Conditions
Remain the Same for Palestinian Women Prisoners
GRAND JURY
ROUNDUP
Testimony
to Senate Public Safety Committee Hearing
Support
Needed Still for Theresa Cruz
Richard
Williams: An Unbreakable Spirit
THOUGHT
BOMBS
Lesbian
Pen Pals
PEN
PAL RESOURCES
Trans/Gender
Variant in Prison Committee (TIP)
Poem
by Marilyn Buck
Conditions Remain the Same for Palestinian Women
Prisoners
There
are about 120 women political prisoners at present in Israeli jails: in Hasharon
Prison (Tel Mond) about 107, in Neve Tirza Prison (Ramle) there are six, and
several more in detention centers.
‘Etaf 'Alyan, is a 42 years
old administrative detainee, from Ramallah and mother of a 16 months old baby.
On 22 December 2005 she was taken from her house in Ramallah by the Israeli army
to Hashron Prison (Tel Mond). Following an appeal, her six months'
administrative detention order was reduced to four months. On 20 February 2006
‘Etaf went on a hunger strike protesting her detention and demanding to have
her baby with her. The prison authorities refused. Three days after she began
the hunger strike the prison authorities transferred her, as a punishment, to
Neve Tirza Prison (Ramle), where she is held in separation. ‘Etaf, a previous
longtime prisoner, had been held in Israeli prisons over 10 years at different
times. After her release and between her arrests, she established several social
projects in
Bethlehem
: a center for women, and a kindergarten that developed into a primary school.
After her marriage she moved to Ramallah and opened an Internet Café for women
and girls who can surf and study Internet there.
Hashron Prison (Tel Mond)
, Family visits
The International Red Cross, which organizes the buses for the families
decided that little children are allowed to visit only once a month and not
twice as allowed by the prison authorities. This decision caused a lot of anger
among the prisoners. It is very important for the mothers to meet their
children. In many prisoners’ families all the adults are forbidden to visit,
which means that the children are the only visitors. Recently, the Israeli
authorities forbade the prisoners’ nephews and nieces to visit them. In some
cases the small nephews and nieces were the only family members who were allowed
to visit the prison, and now they are also forbidden.
The families are always delayed on their way to the visit by the
procedures imposed by the Israeli authorities: for example they have to change
buses at some checkpoints, and the wait is very long. The families have to start
their visiting day at four o'clock in the morning. Although the distance to the
prison is not more than 60 miles, they can’t reach the prison until around
14:00 o'clock (2pm). The visit itself lasts 45 minutes. The families have to
wait at the prison entrance before and after the visit and only at about 21:00
o'clock (9pm) does the bus leave on the way back. Therefore their journey lasts
till midnight or later.
The windows at the prison
cannot be opened because they remain covered with metal covers that do not let
in any daylight and very little air to breathe.
Now the women prisoners have a
room serving as a library and a place for studying. They submitted a demand
requesting that the minors among the women political prisoners be allowed
regular studies with a professional teacher, similar to what the minor male
political prisoners are allowed. Recently,
the prison authorities charged several prisoners for transgressions they
allegedly committed long ago. Lately, the women prisoners have received quite a
lot of letters from abroad, and they are very happy to get the letters. They
have to buy stamps in the canteen, and for some time there were no stamps so
they couldn’t answer. Now they intend to do so.
Manal
Ghanim, 30 years old, mother of four, from Tulkarem Refugee Camp, was arrested
on 16 April 2003. Her son Nour will stay with his mother until the next court
session about his case, which will take place on 24 May 2006. The campaign to
release Manal is continuing.
Samar Sabih, from Tulkarem,
was arrested on 29 September 2005. She is in the seventh month of her pregnancy.
She was recently examined in an external clinic and was found to have lost
weight. She doesn’t receive any additional food and does not get enough meat
and vegetables. The other prisoners give her from their portions, but this is
also very limited as the prisoners get vegetables and fruit only twice or three
times a week in very small quantities. This is also the case with milk and milk
products. -
Samar
's husband is an administrative detainee in an Israeli military prison, which
means that they cannot meet.
