A weekly roundup of news and action alerts about political prisoners, prison struggles, and organizing against the prison industrial complex (PIC), both nationally and internationally. If you’ve got something you’d like to see included, leave a comment or send me an email.
- Internationally recognized experts on the effects of torture filed an amicus curiae (‘friend of the court’) brief regarding the appeal of prominent Palestinian-American activist Rasmea Odeh, who is challenging her November 2014 conviction on an immigration charge. The brief argues that Odeh, who was tortured and raped in Israeli prison, was denied the right to present a meaningful defense in her trial and that the judge erred in not allowing mention of the torture or expert testimony on its effects.
- On Thursday, June 25, the No New SF Jail coalition packed a public hearing on the Environmental Impact Report, arguing the proposed new jail in San Francisco is indeed an environmentally hazardous project.
- On Friday, June 26, there was a statewide mobilization in Sacramento to stop jail expansions in communities around the state.
- NYC Anarchist Black Cross is organizing an online fundraiser for recently released anarchist prisoner Kevin Chianella to assist him during his transition out of prison. Chianella was sentenced to two years in prison for his participation in the G20 protests in Toronto in 2010.
- The Nation published an investigative report examining the February prisoner uprising at the Willacy County Correctional Center in Texas and the use of for-profit private prisons to house immigrants convicted of crimes.
- A grand jury has indicted three former jail employees in Georgia for involuntary manslaughter in the killing of 21-year-old Matthew Ajibade, who was found dead January 1, 2015, “strapped to a restraining chair in an isolation cell in Chatham County Jail.”
- U.S. political prisoner Delbert Africa, of the MOVE 9, was denied parole last week. Sign an online petition supporting parole for the MOVE 9 here.
- From June 18 – 24, Israeli occupation forces arrested 37 Palestinians in the West Bank, including eleven children and six women.
- A successful student campaign has led to Columbia University becoming the first college in the U.S. to divest from private prison companies, including G4S and CCA.
- U.S. political prisoner Leonard Peltier has written a public letter on the 40th anniversary of the Incident at Oglala.
- Six political prisoners in Mexico started an indefinite hunger strike on June 27, calling for an end to the “torture, abuses and maltreatment” they have been enduring.
- Bree Newsome and Jimmy Tyson are facing three years in prison for removing the Confederate flag from the state capitol in South Carolina. Sign the call for all charges against them to be dropped.
- Palestinian political prisoner Khader Adnan ended his hunger strike after 55 days on June 29. Held without charge for more than 11 months, the strike successfully led to Israel agreeing to release him on July 12.
- NYC Anarchist Black Cross has released the latest version of its “Illustrated Guide to Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War.”
