Emergency Call! Join Us in Stopping Torture in U.S. Prisons!

Tens of thousands of people imprisoned in the U.S. are being subjected to torturous, inhumane conditions. Many are: Held in long term solitary confinement; locked in tiny, windowless, sometimes sound proof, cells; cut off from fresh air and sunlight for 22-24 hours every day and given small portions of food that lacks basic nutritional requirements. Denied human contact and violently taken from their cells for petty violations. Put in solitary arbitrarily, often because of accusations of being members of prison gangs based on dubious evidence, and have no way to challenge the decisions of prison authorities to place them in solitary. Many are forced to endure these conditions for months, years and even decades! Mental anguish and trauma often result from being confined under these conditions. Locking people down like this amounts to trying to strip them of their humanity. These conditions fit the international definition of torture! This is unjust, illegitimate and profoundly immoral. WE MUST JOIN IN AN EFFORT TO STOP IT, NOW! People imprisoned at Pelican Bay State Prison in California have called for a Nationwide Hunger Strike to begin on July 8, 2013. They have also issued a call for unity among people from different racial groups, inside and outside the prisons. People who are locked down in segregation units of this society's prisons, condemned as the "worst of the worst," are standing up against injustice, asserting their humanity in the process. We must have the humanity to hear their call, and answer it with powerful support! A nationwide and worldwide struggle needs to be launched NOW to bring an end to this widespread torture before those in the prisons are forced to take the desperate step of going on hunger strikes and putting their lives on the line! To the Government: We Demand an Immediate End to the Torture and Inhumanity of Prison House America—Immediately Disband All Torture Chambers. Meet the demands of those you have locked down in your prisons! To People in this Country and Around the World: We Cannot Accept, and We Should Not Tolerate This Torture. Join the Struggle to End Torture in Prisons Now! To Those Standing Up in Resistance Inside the Prisons: WE SUPPORT YOUR CALL FOR UNITY IN THIS FIGHT, AND WE WILL HAVE YOUR BACKS! June 21, 22 and 23 Will Be Days of Solidarity With the Struggle to End Prison Torture! There will be protests, cultural events, Evenings of Conscience, sermons in religious services, saturation of social media—all aimed at laying bare the ugly reality of wide spread torture in U.S. prisons and challenging everyone to join in fighting to STOP it. Tim Baldauf-Lenschen, student activist, University of Maryland Fanya Baruti, Formerly Incarcerated and Convicted People's Movement Blasé Bonpane, Ph.D., Director OFFICE OF THE AMERICAS Rev. Richard Meri Ka Ra Byrd, KRST Unity Center of Afrakan Spiritual Science Susan Castagnetto, lecturer, Scripps College*, So. Cal. M.J. Christian, Los Angeles Marjorie Cohn, Professor, Thomas Jefferson School of Law and editor, "The United States and Torture: Interrogation, Incarceration, and Abuse" Solomon Comissiong, Executive Director of Your World News Antonio Corona, National Brown Beret Orangization Randy Credico, impressionist and social comedian, NYC Chuck D; Public Enemy* Noche Diaz; Revolution Club NYC and Stop Mass Incarceration Network Carl Dix, Revolutionary Communist Party, USA Ever Ivan Florez, A victim of CDC Glen Ford, Black Agenda Report Elder R. Freeman; All Of Us Or None*, Oakland, CA Nellie Hester-Bailey, Occupy Harlem Nicholas Heyward Sr., Father of Nicholas Heyward Jr., who was murdered by the NYPD in 1994 Hip, Student, UC Berkeley Robin D.G. Kelley, Professor of American History, UCLA Gregory Koger; Revolutionary Communist who was imprisoned as a youth and spent many years in solitary confinement Wayne Kramer, Jail Guitar Doors USA David Kunzle, Distinguished Professor, UCLA Emeritus B.M. Marcus, Community Director, Community Advocate and Development Organization, Brooklyn Cynthia McKinney; former Congresswoman & 2008 Green Party Presidential Candidate Marilyn McMahon, California Prison Focus Travis Morales, Stop Mass Incarceration Network Efia Nwangaza; Malcolm X Center for Self Determination, Greenville, SC Oscar Grant Foundation Annabelle Parker, Prison Watch Network* Joseph V.A. "Joe" Partansky, MBA, Former U.S. Army Mental Health Specialist and current advocate for persons with mental disabilities Aidge Patterson, artist and activist, New York Brian Pike, Universal Life Church rabbi Prison Watch Network Belinda Ramos, son serving life in a California State prison Mary Ratcliff, SF Bay View Rev. George. F. Regas, Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace Roman Rimer San Francisco Bay View, national Black newspaper Peter Schey, President, Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law Zadik Shapiro, attorney Dan Siegal, National Lawyers Guild* Temitope S Scott Trent, Guilford County, NC October 22nd Coalition Uncle Bobby, Oscar Grant Foundation/Committee Jim Vrettos, Professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice Robin Woerner, New Haven Clyde Young, Revolutionary Communist and former prisoner *For identifications only For more information and to join in this struggle contact the Stop Mass Incarceration Network at (347) 979-SMIN (7646) or at stopmassincarceration@gmail.com.