Here's the latest compilation of every other week updates. We've mailed
hard copies to Sundiata Acoli, Joe-Joe Bowen, David Gilbert, Marie Mason,
Eric McDavid, Daniel McGowan, Jalil Muntaqim and Sekou Odinga. Please
download and mail the current edition to prisoners with whom you
correspond and share links with those who might be interested in doing the
same:
Here is the
political prisoner birthday poster for September. As always, please post
this poster publicly and/or use it to start a card writing night of
your own.
There are a lot of updates this month.
Firstly, there is a call for a day of action against mass
incarceration on September 21st on the anniversary of the execution of
Troy Davis. Find out more info here.
Also coming up, on September 12th, immediately before the one-year anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, the crimethinc. ex-workers collective will meet Chris Hedges
in New York City for a public debate about diversity of tactics. This
debate will be free and open to the public, and livestreamed for those
who can’t attend. More info and a link to the livestream can be found here.
New evidence
points to the “Abuse of State Power” and revengeful retaliation by the
Greensboro Police in the RICO case against Latin King Jorge Cornell and
other NC Latin Kings. Their trial has been set for October 15th. Jorge
Cornell’s birthday is this month, so be sure to send him some words of
encouragement.
It certainly hurts to have to relay the news that once again Sundiata Acoli has
been denied parole. His case has been referred to a panel of three
people to determine the amount of time he will have to serve before
becoming eligible for another hearing. Sundiata is now 74 years old and
has served nearly 40 of those years in federal prison. Please take a
moment to write him a card or letter
.
(Sundiata Acoli) Clark Squire #39794-066
FCI Cumberland
Post Office Box 1000
Cumberland, Maryland 21501-1000
On August 4th it was announced that prisoners at Central in Raleigh
voted to end their hunger strike, started on July 16th in protest of
conditions on Unit 1. We have not heard from prisoners at Bertie or
Scotland. Small groups of prisoners at Foothills CI and Tabor CI have
also said they have joined the protest. More info here. Information on reprisals against alleged organizers can be found here.
A prisoner at Polk CI in Butner, NC recently published a new account of life in solitary (specifically, HCON). Titled Voices from the Tombs of H-CON, it functions as an expose of the torturous conditions of solitary confinement in America. You can view the text in full here, or on our resources page.
The latest edition of Earth First! Newsletter is out. This issue
includes recent dispatches from the eco-wars, an updated directory of
environmental action groups, prisoner support listing, events calendar,
and a clever new tip for ol’ Ned Ludd. This is a great resource for your
distro table or infoshop. You can find a photo-copyable pdf of it here.
Lastly, here
is a link to the latest Political Prisoner/Prisoner Of War every-other
week update by the NYC-Anarchist Black Cross. There are lots of good
updates on many political prisoners.
Here's the latest compilation of every other week updates. We've mailed
hard copies to Sundiata Acoli, Joe-Joe Bowen, David Gilbert, Marie Mason,
Eric McDavid, Daniel McGowan, Jalil Muntaqim and Sekou Odinga. Please feel
free to share this link: http://nycabc.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/updates-17-jul-2012.pdf
NYC ABC
--
NYC ABC
Post Office Box 110034
Brooklyn, New York 11211
Report on Black People Executed without Trial by Police,
Security Guards and Self-Appointed Law Enforcers January 1 – June 30,
2012.
This report was produced for the “No More Trayvon Martins
Campaign”, demanding a National Plan of Action for Racial Justice. This
is the 2nd Major report of the Campaign.
A human rights crisis confronts Black people in the United States.
Since January 1, 2012, police and a much smaller number of security
guards and self-appointed vigilantes have murdered at least 110 Black
women and men. These killings are definitely not accidental or random
acts of violence or the work of rogue cops. As we noted in our April 6th, 2012 “Trayvon Martin is All of US!” Report (see http://mxgm.org/trayvon-martin-is-all-of-us/),
the use of deadly force against Black people is standard practice in
the United States, and woven into to the very fabric of the society.