Rasha el’Azza, 18 years old,
from Al-Dehisha refugee camp. Her mother is now allowed to visit her, after she
succeeded in convincing the prison authorities that she really is her mother.
Amne Muna, 29 years old, from
Bir Nabala, was arrested on 19 January 2001. The prison authorities don't allow
her to continue her university studies.
Sentence
Mariam elTarabin, 18 years
old, from
Jericho
, was arrested on 23 January 2005. She was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Neve Tirza Prison (Ramle
prison)
The women political prisoners
are still suffering from fungus.
Taghrid Gahshan, the lawyer of
WOFPP, is still forbidden to meet Tali Fahima.
Women`s Organization for Political Prisoners (WOFPP) P.O. Box 31811, Tel
Aviv Tel.: +972-3-5227124 E-mail: trn1@zahav.net.il
In the past year, dozens
of activists on the West Coast have been imprisoned for refusing to cooperate
with Grand Juries, allegedly investigating political "crimes." The
numbers continue to grow and support for the resisters is building. Following
are excerpts from statements from support groups currently working with grand
jury resisters, describing what is happening...
A Murder of Crows, [
PO Box 20442
,
Seattle
,
WA
98102
]:
Since the 1960s the state has
repeatedly used grand juries to target forces antagonistic to it:
the Black Panthers, the American Indian Movement (AIM), and animal and
earth liberation groups. Composed of 16 to 23 jurors, grand juries do not
actually decide innocence or guilt. Rather, they decide whether or not there is
probable cause to charge someone. Unlike a normal court hearing, there is no
judge, nor are those subpoenaed entitled to legal counsel within the courtroom.
Instead the hearings are conducted in secret, with defendants who are forced to
testify or face jail time. Grand juries are used to divide and isolate
individuals, to turn social fighters against one another and to break the bonds
of friendship and affinity that form the basis for social movements
From the Grand
Jury Resistance Project Backgrounder:
The
Grand Jury was originally conceived of as a protection against overzealous
federal prosecutors, but has been used throughout
US
history to attack those with unpopular political views, from pre-Civil War
abolitionists to current day anti-capitalists. Very few of the procedural
protections guaranteed to defendants in criminal trials are available
during grand jury proceedings. Indictments
may be entirely based on hearsay evidence, and prosecutors have no obligation to
present exculpatory evidence. The prosecution selects all the witnesses and
other materials, and then presents them to the grand jury. Defense attorneys
aren’t even allowed in the same room as the grand jury, let alone
permitted to put on defense witnesses,
question the prosecution witnesses, or make any statements to the jurors. So
grand juries nearly always just “rubber stamp” the cases brought before
them. In fiscal year 2000, federal grand juries voted to indict a total of
59,472 suspects1 and chose not to indict 29 suspects—only one out of every two
thousand suspects was left un-indicted.
The
Black Panther Party Civil Rights
photo
by Scott Braley
In
2005, a
California
grand jury was convened to investigate a 34-year-old case involving a police
shooting in
San Francisco
. Five activists associated with the Black Panther Party thirty years ago, Hank
Adams, John Bowman Richard Brown, Ray Boudreaux, and Harold Taylor were jailed
for two months for refusing to cooperate with this grand jury. The Black Panther
Party (BPP) has been the target of political repression since the FBI's illegal
COINTELPRO program in the 1960's. The BPP saw all of its COINTELPRO cases
dismissed in the mid-1970s as federal courts threw out a statement leading to
indictments when it was revealed that the individual's
statement was the result of torture. Two
of the five resisters of the 2005 Grand Jury,
Brown and
Taylor
, were also among those previously tortured. At the close of the grand jury, no
indictments were returned.
Hamid
and Umer Hayat Muslim Community
In June 2005, the FBI made headlines by accusing Hamid
Hayat and his father Umer, Pakistani Americans living in
Lodi
,
CA
, of masterminding a domestic terror attack. The agency continued to
conspicuously do surveillance and otherwise harass the
Lodi
community, while nationally stoking the flames of anti-Muslim sentiments. When
the dust settled, though, the only charges levied against the Hayats was lying
to a federal officer.
