Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Corcoran Super-Max Prisoners to Join Pelican Bay Hunger Strike July 1

Greetings,

I am writing from behind the walls of Corcoran
State Prison and am in an isolation super max
section (i.e. short corridor) behind political
beliefs not compatible to the state, and
therefore isolated not only from general
population, but also other prisoners. I am
writing to inform your organization that we
prisoners here at C.S.P. Corcoran are going to
take part in the Pelican Bay State Prison"s
Hunger Strike. (emphasis in original) I have
enclosed a copy of our letter of solidarity and
would kindly ask if you could make copies or
submit it in one of your publications so as to
inform the general public of our fight to change
the inhuman conditions we are subjected to for
our political beliefs or falsely identified as
politically active in an organization. It would
be greatly appreciated. Enclosed is a copy of our
solidarity letter.

Haribu L.M. Soriano-Mugabi
C.S.P. Corcoran
P.O. Box 3481
Corcoran, CA 93212

Statement of Solidarity with the Pelican Bay
Collective Hunger Strike on July 1st.
From: the N.C.T.T. Corcoran SHU

Greetings to all who support freedom, justice,
and equality. We here of the N.C.T.T. SHU stand
in solidarity with, and in full support of the
July 1st hunger strike and the 5 major action
points and sub-points as laid out by the Pelican
Bay Collective in the Policy Statements (See,
"Archives", P.B.S.P.-SHU-D corridor hunger strike).

What many are unaware of is that facility 4B here
in Corcoran SHU is designated to house validated
prisoners in indefinite SHU confinement and have
an identical ultra-super max isolation unit­a
short corridor modeled after corridor D in
Pelican Bay, complete with blacked out windows a
mirror tinted glass on the towers so no one but
the gun tower can see in [into our cells], and
none of us can see out; flaps welded to the base
of the doors and sandbags on the tiers to prevent
"fishing" [a means of passing notes, etc. between
cells using lengths of string]; IGI
[Institutional Gang Investigators] transports us
all to A.C.H. [?] medical appointments and we
have no contact with any prisoners or staff
outside of this section here in 4B/1C C
Section­the “short corridor” of the Corcoran SHU.
All of the deprivations (save access to
sunlight); outlines in the 5-point hunger strike
statement are mirrored, and in some instances
intensified here in the Corcoran SHU 4B/1C C
Section isolation gang unit.

Medical care here, in a facility allegedly
designed to house chronic care and prisoners with
psychological problems, is so woefully inadequate
that it borders on intentional disdain for the
health of prisoners, especially where diabetics
and cancer are an issue. Access to the law
library is denied for the most mundane reasons,
or, most often, no reason at all. Yet these
things and more are outlined in the P.B.S.P.-SHU
five core demands.

What is of note here, and something that should
concern all U.S. citizens, is the increasing use
of behavioral control (torture units) and human
experimental techniques against prisoners­not
only in California but across the nation.
Indefinite confinement, sensory deprivation,
withholding food, constant illumination, use of
unsubstantiated lies from informants are the
psychological billy clubs being used in these
torture units. The purpose of this "treatment" is
to stop prisoners from standing in opposition to
inhumane prison conditions and prevent them from
exercising their basic human rights.

Many lawsuits have been filed in opposition to
the conditions in these conditions " [unreadable]
yet the courts have repeatedly re-interpreted and
misinterpreted their own constitutional law "
[unreadable] to support the state's continued use
of these torture units. When approved means of
protest and redress of rights are prove
meaningless and are fully exhausted, then the
pursuit of those ends through other means is necessary.

It is important for all to know the Pelican Bay
Collective is not (emphasis in original) alone in
this struggle and the broader the participation
and support for this hunger strike, the other
such efforts, the greater the potential that our
sacrifice now will mean a more humane world for
us in the future. We urge all who reads these
words to support us in this effort with your
participation or your voices­call your local news
agencies, notify your friends on social networks,
contact your legislators, tell your fellow
faithful at church, mosques, temple or
synagogues. Decades before Abu Ghraib and
Guantanamo Pelican Bay and Corcoran SHUs were
described by Congressman Ralph Metcalfe as "the
control unit treatment program is long-term
punishment under the guise of what is, in fact,
pseudo-scientific experimentation."
Our indefinite isolation here is both inhumane
and illegal and the proponents of the prison
industrial complex are hoping that their campaign
to dehumanize us has succeeded to the degree that
you don't care and will allow the torture to
continue in your name. It is our belief that they
have woefully underestimated the decency,
principles, and humanity of the people. Join us
in opposing this injustice without end. Thank you
for your time and support.

In Solidarity,
N.C.T.T. Corcoran SHU
4B/1C C Section
Super-max isolation Unit

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