The corporate media have given very little attention to these
extrajudicial killings. We call them “extrajudicial” because they happen
without trial or any due process, against all international law and
human rights conventions. Those few mainstream media outlets that
mention the epidemic of killings have been are unwilling to acknowledge
that the killings are systemic – meaning they are embedded in
institutional racism and national oppression. On the contrary, nearly
all of the mainstream media join in a chorus that sings the praises of
the police and read from the same script that denounces the alleged
“thuggery” of the deceased. Sadly, too many people believe the police
version of events and the media’s “blame-the-victim” narratives that
justify and support these extrajudicial killings.
However, we have studied each of the reports of these deaths —
including false, implausible and inconsistent claims by police and
witness reports that contradict police reports. From this study and many
peoples’ experience, we must reject the corporate media’s
rationalization for the horrible fact that in the first six months of
this year, one Black person every 40 hours was executed. This wanton
disregard for Black life resulted in the killing of 13 year-old
children, fathers taking care of their kids, women driving the wrong
cars, as well as people with mental health and drug problems.
This report documents how people of African descent remain “without
sanctuary” throughout the United States. Nowhere is a Black woman or man
safe from racial profiling, invasive policing, constant surveillance,
and overriding suspicion. All Black people – regardless of education,
class, occupation, behavior or dress – are subject to the whims of the
police whose institutionalized racist policies and procedures require
them to arbitrarily stop, frisk, arrest, brutalize and even execute
Black people.
Invasive policing is only one aspect of the U.S. states comprehensive
containment strategies to exploit Black people and to smother
resistance. To contain the upsurge of the Black liberation movement of
the 1960’s and 70’s and protect the system of white supremacy the
institutional forces of racism have worked through governments at every
level to destabilize the Black community via community divestment,
massive employment discrimination, outsourcing, gentrification and other
forms of economic dislocation. In addition, schools, housing,
healthcare, other social services and transportation in Black
communities have been denied equitable provision and distribution of
public goods and resources.
The U.S. state maintains and reinforces these economic injustices
with the militarized occupation of Black communities by the police and a
web of racist legislation like the “war on drugs”, discriminatory
polices like “three strikes” and “mandatory minimum” sentencing. The
result is a social system that mandates the prison warehousing of
millions of Black people and extrajudicial killings where the killers
act with impunity and more often than not are rewarded and promoted for
murder. The oppression and police occupation of Black communities
parallels the brutalization, denial of human rights and killings being
committed by the Israeli occupying forces in Palestine, and the
persecution of Afrodescendants in Columbia and the Indigenous peoples of
Brazil over the past several years. Nothing short of the structural
integrity and survival of the Black community is at stake when we
consider the historic record.
For those who doubted the framing of the “Trayvon Martin is All of Us!” Report, this 6th
month update proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the
institutionalized violence of white supremacy is not only alive and
well, but is, in fact, intensifying. To complete the picture, we must
take into account the extrajudicial killings and other repressive
policies directed at other targeted peoples and communities such as
Indigenous peoples, Latinos, Arabs, Muslims, and immigrants. These, in
conjunction with the oppression of Black people, demonstrate that the
U.S. government remains committed to maintaining the system of white
supremacy created by the aggressive and illegal European
settler-colonies that first established the national-state project.
This crisis can only be stopped through decisive action. First, the
Black community must organize its own self-defense. Second, we must
build a broad, mass movement capable of forcing the government to enact
transformative legislation based on our demands. The fundamental
transformative demand must be for a National Plan of Action for Racial Justice to
eliminate institutional racism and advance the struggle for
self-determination. The Black community itself will determine the
specific contents of The Plan, drawing from the foundation of
CERD (the Convention to Eliminate all forms of Racial Discrimination)
and the DDPA (Durban Declaration and Programme of Action).
We call on everyone who believes that decisive action must be taken
by Black and other oppressed peoples to confront and defeat national
oppression and white supremacy to join us in developing an independent,
mass movement for human rights that builds power in our communities and
will have the capacity to force the Federal authorities to implement a
comprehensive National Plan of Action for Racial Justice. You can join
us immediately by helping us secure 1 million signatures to our petition
(see http://mxgm.org/trayvon-martin-is-all-of-us/),
organizing Copwatch and People’s Self-Defense campaigns, fighting for
elected Police Control Boards, the demilitarization of our communities,
and the reinvestment of the military and security budget into community
reinvestment and social programs amongst other suggestions provided in
our “Local Struggles” paper (see http://mxgm.org/no-more-trayvons-campaign/).