"Green
Scare" Targets Earth and Animal Rights
The
past year has seen federal and state grand juries in
Seattle
,
Eugene
,
San Francisco
,
San Diego
and
Denver
targeting the radical environmental and animal rights movement. These
communities have been targets of increased government surveillance and
harassment since the FBI listed them as the nation's top domestic terrorist
threat. Scores of people have been subpoenaed and harassed for their political
beliefs as the government uses the grand juries to gather information and
disrupt these movements. The basis of these investigations comes from
individuals paid by the FBI to testify.
From The Murder of Crows
On December 7, 2005, six people,
Chelsea Gerlach, Bill Rodgers, Sarah Harvey, Kevin Tubbs, Daniel McGowan and
Stanislas “Jack” Meyerhoff were arrested for allegedly taking part in a wide
variety of attacks claimed by the Earth Liberation Front (ELF)….
In a terrible turn of events, on
December 22, Bill Rodgers was found dead in his cell in
Flagstaff
,
Arizona
from an apparent suicide…
On January 20, federal
prosecutors and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced a 65-count
indictment of 11 individuals related to 17 attacks in the northwest. In addition
to the six people arrested on December 7, 2005, it also indicted Jonathan Paul,
Suzanne Savoie, Joseph Dibee, Rebecca Rubin and Josephine Overaker….
On February 23 two individuals
in
Olympia
,
Washington
, Nathan Fraser Block and Joyanna L. Zacher, were arrested and indicted in
connection with the May 2001 arson at a Clatskanie,
Oregon
tree farm….
From SHAQ7.com
On March 2, the Bush
administration dealt yet another blow to the First Amendment, as the SHAC 7 were
found guilty of multiple federal felonies for advocating the closure of the
notorious animal-testing lab Huntingdon Life Sciences. Jacob Conroy , Darius
Fulmer, Lauren Gazzola, Joshua Harper, Kevin Kjonaas, Andrew Stepanian all have
been released on house arrest pending sentencing on June 7th.
For contact information, www.shac7.com
Murder
of Crows
Thus
we are faced with a dilemma, what to do in the face of repression? First and
foremost, when the state focuses its repressive apparatus on radicals, it must
be fought. Thus this is no time for becoming quiet and closing in on ourselves
in hopes of weathering the storm. Quite the opposite, it is time for increased
struggle and solidarity with comrades facing repression…. So we have a choice,
we can run and hide or fight back. If we give the state an inch, it will
certainly take a mile, therefore we must stand firm in the face of repression.
Repression is being meted out precisely because the social situation is becoming
more precarious and because the types of actions for which the defendants are
accused are dangerous to the state. So solidarity is not simply raising money
for legal defense and pleading to the state for leniency. Instead it is an
attack on power, and choosing to attack is not only refusing to bow down, but
also contributing to the wider atmosphere of social combatively. In many
countries a simple slogan abounds: solidarity is a weapon.
Testimony
to Senate Public Safety Committee Hearing
by Judy Greenspan,
California
Prison FocusTuesday, February 14, 2006
Today is Valentine¹s Day, a very special day for most of
us in
California
. Today, we have an opportunity to give prisoners the best gift possible by
saying NO to Governor Schwarzenegger¹s prison bond measure. California Prison
Focus strongly opposes any prison or jail construction. We do not support the
allocation of any money toward the building of new prisons or jails. The
time is long overdue to implement a fair, humane and workable parole system that
will release prisoners back into the community and give them a chance to
succeed. A major investment in community drug treatment programs, transitional
and low-cost housing, jobs and job training and education is long overdue.
The time has come to begin closing prisons not building new ones.
I am here today to bring you the grim reality of California¹s prisons.
There is a crisis of monumental proportions unfolding as we speak today. It is a
crisis of violence, brutality, racism, discrimination and medical neglect and it
will not be solved by building new prisons or housing state prisoners in county
jails or continuing to pad the budget of the California Department of
Corrections. Prisoners and their families no longer have any hope.
