4StruggleMag is a classic prisoner rights zine put out by and for North American political prisoners and friends. One of the resources they link to is this great Legal Solidarity Handbook. They also put out alerts about the abusive conditions of confinement being experienced by prisoners due to their political views, as in the case of anti-imperial prisoner Jaan Laaman.
Jaan is currently buried in solitary confinement in a federal facility in Tucson, Arizona for expressing solidarity with women and his grief over the loss of a friend of all things.
Especially if you're in Arizona, please email the regional director, as noted below, and urge her not to punish Jaan further. The BOP needs to know there are people bearing witness to how they treat our elders - and really, those Communication Management Units need to be banned (that's where they'll dump me, too, no doubt, if they ever get the chance...).
Jaan is currently buried in solitary confinement in a federal facility in Tucson, Arizona for expressing solidarity with women and his grief over the loss of a friend of all things.
Especially if you're in Arizona, please email the regional director, as noted below, and urge her not to punish Jaan further. The BOP needs to know there are people bearing witness to how they treat our elders - and really, those Communication Management Units need to be banned (that's where they'll dump me, too, no doubt, if they ever get the chance...).
to support prisoners in Arizona and fight the police state:
----------from 4strugglemag-------
Take action now! Political prisoner Jaan Laaman still in segregation, threatened with transfer to CMU
June 26, 2017
Dear Friends,
As of today, Monday, June 26, 2017,
Jaan K. Laaman, long-time anti-imperialist political prisoner, is still
locked down in segregation (minimum of 23 hours locked down in a 6×9’
cell). Jaan has been in “segregation” for three months simply for
issuing two statements, a clear violation of free speech and human
rights. He is being threatened with transfer to a Communication
Management Unit (CMU) or Special Management Unit; punishments that are
not appropriate for a prisoner of Jaan’s age, and would be a violation
for practicing free speech.
After a prison hearing on May 4, 2017, Jaan was found to not have
violated prison regulations regarding “misuse of mail,” but was found to
have violated prison regulations concerning “misuse of the telephone,”
for speaking on the phone to a friend and conveying his support of the
“Day Without a Woman Strike” (International Women’s Day, March 8, 2017),
and his feelings about the death of his friend, Attorney Lynne Stewart.
Jaan was sanctioned by losing 10 days good time credit and by loss of
the telephone for 6 months (in addition to the loss of email access
which was imposed without a hearing one year ago). Jaan is currently
appealing this ruling. Meanwhile, Jaan is still in “segregation,” and
still being threatened with transfer to a CMU.
CMUs are prison units designed to isolate and segregate prisoners.
People locked up in the CMUs are completely banned from any physical
contact with visiting family members and friends, and other types of
communication are also severely limited, including interactions with
non-CMU prisoners and phone calls with friends and family members. For
more info see: https://ccrjustice.org/home/get-involved/tools-resources/fact-sheets-and-faqs/cmus-federal-prison-system-s-experiment
How you can support Jaan:
Write/call/email the Bureau of Prisons Regional Director and ask her not to transfer Jaan to a Communication Management Unit.
Please remind her that Jaan is an elder prisoner, and you are
concerned about his health in segregation and you would be concerned
about his safety if he is moved to a Communication Management Unit.
Mary M. Mitchell, Regional Director
BOP Regional Office
7338 Shoreline Dr
Stockton, CA 95219
Regional email: wxro/execassistant@bop.gov
Send a message through the Bureau of Prison (BOP) website here: https://www.bop.gov/inmates/concerns.jsp
– Select ‘USP Tucson’
– Send a message that includes his name and number: ‘Jaan Laaman #10372-016’
Please be polite but firm in your letters and send the responses you get to jaanlaaman@gmail.com
Write to Jaan and let him know he’s in our hearts and on our minds.
Jaan has no access to news and access to phone calls. It’s
important we send him some letters right now. Send him articles, so that
he gets some world news and messages of solidarity and support. Let the
jailers see that Jaan has support from the community and cannot just be
left in segregation or silenced.
Jaan Karl Laaman #10372-016
USP Tucson
P.O. Box 24550
Tucson, AZ 85734
Background Information
Jaan is imprisoned at United States
Penitentiary (USP) Tucson in Arizona, and is one of the last two
remaining Ohio-7 political prisoners still locked up. The Ohio-7 were
convicted in 1986 of direct actions to protest U.S. support for the
white-supremacist apartheid regime in South Africa, illegal U.S. attacks
on Nicaragua, and repression against advocates for Puerto Rican
self-determination.
Jaan was placed into solitary confinement because of two short messages: one in support of the “Day Without a Woman Strike” (International Women’s Day, March 8, 2017) which was printed in the NYC Anarchist Black Cross (ABC) update, and his “Farewell Thoughts to My Friend, Lynne Stewart”
which was broadcast on Prison Radio. Lynne Stewart, revolutionary
peoples’ lawyer passed away on March 8, 2017. When the NYC ABC magazine
arrived by mail to the prison, Jaan was promptly placed in solitary
confinement. Prison officials charged Jaan with “threatening the
security of the prison” because of these First Amendment protected
statements.
No one should be punished for exercising
their First Amendment Rights. The United States District Court in
Pennsylvania recently ruled in a case involving efforts to censure Mumia
Abu-Jamal: “A past criminal
offense does not extinguish a person’s constitutional right to free
expression. The First Amendment does not disappear at the prison gate.”
Pattern of Increasing Repression
Being placed in segregation is the
latest act of repression by the prison administration, following
increasing actions against Jaan. Over a year ago, the prison shut down Jaan’s
access to email, and they have been censoring him in various ways since
then, including withholding his mail and limiting access to his lawyer.
Jaan was placed in segregation on his birthday and has been there ever since. There
is a growing consensus as to the psychological harm caused by solitary
confinement. In 2011 the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture
concluded that solitary confinement for more than 15 days constitutes
torture and can cause irreversible harmful psychological effects.
Jaan previously wrote about the increasing censorship he has been facing, here. Jaan
has been writing reflections about global events since he was first
captured in 1984, so this level of censorship is certainly something new
and different.
This update was written by friends of Jaan Laaman.
Facebook: Free Jaan Laaman
Twitter: @4StruggleMag