We also encourage communities to organize their own grassroots crisis
intervention, domestic violence prevention/control and mediation teams
so families in crisis do not become so desperate for help that they
compound their problems by calling 9-1-1 and inviting the police into
their homes.
We also call all organizations and individuals who agree with the
demand and framework for a National Plan of Action for Racial Justice to
help us build the National Alliance for Racial Justice and Human Rights
(NARJHR) as a structure that will help us develop and implement a
comprehensive national plan that centers oppressed peoples’ right to
self-determination and the full realization of our human rights.
For more information about the Report or any of these action proposals, contact Kali Akuno at kaliakuno@mxgm.org. FOOTNOTES 1 The figures for the number of Palestinians killed in 2011 can be found at http://www.ochaopt.org/poc.aspx?id=1010002. Figures for Afro-Colombians can be found at http://www.americasquarterly.org/node/2322/, http://www.afrocolombians.com/pdfs/PCNonFTA-April12.pdf and http://news.afrocolombians.com/news/?sectionid=8. Figures on Indigenous peoples killed in Brazil can be found at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/10/world/americas/in-brazil-violence-hits-tribes-in-scramble-for-land.html. 2 To read the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination see http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/cerd.htm. To read the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action see http://www.un.org/durbanreview2009/ddpa.shtml.
Highlights from the Report
110 Black People Executed without Trial by Police, Security
Guards and Self-Appointed Law Enforcers between January 1 – June 30,
2012
These executions primarily destroy Black communities’ future
and spirit by stealing the lives of our youth. Of the 110 lives taken:
13 or 12% were children under 18 years old.
20 or 18% were 18-21 years old, just entering adulthood.
45 or 41% were 22-31 years old.
17 or 15% were 32-41 years old.
9 or 8% were 42-51 years old.
4 or 4% were over 52 years.
2 or 2% were of undetermined age.
71 Per Cent of the Lives Lost Belonged to People from the Ages of 13 to 31.
These executions happen nationwide: from north to south; east to west; in rural towns and large metropolitan areas.
Like in the years of lynching, there is no geographic sanctuary. Yet
some cities—especially in the South– execute Black people without trial
in numbers disproportionate to the size of their Black populations. Here
are the cities with 2 or more executions.
States where Black People were killed by Police (January through June 2012)
US Cities - Extrajudicial Killings of Black People
U.S. City Name
Number Executed (Jan-June 2012)
Black Population (2010 Census)
Ratio of Deaths per Million Black People
New York City
9
2,228,145
4
Atlanta Metro (includes Clayton County)
9
399.505
23
Dallas
8
308,087
26
Chicago Metro (includes Calumet City & Dolton)
7
915,436
8
New Orleans
5
213,918
23
Jacksonville
4
252,421
16
Baltimore
4
403,998
10
Cleveland (includes Maple Heights)
3
227,451
13
Memphis
3
414,828
7
Tulsa
3
65,771
46
Saginaw
2
38,800
52
Miami
2
481,812
2
Birmingham
2
155,791
13
Dothan
2
21,286
94
Fayetteville
2
84,040
24
A significant proportion of the
110 were killed because they suffered from mental health problems or
were intoxicated and behaved in ways the police allegedly could not
control.
24 people or 22% might be alive today if community members trained
and committed to humane crisis intervention and mental health treatment
had been called rather than the police.
What is the relationship between “stop and frisk” policies and procedures and racial profiling and these deadly encounters?
This report documents how these encounters were initiated. Encounters
that began because the “suspect was engaged in suspicious behavior or
looked suspicious or was driving suspiciously” show how often racial
profiling leads to death.
43 (39%) of police accounts explicitly cite “suspicious behavior or
appearance” or traffic violations (“driving while Black”) as the reason
for their attempt to detain the person who they eventually killed.