Prisoners have been warehoused and locked down in overcrowded and brutal prisons
many due to the 3 strikes law for longer and longer time. Despite the fact
that the CDC tacked rehabilitation to its name, there is no rehabilitation
just constant exposure to threats, intimidation and punitive treatment. Many
prisons today are on 24- hour lockdown. California already has thousands of
Security Housing Unit cells at prisons like Pelican Bay State Prison, California
State Prison- Corcoran, and Valley State Prison for Women where prisoners are
locked down 23 1/2 a day with little or no contact with anyone but prison
guards. SHU prisons are notorious for their legacy of beatings, shootings and
brutality. The answer to the problems and conflicts in prison is not to build a
prison within a prison.
My organization advocates for one of the most vulnerable prison
populations prisoners with HIV, hepatitis C and other life-threatening
illnesses. As the current federal takeover of California¹s prison health system
has demonstrated, the CDC cannot and does not provide adequate medical care for
these prisoners. The care that is provided is not only substandard but
tremendously expensive. Nine years ago, a law was passed mandating the release
of dying prisoners. However, like this state¹s phone parole policy, very few
terminally ill prisoners have been released back to their families. It is a
painful joke that you have to stop breathing before you can get compassionate
release.
We estimate that between 50-70% of the prison population has hepatitis C.
HIV rates in prison are at least 6-10 times higher than the community. We do not
want seriously ill prisoners taken from a state prison and placed in a county
jail that cannot even pretend to serve their medical needs. We want the governor
and the state legislature to develop a plan that will lead to the release of
those most seriously ill and provide a real treatment plan for the rest.
We are alarmed by Governor Schwarzenegger¹s newest
proposal to build private prisons for women prisoners. We also don¹t want women
put in county jails or private prisons. Women cannot get adequate care and
treatment in state prisons county jails will deliver less. Private prisons,
although not plentiful in this state, have shown themselves by example to
profit-driven and often unscrutinized in their practices. The level of brutality
and medical neglect is often higher in these private prisons.
We want funds poured into alternatives to incarceration. We believe a
large number of women and men prisoners; lifers far beyond their maximum release
dates; parole violators; 3 strikers; battered women; nonviolent offenders;
seriously ill; permanently incapacitated; and the elderly should be released
back into the community. With the closure of several prisons, we could put the
funds where they are most needed into education, housing, jobs and job
training, drug treatment, health care and many other areas.
Prisons and jails are erupting all over this state. We believe that the
cause of this violence is a prison system bent on brutality, medical neglect,
contempt for prisoners, segregation and a lack of programming. A broken
parole system and the legacy of 3 strikes fuels the riots and protests.
The California Department of Corrections cannot re-write its mission and
reason for existence just by adding ³Rehabilitation² to its name. We are not
fooled and certainly prisoners are not either. Let¹s send a strong message to
the governor and CDC on this Valentine¹s Day by defeating any attempt to build
new prisons and jails.
For more, CPF,
2940 16th St.
B5,
San Francisco
,
CA
94103
or www.prisons.org
Support
Needed Still for Theresa Cruz
Theresa Cruz, a prisoner in Central California Women’s Facility,
Chowchilla, learned yesterday that Governor Schwarzenegger has recommended against
her parole and has sent her case back to the Parole Board for an En Banc
decision. The full Parole Board will most probably be hearing her case
next week (unless they delay it till May).
Please call 916-322-9845 or 916-445-4072, fax 916-324-6966 or
write Board of Parole Hearings,
1515 K St.
Sacramento
,
CA
95814
and let them know Theresa should be released. A sample
letter is below:
Re: Theresa Cruz, #W-40058
I understand that there will be
an En Banc hearing for Theresa Cruz on April 11, 2006.
I urge you to uphold your decision to grant Ms. Cruz parole which was
made on October 30, 2005. Ms.
Cruz has an exemplary prison record, an ideal parole plan and a large and
dedicated family eagerly awaiting her release.
It is a waste of taxpayer money to keep her incarcerated any longer.
I hear that Governor Schwarzenegger has cited some reasons why Ms. Cruz
should not be released, referring back to her original commitment offense.
