Prisoner describes Abu Ghraib-type conditions here
Following is a somewhat abridged letter from Eric "Man
Shareef" Riddick, who is currently incarcerated at the State
Correctional Institution at S.C.I. Greene. This is the prison
that trained Charles A. Grainer Jr., who has been unofficially
identified as the ring leader of the goon squad charged in the
Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal in Iraq. Riddick says he was
transferred from S.C.I. Graterford to S.C.I. Greene on Oct. 24,
2001, where he was arbitrarily put in solitary confinement
without being charged or convicted of any institutional
infraction. He was told this was because he is an activist and
organizer. Except for 27 days, Riddick has been in solitary
confinement since Oct. 24, 2001, without being charged
with any misconduct.
The terror that I write about is happening every day in the
prisons of America! From beatings to psychological torture,
from daily dehumanization, to the murders! This is common
practice in U.S. prisons. The policy makers as well as their
henchmen/women, the guards, have deve loped highly
sophisticated methods of torture, humiliation and even
murder.
This corroded mentality of administrative misconduct is not
limited to personnel inside the prisons. They carry out the
policies of abuse on a daily basis, free of worry because they
know that their superiors are the source [and support] of the
longstanding infamy. This is why on many occasions after the
[guards] inflict their abuse they [taunt] the inmates, saying,
"Go ahead and file a grievance. We don't care." Or "Go ahead
and write to the prison Regional Director."
Why isn't anyone pushing for a Senate hearing and/or
resolution condemning the everyday terroristic torture inside
American prisons?
The accusations I make are true. There are thousands of men
and women that have been methodically driven insane. The record
will confirm that 85 to 90 percent of inmates that now suffer
from psychological problems, and are on all types of
medications, were not in this condition when they entered
prison.
The record will also reveal thousands upon thousands of
ignored complaints of beatings, racial and religious profiling
and discrimination, unjustified long term solitary confinement,
which is one of the most effective methods of systematically
[destroying] an inmate's sanity, as well as parole
discrimination, just to name a few. There have been many
murders of inmates committed by staff abuse in the U.S.
prisons. The grievance outlets available to the inmates are a
joke! They are designed to be defective and are an essential
cohort in the cover-up.
Inmates are forced into situations where he or she has no
choice but to defend himself or herself, physically and/or
verbally. The administration then buries the inmate with
institutional misconduct reports. The majority of these reports
of misconduct are saturated with fallacies and half truths.
This process is used to create an image of the inmate that
would justify long-term isolation. Also to beat the inmate or
to use an electrical shock shield and pepper spray.
Solitary confinement is where the majority of the abuse and
torture occur. There is a light in each cell that stays on 24
hours! All day, every day with no purpose other than to
punitively deprive the inmate of substantial amounts of sleep.
If an inmate manages to survive the light, he or she is
systematically [tortured] by an air vent. The same guards
control over the lights control the air vent, which blasts very
cold air that comes out full force.
The ultimate weapon of psychological torture in solitary
confinement is the use of inmate against inmate. This is
mendaciously done by putting the inmates that have already been
driven insane on the same cell block with inmates that are
still trying to maintain their sanity. The inmates that have
been driven insane bang on the doors and scream all day and all
night long. The perpetual terrifying screams of broken souls
are sounds that can't be explained.
In solitary confinement humiliating strip searches, where
inmates are stripped naked, is an everyday thing. The medical
service provided is highly unsafe. Then you have the barbaric
cell extractions, where five large guards are dressed in full
body armor equipped with sticks, high-power pepper spray, gas
masks and one large electric shield that shoots 50 thousand
plus volts of electricity. They run into the cell, use pepper
spray, then shock the inmate with the electrical shield, beat
and hogtie [him/her] with leg irons and wrist irons and then
remove [him/her] from the cell. The record will show that over
90 percent of these cell extractions don't require such force.
However, when there is no monitoring of people in authority,
this is what happens.
This is a subject that goes much deeper than what I have
written. However, I hope that this brief writing will touch
your humanity in a way that will compel you to investigate
these various issues that are a major concern to the inmates.
The people must get involved and seek authentic information
outside of the governmental propaganda that is designed to
sabotage real democratic thoughts.
I have been unjustly incarcerated for over a decade
illegally, lynched by the notorious Pennsylvania judicial
system for a crime that I did not commit. My situation is not
the exception, but rather a norm among Black males in America.
That is the worst form of torture, being in prison for a crime
that you didn't commit.
For those who desire to get involved, write to the Human
Rights Coalition at P.O. Box 9235, Philadelphia, PA 19129 or
call (215) 578-7474. HRC is a movement that is dedicated to
Human Rights. The movement is at its embryonic stage of devel
opment, but is gaining righteous momentum. HRC welcomes all
suggestions.
Power to the people.
Your brother in struggle,
Brother Man
Shareef
Reprinted from the Dec. 23, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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