20 (18%) deadly encounters began with calls to 9-1-1 to seek help in
resolving “domestic disturbances”. These included family members seeing
assistance in dealing with mentally troubled people.
11 (10%) people who had violated no law or had not been involved in any harmful behavior were killed.
That leaves only 36 people or 33% killed in the course of police investigating activity they define as “criminal”.
Most of the people executed were not armed.Here is the breakdown:
47 had no weapon at all at the time they were executed.
40 were alleged by police to have weapons (including a cane, toy gun
and bb gun) but this allegation is disputed by witnesses or later
investigation. Police are infamous for planting weapons or deciding that
a cell phone, wallet or other harmless object is a gun.
21 were likely armed
Police and other executioners
typically justify their murders by reporting that the “suspect” ran
away, pointed a gun or crashed into them with a car and therefore they
had to use deadly force to defend themselves.
In the first half of 2012, police alleged that 38 of the people they executed attempted to run away from them.
20 of the people who were murdered allegedly pointed guns at
officers and/or attempted to crash into them. Reports often do not
mention if the officers were wearing uniforms or if the “suspects had
any way of knowing their assailants were not civilians.
Regardless of how these encounters
begin, whether they involve activity that violates the laws of the
state or the laws of basic human decency, no one should be sentenced to
death without a trial.In most countries, even with a trial,
capital punishment is considered barbaric. So the use of deadly force is
always “excessive” (and extrajudicial by international human rights
standards) except in certain circumstances.
15 cases in this report or less
than 14%, if the facts reported are true, involve situations where the
“suspect” shot and wounded and/or killed the police and/or others while
the police were on the scene. Although it would have been
preferable to stop them with non-lethal force, the use of lethal force
in these circumstances can not be considered excessive. But in the
remaining 95 cases, killings were extrajudicial, that is, they used
lethal force with no legitimate justification and violated peoples’
basic human rights.
Cases of Extrajudicial Killings of Black People (January through June 2012)
On gender: In the first half of 2012, only 5 out of the 110 executed people were women.
Two were accused “car thieves”, two were “innocent bystanders” and one
was beaten and smothered by police because they could not calm her
emotional agitation. Please note: the most glaring way that women’s
oppression enters the picture is in the high number of deaths (18%) that
result from mothers, wives, lovers or other family members who call the
police because they are desperate for help with their troubled, often
frightening, kids and partners. Grassroots community crisis intervention
and mediation would lighten the burdens that single mothers and
survivors of domestic violence carry and also build towards more
community self-reliance. As one mother whose emotionally troubled son
said, “calling the police to calm a mentally ill child is like calling
an undertaker to deliver a baby.”
The “justice system” gives impunity to
murderers. The names of a few of the 110 people on this death roll have
become nationally-known rallying cries for justice: like Trayvon Martin
and Remarley Graham. Their murders have sparked massive mobilizations,
media commentary, calls for government intervention, lawsuits and
endless legal wrangling. However, after the initial announcements in
local news media, the lives of most of those who were executed are
forgotten. The standard procedure in most jurisdictions is for police
involved in fatal shootings to be given paid “desk-duty” while the
department conducts an investigation of itself. The press applauds their
fine records while it screams about the criminal records of the
deceased. Almost all killer cops are routinely exonerated and quickly
return to the street. Grieving families who invariably ask the modest
question, “why did he have to die?” are ignored. If there is some
demonstrated community outrage the case may be further investigated. The
legal system almost never charges these executioners and even if they
do, the killing continues. A number of families seek legal redress
through the civil courts and seek financial restitution. After years of
litigation a tiny minority may gain some solace from a financial
payment. And the executions continue.
37% of the Black people who were executed in the first half of 2012
seem to have been totally forgotten. A careful internet search could not
find their names after an initial flurry of news about their killings.
6 security guards and self-appointed law enforcers (including
Trayvon Martin’s killer and the Tulsa murderers) have been charged.
3 killer cops have been charged: one for vehicular homicide-DUI, two
for manslaughter (Remarley Graham’s killer and Christopher Brown’s
killer).
