Political prisoner Wopashitwe Mondo Eyen we Langa has joined the ancestors

DABC Note: Rest In Power Mondo. We never forget.

From Examiner:

Wopashitwe Mondo Eyen we Langa died on March 11, 2016 of respiratory failure at the maximum-security Nebraska State Penitentiary. Mondo was serving a life without parole sentence for the 1970 murder of an Omaha policeman, a crime Mondo vigorously denied all the way to his prison deathbed.

Mondo was born in Omaha, Nebraska, as David Lewis Andrew Rice on May 21, 1947. Educated in parochial schools, Mondo was a young Catholic activist in high school, testifying to the Nebraska legislature about the pernacious influence of pornography on youth. Mondo was a member of several church youth groups and became active against housing and employment discrimination. Mondo led a pray-in at the Douglas County Courthouse to oppose discrimination.

A performance artist, Mondo became active in guitar masses at Holy Family Church and was quick to volunteer for community activities. Mondo began writing for “underground” newspapers and monitored complaints against Omaha police. Mondo’s work with welfare rights groups led to his employment at Greater Omaha Community Action as a neighborhood outreach worker.

As a young man, Mondo seemed to be everywhere, doing everything. Then racial riots in Omaha and the 1969 police shooting of fourteen year-old Vivian Strong sharpened Mondo’s focus and Mondo joined the Black Panther Party. Serving as an officer in the United Front Against Fascism and later the National Committee to Combat Fascism, Mondo attracted the unwanted attention of Federal Bureau of Investigation Director J. Edgar Hoover who ordered Mondo and his collegue Edward Poindexter removed from the streets.

The August 17, 1970 bombing murder of Patrolman Larry Minard, Sr. was the perfect opportunity for FBI agents working under directives of the infamous clandestine COINTELPRO counterintelligence operation. Mondo and Poindexter were blamed for directing fifteen year-old Duane Peak, the confessed bomber. The FBI Laboratory withheld a report on the identity of the anonymous 911 caller that lured Minard to his death. The Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Division, in a fierce rivalry with the FBI, processed the evidence and claimed Mondo had dynamite powder in his pants pocket. Unknown to jurors, who never heard the 911 recording, the ATF evidence had been tampered with after Mondo surrendered. An Omaha World-Herald photo of Mondo with his hands, which tested clean, jammed into his pockets at the time of his surrender proves the dynamite particles were added after Mondo was in custody.

Mondo and Poindexter were convicted after an unfair trial in 1971. Mondo appealed to federal court and U.S. District Judge Warran Urbom ruled Mondo’s rights had been violated and ordered a new trial or Mondo’s release. A three-judge federal appellate panel upheld the order for a new trial. However, the United States Supreme Court used Mondo’s case to restrict prisoner appeal rights and retroactively applied the restriction on Mondo. Justice William Brennan called the decision “profoundly disturbing.”

Mondo’s case returned the Nebraska Supreme Court which ruled Mondo ran out of time to appeal while he was in federal court. Mondo never received the new trial four federal judges had ordered. Mondo’s last appeal to the Nebraska Supreme Court was denied without even a written decision.

Mondo was repeatedly recommended for parole back in the mid-1990’s but was denied eligibilty by the Pardon Board. A sticking point in Mondo’s efforts for freedom was his refusal to admit to any role in the Minard murder.

While in prison, Mondo gained the respect of inmates and guards alike. Mondo abandoned Christianity and became a Muslim. Finally, Mondo evolved to his own religious views best described as an agnostic pagan and adopted a vegetarian diet. Mondo painted and wrote poetry, essays and plays and while in prison wrote several books.

Mondo was a mentor to many prisoners over the years as he tried to move them from a life of crime to one of commitment to community. Mondo edited the Harambee Flame, a prison journal of his pan-African beliefs and philosophy.

“After several years in the penitentiary I decided it didn’t make any sense for me as an African to have a European name. I had to improvise,” explained Mondo. “My name basically means wild, natural man-child of the sun in four African languages.”

