Prison hunger strikers end protest

The prisoner hunger strikers at California’s Pelican Bay State Prison called off their protest action on Oct. 13. Two days later, prisoners at Calipatria State Prison decided to “temporarily” end their hunger strike.

Prisoner strike leaders at Pelican Bay cited a recent memorandum from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation promising a thorough review of every Security Housing Unit placement due to “gang validation.”

According to Carole Strickman, an attorney with Legal Services for Prisoners with Children in San Francisco and a member of the outside team of mediators who have been with the striking prisoners, “This is something the prisoners have been asking for, and it is the first significant step we’ve seen from the CDCR to address the hunger strikers’ demands. But as you know, the proof is in the pudding. We’ll see if the CDCR keeps its word regarding this new process.”

Strickman was one of two attorneys who was banned by the CDCR from going into PBSP during this last hunger strike, which lasted more than three weeks.

Prisoners at both Pelican Bay and Calipatria were subject to harsh retaliation for their participation in the recent hunger strike. PBSP hunger strikers were denied access to the recreation yard and any visits by friends or family members. Reports from Calipatria indicate that prisoners were being denied water and vitamins. According to the prisoner hunger strike solidarity blog, men at Calipatria were collapsing in their cells, and the infirmary was so full that they were being transferred to another prison for urgent medical care.

As of Oct. 16, it is not known whether prisoners at Corcoran State Prison and other California prisons have called off their hunger strike. Prisoner leaders have asked everyone to keep up the pressure. Prisoners’ rights advocates and family members are being urged to contact Gov. Jerry Brown at the State Capitol in Sacramento to demand that all the demands of the hunger strikers be met.

The demands of the hunger strike include an end to long-term Security Housing Unit placement and changes in the gang validation process that would eliminate a “snitch or die policy,” which now guarantees that prisoners languish for years in 6 by 10 foot isolation chambers, 23 hours a day, 7 days a week. Prisoners are also demanding greater access to prison visits, food and mail.

For more information about how to support the struggle for justice and prisoners’ rights in California, go to prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com.