That is, in 95 cases of extrajudicial killings, the legal system has
only charged 9 people, less than 10%. The outcome of these charges is
still pending.
A note on the research process:
The data for this report was collected by meticulously combing the
internet during the last ten days of June 2012. In addition to searching
on “police-involved shootings”, “police killings of Black people”,
etc., we also went to the websites of the local press, blogs and police
departments in the 100 cities and towns with the largest Black
populations and followed wherever the links led. In the course of these
searches, we found the names of an additional 14 people killed before
March 31, who we hadn’t found during the research for the first
quarterly report. Those names appear here. There is, as far as we know,
no national database that tracks these killings. Wikipedia has posted a
very incomplete list and also detailed the other databases available.
See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States
This report covers the deaths of 110 Black people: 54 from January thru
March and 56 from April thru June, 2012. In other words, despite the
huge mobilizations after the Remarley Graham and Trayvon Martin murders,
the killing continued at an even faster pace. We do not believe the 110
deaths listed here are all the Black people killed by police and
security guards. There are no doubt more—especially in places that do
not have an active internet media presence. We found the names of an
additional 15 people killed by police whose race we could not confirm.
There were countless others who were in critical condition from police
shootings, but the press never reported on whether they survived. With
time, we estimate another 30 to 40 cases might emerge. For more
information on any given case, you can type “shooting of name, date,
place” in your search engine. For more information on this Report or to
contribute updated information, please contact arlene_eisen@sbcglobal.net.“The Report on Black People Executed without Trial by
Police, Security Guards and Self-Appointed Law Enforcers January 1 –
June 30, 2012”, was produced by Arlene Eisen and Kali Akuno for the
Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM). Special assistance was given by
Ajamu Baraka.
Here's the latest compilation of every other week updates. We've mailed
hard copies to Sundiata Acoli, Joe-Joe Bowen, David Gilbert, Marie Mason,
Eric McDavid, Daniel McGowan, Jalil Muntaqim and Sekou Odinga. Please feel
free to share this link: http://nycabc.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/updates-3-jul-2012.pdf
NYC ABC
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NYC ABC
Post Office Box 110034
Brooklyn, New York 11211
Here
is the political prisoner birthday poster for July. As always, please
post this poster publicly and/or use it to start a card writing night of
your own.
Firstly, please write Justin Solondz a letter. After being extradited
from China and convicted of Earth Liberation Front actions in the
United States, Green Scare target Justin Solondz has been transferred to
a prison in western Pennsylvania. This puts him much closer to his
parents than when he was imprisoned at FDC SeaTac. Please let Justin
know you’re thinking about him by sending a card or letter to:
The second anniversary of the international day of solidarity with
Marie Mason, Eric McDavid, and other longterm anarchist prisoners has
just passed. Read a report back on many of the inspiring protests here.
The Chapel Hill Prison Books Collective is proud to have just
published a new piece of prisoner’s writing on unity, truce efforts, and
political consciousness in US gangs. The zine, entitled What Better Time Than Now?, presents
a number of interesting topics like the forming of identity through
historical consciousness and revolt, the co-optation of such identity
through musical and artistic forms, and the role of street gangs in the
rebellions of the future.
Our lovable comrades of the Mysterious Rabbit Puppet Army are embarking on a month-long tour presenting their newest production, “Donny Quixote!” The show offers a scathing critique of “green” capitalism and technologya
a humorous adaptation of the story of Don Quixote. MRPA will offer two
other feature performances as well, alongside a wide range of literature
relating to the content of the shows. If you’re on the eascoast or in
the midwest you should definitely check them out.
Lastly, here
is a link to the Political Prisoner/Prisoner Of War every-other week
update by the NYC-Anarchist Black Cross. There are lots of good updates
on many political prisoners.
