A Moral Outrage: Rev. Dr. Patricia Bates on the torture of Albert Woodfox (tags)
We interview Rev. Dr. Patricia Bates from the National Religious Coalition Against Torture (www.nrcat.org), who attended Albert Woodfox's recent January 7 oral arguments before the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and made a statement at the press conference outside the courtroom on behalf of NRCAT.
Herman Wallace: Free at Last (tags)
police state
Torture by Design: Saying No to the Architecture of Solitary Confinement (tags)
Friday, August 16 marked the 40th consecutive day of a multi-ethnic statewide prisoner hunger strike initiated from inside the Security Housing Unit (SHU) of California's Pelican Bay State Prison. As the horror of solitary confinement comes under increasing scrutiny in the US and around the world, human rights activists are confronting this public health and safety epidemic from a variety of angles. One group, called Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility has challenged solitary confinement in US prisons by recently launching a Change.org petition asking the American Institute of Architects to amend its Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct to prohibit the design of spaces for killing, torture, and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
Opening the Box: Sarah Shourd on Herman Wallace, CA Hunger Strikers & Solitary Confinement (tags)
Herman Wallace of the Angola 3 has been transferred out of solitary confinement, as Louisiana’s Hunt prison reduced his classification from maximum to medium security. Herman is now staying at the prison hospital in a 10-bunk dorm, with access to a day room, and does not have to wear leg irons anymore. While celebrating the more human conditions, Herman and the International Coalition to Free the Angola 3 emphasize that the transfer from solitary is not enough. They are asking folks to continue supporting Amnesty International’s call for humane release.
Take action w/ Amnesty Intl: Compassionate Release for Herman Wallace of the Angola 3! (tags)
In response to the tragic news that Herman Wallace is terminally ill with cancer, Amnesty International has launched a campaign calling for Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal to immediately release Herman on humanitarian grounds. "After decades of cruel conditions and a conviction that continues to be challenged by the courts, he should be released immediately to his family so that he can be cared for humanely during his last months," says Tessa Murphy, USA campaigner, about Herman Wallace.
Abusing Prisoners Decreases Public Safety --Interview w/ author and former (tags)
If given the attention it deserves, an important new book is certain to make significant contributions to the public discussions of US prison policy. The author, Shawn Griffith, was released last year from Florida’s prison system at the age of 41, after spending most of his life, almost 24 years, behind bars, including seven in solitary confinement.
Author Nancy Kurshan: Strategizing to Defeat Control Unit Prisons and Solitary Confinement (tags)
Author and longtime activist Nancy Kurshan’s new book, entitled Out of Control: A Fifteen Year Battle Against Control Unit Prisons, has just been released by the Freedom Archives. Kurshan’s book documents the work of The Committee to End the Marion Lockdown (CEML), which she co-founded in 1985 as a response to the lockdown at the federal prison in Marion, Illinois. It quickly turned into a broader campaign against control unit prisons and human rights violations in US prisons that lasted fifteen years, until 2000.
New anti-solitary confinement petition to CA Gov. Brown (tags)
Please sign the petition to California Governor Jerry Brown: Stop the abuse of solitary confinement in CA prisons!
Reforming Prison’s Harshest Tactic –The Angola 3 case may help change the... (tags)
The Angola 3 case may help change the arbitrary and sometimes abusive use of solitary confinement.
Freedom for Albert Woodfox of the Angola 3, After 40 Years in Solitary Confinement? (tags)
After four decades of solitary confinement in the nation's most populated maximum-security prison -- and one of its most historically brutal -- a member of the internationally known "Angola 3" has reasonable cause to expect that he will soon be released, his attorneys and supporters say. The request to set free Albert Woodfox, 65, is being heard by the same federal judge who in 2008 ordered that Woodfox be released, a ruling that Louisiana prosecutors successfully appealed and blocked.
Amnesty International Denounces Torture in California Prisons --Interview w/ Tessa Murphy (tags)
2 weeks after the release of Amnesty Intl’s new report on the use of prolonged solitary confinement inside California’s ‘Security Housing Units’ (SHUs), entitled "The Edge of Endurance," prisoners initiated another hunger strike, with 500 participants statewide. In this new interview, Tessa Murphy speaks about her visit to California SHUs and Amnesty's report based on the visit.
Do US Prisons Violate European Human Rights Law? --Interview w/ Hamja Ahsan & Aviva Stahl (tags)
An important ruling is expected early in September from the European Court of Human Rights, regarding whether or not US prisons respect human rights enough for the UK to extradite ‘war on terror' suspects to the US. We interview activist/journalist Aviva Stahl from CagePrisoners.com alongside Hamja Ahsan, the brother of Talha Ahsan, one of the appellants that will be seriously affected by the September ruling, imprisoned since 2006.
