International Day of Solidarity Prison Hunger Strikers

Monday, August 1, 2011 was an international day of solidarity with prisoner hunger strikers. People gathered in SF to honor the resistance and courage of the hunger strikers, their families, and to send our pledges of support for all their demands. On July 1, prisoners at Pelican Bay State Prison began a hunger strike. Soon, 6,600 prisoners in 13 other California prisons joined the strike, and a few still remain on a hunger protest. The strikers have exposed conditions of torture and isolation that exist in all locked-down solitary confinements, called the SHU (Security Housing Unit). Men are confined in a small chamber all day long with no sunlight, no human contact, unsanitary conditions, inadequate food and clothing. Some of the prisoners have been in this torture chamber for 20, 30 years. In California 14,500 prisoners are kept in this inhumane existence

Relatives at the rally told the plight of strikers. Irma has two sons; one has lost 25 pounds from July1-July 19.Maria has two children in Pelican Bay one has lost 20 pounds, the other 18 pounds. She wrote letters to her children in their native language, Spanish, but the letters were not given to them; supposedly no official could translate to see the letters' contents. Marie told us her brother, one of the original hunger striker, lost 38 pounds from June 30 through July 20. Irma, with two sons in Pelican Bay, called on us to help organize and put an end to SHU! The bravery of striking prisoners must be matched by us the outside to keep the pressure until all their demand are met.

The Prisoners’ Five Core Demands:

*Eliminate group punishments.
*Abolish the debriefing policy and modify active
and inactive gang status criteria.
*Comply with the recommendations of the
U.S. Commission on Safety and Abuse in Prisons on an ending long-term solitary confinement.
*Provide adequate, wholesome and nutritious food.
*Expand and provide constructive programs and privileges for indefinite SHU inmates.

Negotiate and honor prisoners demands!
Contact Secretary Matthew Cate, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, 1515 S Street, Sacramento 95814, (916) 323-6001
Gov. Jerry Brown, State Capitol, Suite 1173, Sacramento, CA 95814, (916) 445-2841
Attend a hearing in Sacramento, August 23