Here's the latest compilation of every other week updates. We've mailed
hard copies to Sundiata Acoli, Joe-Joe Bowen, David Gilbert, Marie Mason,
Eric McDavid, Daniel McGowan, Jalil Muntaqim and Sekou Odinga. Please feel
free to share this link:
Hey:
Here's the latest compilation of every other week updates. We've mailed
hard copies to Sundiata Acoli, Joe-Joe Bowen, David Gilbert, Marie Mason,
Eric McDavid, Daniel McGowan, Jalil Muntaqim and Sekou Odinga. Please feel
free to share this link:
Marie Mason has been involved in both environmental and labor struggles,
has edited many radical publications, and has been involved in water
rights, anti-infrastructure, anti-logging and anti- development projects
in the Midwest, organizing above ground and clandestinely for the past 30
years. She is a mother of two and companion to many wonderful animals, a
militant anarchist, and continues to be an involved member of each
community she’s lived in over the years.
This is the new zine that was distributed on the Never Alone Tour in the
lead up to June 11th, 2012.
Eric McDavid is an environmental activist, a writer of zines, a
sometimes-poet and an almost always magician. He is a son, a brother, and
an uncle. He is an amazing partner (although, maybe the author is a bit
biased). He also happens to be an anarchist political prisoner.
This is the new zine that was distributed on the Never Alone Tour in the
lead up to June 11th 2012.
Here's the latest compilation of every other week updates. We've mailed
hard copies to Sundiata Acoli, Joe-Joe Bowen, David Gilbert, Marie Mason,
Eric McDavid, Daniel McGowan, Jalil Muntaqim and Sekou Odinga. Please feel
free to share this link:
From: "NYC ABC" <nycabc@riseup.net>
Date: Wed, May 9, 2012
Hey:
Here's the latest compilation of every other week updates. We've mailed
hard copies to Sundiata Acoli, Joe-Joe Bowen, David Gilbert, Marie Mason,
Eric McDavid, Daniel McGowan, Jalil Muntaqim and Sekou Odinga. Please feel
free to share this link:
Here's the latest compilation of every other week updates. We've mailed hard copies to Sundiata Acoli, Joe-Joe Bowen, David Gilbert, Marie Mason, Eric McDavid, Daniel McGowan, Jalil Muntaqim and Sekou Odinga. Please feel free to share this link:
Here's the latest compilation of every other week updates. We've mailed hard copies to Sundiata Acoli, Joe-Joe Bowen, David Gilbert, Marie Mason, Eric McDavid, Daniel McGowan, Jalil Muntaqim and Sekou Odinga. Please feel free to share this link:
Shaker Aamer has been held in Guantánamo Bay since 2002. He is a legal permanent resident of the UK, married to a British national, with four British children living in London.
Shaker has long been cleared for release by the United States. He has never been charged by the United States with a crime and has never received a trial. However, he has been repeatedly abused and subjected to extended isolation in Guantánamo Bay.
Shaker grew up in Saudi Arabia with his four siblings. His parents divorced when he was a child and his father remarried. Shaker’s step-mother was unkind to her new family and at the age of seventeen, he ran away to America to join a family he had known from home.
He spent the next few years travelling in Europe and the Middle East, before moving to London where he met his wife and married. Their first child, Johina, was born in 1997.
Shaker was a hands-on dad. He changed nappies without complaint, and as time passed, the Aamer family grew and grew. Michael was born in 1999, Saif a year later and little Faris in 2002- after his father had been imprisoned. Shaker has never set eyes on his youngest son.
Shaker is a natural leader who is known for his concern for others. While in London, he worked as an Arabic translator for the solicitor who advised him on his immigration case. Helping refugees put Shaker where he loved to be – as counsel, listening and advising. But in the end, it was his dedication to the welfare of others that led to his detention in Guantánamo Bay.
In June 2001, Shaker went to Afghanistan to do voluntary work for an Islamic charity. He stayed in Kabul, which was at peace at the time. But after September 11th, the bombing of Kabul began. Fearing he would be taken prisoner by the Northern Alliance, who were suspicious of all Arabs in Afghanistan he went into hiding with an Afghan family. But his freedom didn’t last long.
Soldiers arrived at the house, stripped Shaker of his belongings and took him away at gunpoint. For the next two weeks Shaker was sold to various groups of soldiers, who accused him of killing their leader and beat him mercilessly. The abuse continued, and when Shaker and four other Arab prisoners were driven out of Kabul one night, he thought the end had come and they were to be executed.