Israel Reneges on Hunger Striker Deal (tags)
Israel
Solitary Confinement on Trial --An interview with law professor Angela A. Allen-Bell (tags)
On the eve of Tuesday's Senate hearing on solitary confinement, we interview Angela A. Allen-Bell, a law professor at Southern University in Baton Rouge. The newly released issue of the Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly features an article by Prof. Bell entitled "Perception Profiling & Prolonged Solitary Confinement Viewed Through the Lens of the Angola 3 Case: When Prison Officials Become Judges, Judges Become Visually Challenged and Justice Become Legally Blind.”
BTL:Amnesty International: Decades of Solitary Confinement at Louisiana’s Angola Prison Am (tags)
Interviews with Everette Thompson, southeast regional director of Amnesty USA, and Robert King, one of the Angola 3, conducted by Melinda Tuhus
Buried Alive Cruel and Unusual Punishsment (tags)
torture
Mumia Abu-Jamal in General Population (tags)
Our phone calls and petition signatures finally got Mumia out of solitary and into the general population where he can hug his wife and much more. Now we need to free Mumia as he is innocent. We also need to abolish solitary confinement eveywhere as it is torture by definition.
The Torture of Mumia Abu-Jamal Continues off Death Row --Supporters Demand Transfer (tags)
After being transferred from death row in December, Mumia was put in ‘the hole’ at SCI Mahanoy’s ‘Restrictive Housing Unit,’ where the conditions are actually more restrictive than when he was on death row. Supporters, including the National Lawyers Guild (for whom Mumia serves as Vice President) who has set up an online petition, are calling for his immediate transfer to general population, so that among other things, he will be able to touch his family for this first time in about 30 years.
ACTION ALERT: Transfer Mumia Abu-Jamal to General Population! (tags)
Last month, following the Philadelphia DA's decision to not hold a new sentencing hearing, Mumia Abu-Jamal was transferred to SCI Mahanoy, in Frackville, PA, where he as since been held in "Administrative Custody." His present conditions are actually worse than they were on death row at SCI Greene. Please join us in our call for Mumia to be immediately transferred into general population.
Brutally Isolating Detainees in Israeli Prisons (tags)
lawlessness
Amnesty International Launches Global Angola 3 Campaign (tags)
This week Amnesty International launched a global campaign calling for US authorities to end the solitary confinement of Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox, of the Angola 3. Amnesty is calling for people around the world to contact Governor Jindal.
War, Prisons, and Torture in the US & UK --An interview with Richard Haley (tags)
We launched "Stop Isolation" because the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is considering the appeals of four British citizens--Babar Ahmad, Syed Tahla Ahsan, Haroon Rashid Aswat, and Abu Hamza--against extradition to the US to face terrorism charges. The court's long-delayed judgment is expected in the next few months. It will be a landmark in the development of human rights law.
Obama Tortures Bradley Manning; Where are CCR & ACLU lawsuits? (tags)
Democrat Obama is now torturing whistleblower Bradley Manning by keeping him in solitary confinement 23 hours per day, with no news contacts and no pillow or sheets allowed so he is now on anti-depressants. Where are the CCR (Center for Constitutional Rights) & ACLU lawsuits?
New Film About The Angola 3 Showing Oct. 27 (tags)
"In The Land of the Free..." will be showing in Beverly Hills at 5:30 pm, on Wednesday, October 27 at the Laemmle Music Music Hall 3 Theatre, 9036 Wilshire Blvd.
A Christian Perspective on Prisons --An interview with Stan Moody (tags)
Only as the public becomes aware of the enormous cost of the revolving door of incarceration will they begin to pay attention to what is going on inside and how we might change the dynamic. Corrections has taken full advantage of this denial by essentially saying, “You cannot possibly understand what we are up against.” They have built incarceration into a growth industry that is sapping our national strength and shredding our decency.
The Angola Three: 38 Years in Prison Hell (tags)
focusing on America's gulag
Human target: Petition to free Atty R Fine kidnapped-tortured in LA (tags)
A petition has been created to free Richard Fine, gentleman attorney with distinguished career of many examples of success over forty years, a kidnapped, targeted individual (TI), Falsely Imprisoned Person (FIP) in hospital solitary "coercive confinement."