There is nothing Ms. Cruz can do to reverse her original offense.
However, she has taken full responsibility for the offense and has shown
during her time in prison that she has turned her life around.
Please use these significant benchmarks over the past fourteen years as
the basis for your decision to approve her release!
Richard
Williams: An Unbreakable Spirit
The Interfaith Prisoners of Conscience Project recently published a small
book as a tribute to Richard Williams. (see the Feb. issue of OOT for more info
on Richard’s life and death from medical neglect) Currently the book is
available to download from www.boricuahumanrights.org.
Maybe it will be published as a hard copy someday. Lynne Stewart, one of
Richard’s lawyers, wrote an introduction excerpted here.
After 9/11, Richard, like every
other federal prisoner who had any politics, right or left, was locked down… 3
months later it was only Richard still in isolation. When we challenged Lompoc
and the BOP, the released [him] but the deterioration of his health had already
begun, as a result I am sure of this extreme isolation…My life was
extraordinarily enriched by Richard Williams…We shared the same dreams of an
inclusive America that had no imperial designs and where there was truly liberty
and justice for all.
THOUGHT
BOMBS
South Chicago ABC Zine Distro is an “anarchist-driven” source of free
education. For many years, they have
collected, written, reproduced and distributed a wide variety of pamphlets/zines
on many varied political subjects with a focus on amerikan prisons. To quote
their Mission Statement: “we believe strongly in solidarity and work closely
with many conscious prisoners who have important things to say, regardless of
their political affiliation… Each one, teach one.” All their materials are
anticopyright and offered freely for reading and/or reprinting. A few examples
of some titles are Women and Imprisonment,
No Prisoner Left Behind, the Fight for Transgender/Gender Variant Prisoners and
Alabama
Prisoners in Struggle. Anthony Rayson has been the editor of these zines
for years. In a letter to OOC, he says “I’ve worked in a tollbooth for 31
miserable years. I’ve been a panhandler my whole life!!” He’s retiring
soon and will be able to keep doing the real work, the serious anarchist
solidarity work that he really wants to do. For
info or to order something, write
South Chicago
ABC Zine Distro,
PO Box 721
,
Homewood
IL
60430
or anthonyrayson@hotmail.com
Lesbian
Pen Pals
We have received a lot of requests for a pen pal listing since the
February OOT. Obviously there is a real need for lesbians inside to be able to
communicate with the outside world. The women who send us their requests would
like only women to respond. Please
write if you can. Because of space, we had to limit the names we printed but if
your ad isn’t in this issue, it will be in the June OOT.
25 year old fem with some very good
qualities, just looking for a pen-pal and we’ll see where it goes. Adonis
“Baby”
Dixon
#336434, FCCW,
PO Box 1000
,
Troy
VA
22974
Intelligent and well-versed,
a butch who loves being a woman and all it has to offer. Helena
Gramlich #53916, JG-Cottage ORW, 1479 Collins Ave. Marysville OH 43040
25 years old with a 6 year old
daughter, I have dreams and goals. Write back soon. Jamie
“
Dee
” Boyd #K85831, D.C.C. 23813 E. 3200 Nth Rd. Dwight IL 60420
Self confident lesbian, positive
attitude, looking for a friend to talk to and ease the loneliness of prison.
Alissa Kamholz #W82746, CCWF/D-516-08-2L,
PO Box 1508
,
Chowchilla
CA
93610
40 years old, butch, ex-prison
guard. Loves animals, music, reading, learning. Cindy
“Boz” Boskofsky #99862-011, Rte. 37 Pembroke Station,
Danbury CT
06811
24 year old fem, energetic and
enthusiastic, looking for a friend to correspond with. Janelle
“Pooh” Weston #345763, FCCW,
PO Box 1000
,
Troy
VA
22974
Fun and loving, I’m a 40
year old gay woman looking for a pen pal between 30 and 45. Stephanie
M. Miller #319240,
1147 Planters Rd.
Lawrenceville
VA
23868
I’m a 52 year old lesbian,
aggressive yet laid back and easy going. Tara L. Bly #R36839,
PO Box 549
,
Lincoln
IL
62656
In a not so simple twist of fate,
the zookeeper has been caged, in need of intellectual stimulation and enrichment.