Wopshitwe Mondo Eyen we Langa and Ed Poindexter, now called the Omaha Two, have been in prison forty-five long years. Failed by the justice system, Mondo was not bitter. Mondo’s body was caged but his mind was free:

“Today, too many of our young people—in particular, males—are slaves to guns, slaves to violence, slaves to the idea that their African lives aren’t worth anything, slaves to the idea that their lives aren’t worth living. Today, we should be reflecting on what to do to counter the messages being delivered to our children and youth by school curricula, television, movies, video games, the music industry, and other institutions that are making slaves of our youth to violence, materialism, etc. Today, we should be reflecting on what to do to free ourselves from the invisible chains that bind our heads and spirit.”

Rest In Power Michael Marshall – The Latest Victim of Denver Police Violence

From Revolution News:

The Denver Sheriff Department has murdered again. Michael Marshall passed away as a result of injuries sustained at the hands of Denver sheriff deputies around 6:30pm on November 20, 2015, after over a week on life support.

What does a community do in the absence of official channels to seek justice? What does a community do in the face of killers who operate with impunity—backed by the State? Killers who, to add insult to injury, pass on the monetary and emotional costs of their brutality to the very city they brutalize.

This is the challenge facing some communities in Denver, and many communities across the United States. But it’s a challenge they’ve faced before.

In 2010, Denver sheriff deputies pummeled, tasered, and beat Marvin Booker to death in the Denver jail. Why? Booker was a 50-something, Black, slender, unhoused, and beloved street preacher, who dealt with mental health challenges, and he didn’t want to give up his shoes.

Marvin Booker wasn’t a threat. He wasn’t violent. And he didn’t need to be separated from his shoes, which were one of his only possessions.

But in the milieu of discipline and punishment, control of bodies, and the breaking of human spirits, Denver sheriff deputies used such force to separate Booker from his shoes that he subsequently died.

Nobody was reprimanded. Nobody was held to account. If you spend time in Denver’s jail today you may be held under guard by some of the same people who murdered Marvin Booker.

Ultimately, it was Denver taxpayers who forked over some recompense as they had to cover the $6 million payout made to Booker’s family.

So goes the cycle of brutality, impunity, and taxpayer burden. And now it begins anew, with a strikingly similar case of brutality to the one that stole Marvin Booker’s life. Michael Marshall, a 50-year-old, Black, unhoused, slender man, who also described himself as a street preacher and dealt with mental health challenges, lost his life at the hands of Denver sheriff deputies trying to restrain him.

Why they were trying to restrain him isn’t entirely clear, but reporting from the Colorado Independent indicates that video footage shows Marshall posed no physical threat to the officers who killed him.

After over a week on life support following his beating at the hands of three deputies, Marshall passed away.

His killers remain unidentified and will likely receive little more than a paid vacation as a result of their actions. But one thing is for sure—the community of Denver will respond.

Following Booker’s killing hundreds of Denverites took to the streets in multiple protests. Marshall’s killing will likely prompt a similar response.

Indeed, concerned citizens already rallied for a press conference and a chance to mourn with family outside the jail in which Marshall was killed.

My question: Isn’t an even stronger response warranted?

At what point does Denver rise up as we’ve seen Baltimore, Ferguson, and other cities in the face of routine police violence? And who will throw the first brick, stone, or Molotov cocktail?

Because something needs to change.

And in spite of recommendations from independent parties, and a newly appointed sheriff, the jail’s use of force policy remains the same. And now it has again led to the killing of a harmless Black man.

Michael Marshall’s killing happens at the intersections of oppression: Racism, classism, and ableism. A paranoid schizophrenic who may or may not have been able to recognize commands coming from sheriff deputies or police officers, Marshall was held on a bond of only $100 for an alleged minor offense.

If our inJustice System wasn’t racist, classist, and ableist, Michael Marshall would’ve never found himself trapped within the cold concrete halls of the Denver jail where he would be murdered.