CHARGES AGAINST LUTALO DROPPED! (tags)
Ojore Nuru Lutalo Won't Be Charged In Train Threat Arrest
The Mark of Cain: God and Man at Angola Prison (tags)
This article by James Ridgeway is featured at a brand new website focusing on the issue of solitary confinement in prisons. The Solitary Watch News site (http://www.solitarywatch.wordpress.com) is part of an emerging project called Solitary Watch, an innovative public web site aimed at bringing this issue out of the shadows and into the light of the public square.
Southern Injustice: Herman Wallace of the Angola 3 (tags)
Convicted of murder in a deeply flawed trial, Herman Wallace has spent nearly 37 years in solitary confinement. Will new evidence finally lead to his release?
Confronting Human Rights Abuses in US Prisons --an interview with Bret Grote of HRC/Fed Up (tags)
Bret Grote is an investigator and organizer with Human Rights Coalition/Fed Up!, a prisoner rights/prison abolitionist organization based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. HRC/Fed Up! is documenting human rights abuses in Pennsylvania prisons, and using this documentation to fight back. For more information: http://www.thomasmertoncenter.org/fedup/
The Angola Three: Torture in Our Own Backyard (in Spanish and English) (tags)
They were framed for murder after organizing a Black Panther Party prison chapter at the infamous Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. Together, Herman Wallace, Robert King, and Albert Woodfox have spent more than 100 years in solitary confinement.
aWearness Call to Action--Support the Angola 3 (tags)
host a solidarity birthday party for Albert Woodfox of the Angola 3 on Feb. 19th. Enter our cake contest. www.angola3action.org
Youngest ever British person visits longest serving men in solitary at Angola Prison. (tags)
An 11 year old from London has become the youngest ever British person to visit two prisoners in Louisiana State Prison, who are the longest serving inmates in solitary confinement. Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox have spent over 35 years held in 6ft x 9ft cells for crimes even a federal judge has overturned.
MY EXPERIENCE OF IMPRISONMENT AND TORTURE (tags)
I have been informed that the International Action Committee Stuttgart, an organization in which Turkish, Palestinian and German people work together, is holding this forum to commemorate Political Prisoners Day. Thus, I have been invited to speak on my experience of imprisonment and torture in the Philippines, together with two other former political prisoners who shall speak about their own experiences in Turkey-Kurdistan and Palestine. I thank the organizers for inviting me. And I wish to express my warmest greetings of solidarity to all those who are present and to all the people in organizations that are represented here. I have strongly wished to be with you tonight. But unfortunately, the Dutch authorities do not issue travel papers to me for attending this forum. We have to resort therefore to the audio-visual techniques that are available to us. As instructed by the organizers, particularly by Ms. Elsbeth Sureau, I intend to present to you the following: 1. a summary of my imprisonment and torture, 2. the reasons for imprisonment and the political situation then obtaining in my country, 3. the protest and resistance within and outside prison, and 4. the perspectives. I shall use 15 minutes to speak and let the German translation run for another 15 minutes. I shall answer your questions in the open forum.
2 Filipino military rebel officers ‘mentally’ tortured, wives claim (tags)
The wives of two Filipino military rebel junior officers have claimed their husbands are being “mentally tortured” by the Army since their capture six months ago. Philippine Army 1st Lt. Sonny Sarmiento and 2nd Lt. Aldrin Baldonado have been kept in “bartolina” (solitary confinement) at the maximum-security compound of the Intelligence Security Group (ISG) at Fort Bonifacio since July 27, their wives said. They said the two officers were not being adequately fed, and deprived of reading materials and personal grooming items like combs.
URGENT UPDATE: Prison Bureau Moves Leonard Peltier Twice in Six Weeks (tags)
Prison Bureau harasses Peltier with two prison transfers and solitary confinement. Your letters, faxes, phone calls requested and urgently needed to protect his health and well being.
America: No fireworks bright enough to illuminate the shame of your history of injustice (tags)
As Americans celebrate their myth of freedom and justice for all, Leonard Peltier is moved without warning or notification to Terre Haute, Indiana, USP and is held in solitary confinement at least through the long holiday weekend.
Leonard Peltier Moved to Indiana & Solitary Confinement (tags)
Political Prisoner Leonard Peltier was moved to Terre Haute, Indiana on 6/30/05 and is in solitary confinement. He was framed on false murder charges, has sat in prison for some 30 years, and is now a frail 60 year old man. His lawyers, family and friends were not notified of this move. This is another "rendition" or kidnapping perpetrated by Nazi USA.
UCLA Student Arrested at Scchool of Americas For Non-Violent Civil Disobedience (tags)
Description of arrest at Fort Benning