By Debra Sweet
For two weeks now, prisoners in California have been on hunger strike, protesting inhumane conditions there and demanding some very minimal changes to their living conditions.
A prison spokesperson told the San Francisco Chronicle that they will not force-feed inmates, but will them die. Some are already in renal failure.
A prisoner at the Pelican Bay "Special Housing Unit" where the most intense conditions of torture are placed upon prisoners in solitary confinement, wrote in a letter sent Friday, July 8:
The conditions at Pelican Bay may shock the public, the idea that American citizens endure torture daily, yearly and for decades may be a surprise to many, or the fact that many of the conditions for prisoners being held in Guantanimo Bay are really better than Shu prisoners in Pelican Bay is hard to swallow but its true. Shu prisoners here endure 22 ½ hours locked in their cell every day. Their cell is a windowless concrete tomb that includes a slab of cement for a mattress and a toilet and sink. Shu prisoners are held in solitary confinement with no cellmate and for some this solitary has gone on for decades. Its important to note that the United Nations has said that solitary supermax is torture as this is known to create a psychological disorder in what has come to be called ‘Shu syndrome’! The studies that have been done concerning the supermax has shown that after 60 days of supermax people begin to experience a wide range of symptoms from panic attacks to psychosis and even emotional breakdown.
The following is from a statement given by Clyde Young at a press conference in Los Angeles this week:
The following core demands are being circulated in a "final notice from prisoners on D-Corridor" at Pelican Bay: 1) End "group punishment" where an individual prisoner breaks a rule and prison officials punish a whole group of prisoners of the same race. 2) Abolish "debriefing" and modify active/inactive gang status criteria. False and/or highly questionable "evidence" is used to accuse prisoners of being active/inactive members of prison gangs who are then sent to the SHU where they are subjected to long-term isolation and torturous conditions. One of the only ways these prisoners can get out the SHU is if they "debrief"…that is, give prison officials information on gang activity. 3) Comply with recommendations from a 2006 U.S. commission to "make segregation a last resort" and "end conditions of isolation." 4) Provide Adequate Food. Prisoners report unsanitary conditions and small quantities of food. They want adequate food, wholesome nutritional meals including special diet meals and an end to the use of food as a way to punish prisoners in the SHU. 5) Expand and provide constructive programs and privileges for indefinite SHU inmates…including the opportunity to "engage in self-help treatment, education, religious and other productive activities…" which are routinely denied. Demands include one phone call per week, more visiting time, permission to have wall calendars, sweat suits and watch caps (warm clothing is often denied even though cells and the exercise cage can be bitterly cold.
Kevin Gosztola reported on the background of the issue earlier in the week in: Pelican Bay Hunger Strike Shines Light on True Character of U.S. Prison System.
No to Torture from Pelican Bay to Guantanamo Bay: No human being deserves to be tortured – all people deserve humane treatment. Curt Wechsler of the World Can’t Wait Steering Committe who has been in the protests in California said, "We live in a system where hunger strikes are a last resort, whether in the US or Guantanamo. The desperation of that, plus human warehousing of people not useful to keeping that system running, identifying them as less-than-human, is wrong and we need to speak out against it."
World Can’t Wait activists in San Francisco have joined daily protests all week long. I encourage you to find a way to speak out and protest today, whether in the streets, or via letters to the editor, calls to radio shows, or to CA prison officials. For more on the hunger strike, see the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition.
Listen Friday July 15 10 am Pacific / 1pm EST to the Michael Slate show on KPFK to hear Dolores Canales, the mother of a prisoner in the Pelican Bay Security Housing Unit (SHU), where a prisoner hunger strike is entering its third week.
San Francisco: Rally every day this week