Pamela Hathaway #707050, H.C.I./B1203,
19000 SW 377th St. Ste. 200
,
Florida City
FL
33034
23, outgoing, funny, exotic
dedicated loving lesbian looking for a friend. April King #1251217, Trustee Camp,
1401 State School Rd.
Gatesville
TX
76599
I’m in a cell 24 hours/day and
would love to have a pen pal to put a smile on my face. Mary
“Sad Eyes” Polasky #1119661, Lane Murray/Ag Seg C-18-B, 1916 N. Hwy.
36 Bypass,
Gatesville
TX
76596
Not looking to hustle anyone, just
starved for like-minded intellectual communication. Lisa
Smith #659340,
1401 State School Rd.
Gatesville
TX
76599
HELP!! Looking for a woman’s
woman. Lolita Bone #1011649, Terrace
Unit,
1401 State School Rd.
Gatesville
TX
76599
26, fun, smart and looking for lady
love. Please write. Laura
Montrose
#20024-057, 501 Capital Circle NE
,
Tallahassee
FL
32301
38, fun loving, looking for friend.
Released 7/06. Amy Renteria #W48608,
CIW/RC-36L,
16756 Chino-Corona Rd.
Corona
CA
92880
PEN
PAL RESOURCES
OOT only prints requests from lesbians in prison but we know that all
prisoners desperately wish for communication and connections. Below are some
organizations that try to facilitate this. I have tried to use the most
up-to-date info but unfortunately groups do come and go. Only free services are
listed.
Friends Beyond the Wall, Inc
Poughkeepsie
Plaza
2600 South Rd. #44
-
244
Poughkeepsie
NY
12601
PRISONER LIFE.COM
PO Box
1664
Voorhees
NJ
08043
www.prisonerlife.com
Free website listings
for prisoners – maintained by former prisoners
Death Row Support Project
Box
600
, Dept. A
Liberty
Mills IN 46946
For Death Row
prisoners only
Prison Pen Pals
PO Box
120074
Ft.
Lauderdale
FL
33312
Angel’s Care & Be Blessed Ministries
PO Box
5191
Harrisburg
PA
17110
An anonymous
Christian group that caters to all religions
Prison Ministry Pen-Pals
PO Box
73
Syracuse
NY
13206
Trans/Gender
Variant in Prison Committee (TIP) is a San Francisco-based grassroots
political group of transgender, gender variant and genderqueer people inside and
outside of prison, working together to end human rights abuses against trans
& gender variant prisoners in CA.
We in TIP have started work on creating a traveling art exhibit featuring the
work of transgender, gender variant and genderqueer people in prisons and jails
from across the country and provide a forum where they can communicate directly
with people in the "free world" about their experiences of
discrimination and abuse, as well as their stories of survival and resistance...We
need people to help with this. If you're interested in helping out with this
project or would like to contribute art work, contact Alex Lee c/o TIP,
1540 Market St. #490
,
S.F.
CA
94102
or alex@tgijp.org
“My
Name is Rachel Corrie”, a play taken from the journals of Rachel Corrie,
was ‘postponed’ indefinitely in
New York
. Corrie was a young solidarity worker run over by an Israeli bulldozer in
Gaza
in 2003.
From Behind the Curtain, A Review
by Marilyn Buck
The theater stood dark
The audience waited
Sold-out
The audience waited for the curtain
To raise. (It didn’t)
Sets sat stage struck
Lime lights faded
Actors’ lines bulldozed
Into wordless rubble
Stoned by revilers
Broadway was off-
Off in flight on crimson
Carpets of “the Lobby”
A
New York
experiment
“the sword is mightier than the pen”
Except the one that signs the checks.
The cross and star watched from the wings
While the crowd booed
This non-production
It caused a scene
And scenes lead to acts
And the play
The play is not done
If you wish to see it
Go to
London