Instead, the sound of a helicopter and American accents filled him with relief. “Americans!” he thought. “We are saved!” In fact, his transfer to US forces marked the beginning of a new nightmare. Shaker arrived at Bagram Air Force Base at the end of December 2001 where he suffered terrible abuse.
Forced to stay awake for nine days straight and denied food, he dropped 60 pounds in weight. US personnel would dump freezing water him. This treatment, combined with the bitter Afghan winter, caused Shaker’s feet to become frostbitten. He was chained for hours in positions that made movement unbearable, and his swollen, blackened feet were beaten. He was refused the painkillers he begged for.
Shaker began to say whatever the US wanted, whether it was true or not. Satisfied with confessions made by a man desperate to end his torture, the US military transferred Shaker to Guantánamo Bay in February 2002. Despite the hardships he has endured, Shaker remains the kind and supportive man he was when he was captured, with a reputation for looking out for his fellow prisoners.
When the military police beat up a prisoner while he was praying, Shaker initiated the first hunger strike at Guantánamo. More than three hundred prisoners began refusing meals. The Americans negotiated with Shaker, promising changes in the camp conditions. But the promises were broken. When the hunger strike began again in September 2005, Shaker was placed in solitary confinement as punishment. He has remained alone in a six foot by eight foot windowless cell ever since and is one of a number of prisoners to have written about the conditions in Guantánamo.
After Reprieve took up his case, Shaker was cleared for release. The British government have requested he is returned to the United Kingdom, but negotiations with the US ceased in December 2007 and have not been renewed.
Reprieve Director Clive Stafford Smith visited Shaker in November 2011 and on departure, immediately penned a letter to Foreign Secretary William Hague listing numerous physical ailments that Shaker suffers – a list that had just been cleared through the US censorship process. The letter calls for Shaker's release and meanwhile Shaker waits alone in his cell, officially cleared of wrongdoing, but still paying the cruellest of costs for his kindness to others.
For further information, see the independent Save Shaker Campaign: http://saveshaker.org/
How you can help Shaker Aamer
Shaker is a permanent British resident, and is married to a British citizen. He has been cleared of any wrongdoing, but the US authorities will not allow him to return to his family in London.
Pressure from the British government is vital in securing Shaker’s release – please click below to write to your MP and ask them to take action on Shaker’s case.
Here's the latest compilation of every other week updates. We've mailed hard copies to Sundiata Acoli, Joe-Joe Bowen, David Gilbert, Marie Mason, Eric McDavid, Daniel McGowan, Jalil Muntaqim and Sekou Odinga. Please feel free to share this link: http://www.mediafire.com/?hiqgcu1v7ywc93b
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Here is the political prisoner birthday poster for January. As always, please post this poster publicly and/or use it to start a card writing night of your own.
Here's the latest compilation of every other week updates. We've mailed hard copies to Sundiata Acoli, David Gilbert, Marie Mason, Eric McDavid, Daniel McGowan, and Sekou Odinga. Please feel free to share this link: http://www.mediafire.com/?3b5vv42fn7a7k8j
Here's the latest compilation of every other week updates. We've mailed hard copies to Sundiata Acoli, David Gilbert, Marie Mason, Eric McDavid, Daniel McGowan, and Sekou Odinga. Please feel free to share this link:
is a news and discussion forum for supporters of political prisoners, prisoners of war, politicized social prisoners, and victims of police and state intimidation.
This blog is organized and updated autonomously of the disbanded Break the Chains Prisoner Support Network formerly based in Eugene, Oregon. While this online project shares several of the same concerns as the old Break the Chains collective, no formal organization exists behind the current web presence.
"I will never surrender my pride and dignity nor allow the system to 'cut my tongue' and I will always, without fear, speak out against these war crimes and crimes against humanity, no matter if I spend the rest of my life in a prison cage, and draw my last breath of air laying down in this steel bed surrounded by razor-wire fences and cages, and its prison policies that are designed to destroy one's humanity…."
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