3 February 2012-Mumia Out of Solitary
On January 27, class-war prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal was finally released from solitary confinement into the general prison population at SCI Mahanoy in Frackville, Pennsylvania. In the last issue of WV, we published a letter by the Partisan Defense Committee protesting that prison authorities had vindictively kept Mumia in solitary under onerous special restrictions following the decision by the Philadelphia district attorney to not seek a new death sentence. In a message thanking those who signed petitions on his behalf—some 5,500 people, according to freemumia.com—or wrote statements of support, Mumia noted that “this is only part one” in the struggle for freedom. Free Mumia Abu-Jamal!
* * *
(reprinted from Workers Vanguard No. 995, 3 February 2012)
Workers Vanguard is the newspaper of the Spartacist League with which the Partisan Defense Committee is affiliated.
***************
Prison Radio • PO 60x411074, San Francisco, CA 94141 • www.prisonradio.org • info@prisonradio.org
From The Desk of Noelle Hanrahan
January 26, 2012
Dear Friend,
Mumia Abu-Jamal's death sentence is gone! Your solidarity made this happen. Finally and irrevocably, Pennsylvania Governor Corbett and company cannot legally execute Mumia.
The steps we must now take will be some of the hardest of this long and difficult struggle. For thirty years Mumia was held in solitary on death row, under a sentence of death.
His conditions have been arduous, obscene, and Kafkaesque. Although hard to believe, his conditions are now far worse.
DEATH SENTENCE VACATED — ISOLATION INTENSIFIED
The state realizes it is losing the struggle. Many people the world over are fighting for Mumia's freedom. More and more people are becoming aware of the state's suppression of —evidence and prosecutorial misconduct. Marty—-are mobilizing. In their desperation the state is trying to silence Mumia and silence us.
SHUT DOWN TORTURE UNITS
In December Mumia was removed from death row at SCI Greene and thrown into solitary confinement, "the hole," deep inside SCI Mahanoy.
Conditions are draconian, dehumanizing, and brutal. One hundred Mahanoy inmates are being held in RHU (Restricted Housing Units) and long term solitary confinement, isolated for 23 to 24 hours every day. Glaring lights remain on around the clock. With the exception of two brief phone calls, one to his wife, Mumia has been denied phone access for over a month. In his first week at Mahanoy he wrote on bits of paper with a rubber flex pen. This week he has a few more sheets and four books. He has no access to news reports. He does not have adequate food. When Mumia leaves his barren cell he is chained in wrist irons to belt around his waist.
He is strip-searched before and after being led to a "dog pen" for solitary exercise for one hour each day. During the most recent visit, behind Plexiglas, he was chained hands to a leather belt around his waist.
"Mumia may be in solitary, but he is not alone. The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections holds approximately 2,500 people in solitary confinement on any given day, many of them for years at a time."
-Human Rights Coalition
Make no mistake. These conditions are clearly designed torture.
MUMIA REMAINS ON THE AIR
"Prison and government officials are trying to censor and silence Mumia Abu-Jamal I stand as one of many Americans who believe that there is tremendous value in his voice being heard. I and others will fight to make sure that both his voice and his body are free."
-Ron Kovic
In spite of state censorship and state-sponsored torture, Prison Radio continues to bring you Mumia's essays. We have launched a new series featuring notable Mumia supporters who have stepped up to give voice to his censored words. Marc Lamont Hill recently recorded Mumia's essay
"The Prison," and Ron Kovic (author of Born on the Fourth of July) recorded "Toy Soldiers," which Mumia wrote on a scrap of paper in the hole at Mahanoy. Visit prisonradio. org to hear these new commentaries.
TOY SOLDIERS, Written December 17, 2011
For Mumia Abu-Jamal, I am Ron Kovic author of Born on the Fourth of July.
According to recent news accounts, shattered and shredded body parts and remains of U.S. servicemen were found in a landfill. Despite political spins, this sobering image is a telling, true-life metaphor for what those In power really think of soldiers, many of whom are but boys and girls freshly loosed from High School.
In recent years, politicians, especially when on TV or radio talk shows, are apt to say, when addressing a vet, "I thank you for your service." In truth, this is robot-talk, kind of like when a parrot is trained to say, "Hello!", and about as meaningful.
The American poet, e.e. cummings once said, "A politician is an arse upon which everyone has sat, except a man." John Africa said, "A politician will tell you he wasn't born of a woman, if it'll get you to vote for him."
In these passing years, since g/n, wars have been fought that h-ave devastated countries, economies, and world peace. Untold thousands have died, many for nothing more, nor less, than American paranoia. Thousands of U.S. soldiers have died defending American lies.
And tens of thousands have returned, bodies, minds, souls shattered by political calculations driven by arrogance, greed and sheer stupidity. Thousands of marriages have ended in divorce because of forced years apart, and families have been broken asunder because some greasy politician wanted to play 'War-President' (or Senator, or Representative).
In a real sense, military body parts tossed into landfills as trash is more than metaphor. It is truth.
CALL TO ACTION
We ask you to join us by raising your voice against the degrading treatment that Mumia Abu-Jamal is suffering at Mahanoy. As we take this critical step for justice, we know that we do so on behalf of all of our brothers and sisters in prison throughout the United States.
We know that this is part of the far-reaching, life-affirming commitment to freedom.
Demand that the RHUs are shut down. Demand that Mumia Abu-Jamal be immediately moved to General Population, with access to food, contact visits, and the outside world. The prison administration blithely states that "paperwork from the court" and "classification issues" and "standard operating procedure" and Mumia's "hair length" prevent his transfer to General Population. This disinformation is transparent. Please visit Human Rights Coalition, www.hrcoalttion.org, and the investigative news site Solitary Watch, www.solitarywatch.com, to learn more.
Bring Mumia Home!
If you receive this and Mumia has been moved out of solitary to General Population already, please still call and protest all solitary confinement. The next step after ending solitary is freedom. As Bret Grote says at the Human Rights Coalition:
"There is no dream too big and no action too small. Let's keep at it till the walls crumble."
We are asking you to stand with us as we strengthen our work and solidarity in 2012. We need your assistance now more than ever.
We ask you to call, write, organize, and give. Every gift is crucial, but please consider making a donation of $250 dollars, which would help produce a new essay, so we can continue being a lifeline for Mumia and other political prisoners.
Toward Justice and Freedom,
Noelle Hanrahan
Prison Radio/Redwood Justice Fund
PS: Give $25 and receive Mumia's brand new pamphlet, Message to the Movement, from the Open Media Series. $100 receive Classroom and the Cell, by Mumia and Mark Lamont Hill, Third World Press. $1,000 receive the complete Mumia Abu-Jamal library, including any new title sent upon release.
P.P.S. Save the dates! Critical Hearing in Lynne Stewart's Case—challenging her conviction and draconian sentence often years! Lynne Stewart, 72, a respected human rights attorney and political prisoner, February 29,2012, at the Federal Court Building, 500 Pearl Street in New York City. Gather on February 28th at Tom Paine Park (next to the court) for an all-night vigil. Come with your drums, your sleeping bags, and banners. Support Lynne, Leonard Peltier, Mumia, Bradley Manning, and all of those who struggle for justice, www.lynnestewart.org
Also save this date—April 24th. A large scale "Occupy for Mumia and End Mass Incarceration" Free Mumia demonstration at the Department of Justice in Washington D.C.
No comments:
Post a Comment