LOVE to the North American Prison Strike! AUG 21, 2018

 Rock on, friends - 

All Power to the People this summer! 

Resistance is not futile!

PRINT and send this FLYER  INSIDE!

 More info from the

The Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee.

July 19, 2018

Final Straw Podcast - Interview with Prison Strike Organizers Amani Sawari and Brooke

Resource Types:  

Podcast

The Final Straw interviews two outside organizers, Amani Sawari and Brooke of IWOC about the upcoming national prisoner strike starting on August 21st and continuing through September 9^th, 2018.

Prison Strike 2018

#prisonstrike

#AUGUST21

      2018

Rebels incarcerated in prisons across the nation declare a nationwide strike in response to the riot in Lee Correctional Institution, a maximum security prison in South Carolina. Seven comrades lost their lives when prison officials turned their backs on a riot they provoked. We are demanding humane living conditions, access to rehabilitation, sentencing reform and the end of modern day slavery.

• Original Press Release by Jailhouse Lawyers Speak
• IWOC Endorsement
• Prison Strike Resources

Learn more at http://sawarimi.org/national-prison-strike

Demands

    Immediate improvements to the conditions of prisons and prison policies that recognize the humanity of imprisoned men and women.
    An immediate end to prison slavery. All persons imprisoned in any place of detention under United States jurisdiction must be paid the prevailing wage in their state or territory for their labor.
    The Prison Litigation Reform Act must be rescinded, allowing imprisoned humans a proper channel to address grievances and violations of their rights.
    The Truth in Sentencing Act and the Sentencing Reform Act must be rescinded so that imprisoned humans have a possibility of rehabilitation and parole. No human
    shall be sentenced to Death by Incarceration or serve any sentence without the possibility of parole.
    An immediate end to the racial overcharging, over-sentencing, and parole denials of Black and brown humans. Black humans shall no longer be denied parole because the victim of the crime was white, which is a particular problem in southern states.
    An immediate end to racist gang enhancement laws targeting Black and brown humans.
    No imprisoned human shall be denied access to rehabilitation programs at their place of detention because of their label as a violent offender.
    State prisons must be funded specifically to offer more rehabilitation services.
    Pell grants must be reinstated in all US states and territories.
    The voting rights of all confined citizens serving prison sentences, pretrial detainees, and so-called “ex-felons” must be counted. Representation is demanded. All voices count.

Endorsers

• Jailhouse Lawyers Speak
• Millions for Prisoners
• Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee
• The People's Consortium

See  full list of endorsers.

Add your organization's name to the list by emailing prisonstrikemedia@gmail.com
Support the Strike

    Educate yourself and others about the strike demands    

• • Listen to interview with Jailhouse Lawyers Speak organizers
  • Follow #August21 and #prisonstrike on social media
• Endorse the strike by emailing your organization's statement to prisonstrikemedia@gmail.com
• Spread word of the strike both inside and outside - print out stickers, flyers and posters
•  Read the Prison Strike zine

    Organize a phone tree in preparation for phone zaps
    Amplify incarcerated voices via social media using the #August21 and #prisonstrike hashtags
    Join or organize a solidarity demo

   and check this out:

Solid Black Fist : Official National Prison Strike Newsletter - Issue 1

Resource Types: Allied Literature, Publication

First issue of the 2018 national prison strike newsletter.

July 20, 2018

GO TO:   

The Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee
for more...

    

 

USP-Tucson: Supporting Women's Rights is not Terroristic.

 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...).
 

to support prisoners in Arizona and fight the police state:

 tucson anarchist black cross     phoenix anarchist black cross

----------from 4strugglemag-------

Take action now! Political prisoner Jaan Laaman still in segregation, threatened with transfer to CMU

June 26, 2017

by 4struggle

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.  

jaanlaaman@gmail.com

Facebook: Free Jaan Laaman

Twitter: @4StruggleMag