If our inJustice System wasn’t structured around the control of bodies, using violence to instill docility, and compelling people to follow rules structured to protect elite interests through arbitrary discipline, Michael Marshall would still be alive.

If our inJustice System truly presumed the innocence of those forced through it, nobody would sit in jail over a $100 bond, and Michael Marshall would still be alive.

If our inJustice System was designed for the people who are most-often forced through it, then it would offer them services to improve their situations, not Tasers and violence, and Michael Marshall would still be alive.

It’s long past time for this to change. What will we do to make sure that happens?

Another world is possible, but it will only come if we fight for it. So, Denver, rise up. Fight for Marvin. Fight for Michael. Fight for all those who came before them, in the hope that fewer will come after.

Denver DA Releases Video of Paul Castaway’s Murder

From Denver Autonomous Action:

The video of Paul Castaway’s legally sanctioned murder has been released, here  (Warning Graphic) by the Denver DA, along with a statement.  Paul Castaway is a Lakota man who was killed in cold blood by the Denver Police. He was killed while holding a knife to his own neck, his last words were, “Whats wrong with you guys?”

Given Mitch Morrisey’s long standing track record of not doing shit, no one was surprised by the latest decision to not prosecute Michael Traudt for the murder of Paul Castaway.  Admissions like, (he)“started to move the knife from his throat towards me, and he didn’t stick it out, but he brought it down” make it obvious that Paul Castaway should not have been killed.

If anything is clear about the statement that the Denver DA has released, it’s how little DPD values the lives of the people they are sworn to protect.  Instead of someone equipped to deal with such a complex situation they sent in a murderous cop, one who goes by the instagram alias of Gungslinger.

The people of Denver are sick of these racist, fascist violent cops brutalizing and killing us, and we are just as sick of bootlicking city officials like Morrissey who actively cover for and enable this violent behavior by law enforcement.

Rest in Power Paul Castaway, taken too soon.

Political Prisoners, Jaan Laaman and Alvaro Luna Hernandez on the life and death of Hugo ” Yogi Bear” Pinell

From Sacramento Prisoner Support:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://thejerichomovement.com/blog/death-and-life-hugo-pinell

Death and Life of Hugo Pinell

August 20, 2015
It was with true sadness that, on August 13th, I received the news that legendary California prison activist Hugo Pinell, was killed in a California prison. This is Jaan Laaman, your political prisoner voice and let me share a few thoughts about the life and death of this extraordinary man.

I never personally knew Hugo Pinell. The simple reason for that is because Hugo Pinell was locked up in California state prisons for 50 years! That is insane. It is hard to wrap you mind around the reality of someone being held captive for 50 years. Even more insane, for most of those years he was held in isolation-segregation cells.

Hugo was just released from segregation and it is being reported that he was killed by two white prisoners. There was a serious uprising or riot that also took place at this time.

Hugo Pinell spent decades teaching, advocating and struggling for Human Rights, justice and dignity for prisoners. He taught and fought for racial and revolutionary unity among all prisoners. Locked up in 1965, like many other prisoners at that time, Hugo became politicized inside the California prison system. In addition to exploring his Nicaraguan heritage, Hugo was influenced by activists like Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, as well as his comrades inside, including George Jackson. His leadership in combating the racism and brutality of prison officials made him a prime target for retribution and Hugo soon found himself in the notorious San Quentin Adjustment Center.

While in San Quentin, Hugo and five other politically conscious prisoners were charged with participating in the August 21, 1971 rebellion, which resulted in the assassination of George Jackson by prison guards on that day. Hugo Pinell, Willie Tate, Johnny Spain, David Johnson, Fleeta Drumgo and Luis Talamantez became known as the San Quentin Six. They had a very public 16 month trial. The San Quentin Six became a global symbol of unyielding resistance against the prison system and its violent, racist design. Hugo spent decades in segregation, but continued to work for racial unity and human rights for prisoners.

Personally, I am of course upset that a brother like Hugo was killed, by what I have to assume were some reactionary fascist minded prisoners. But truly what I mainly feel is sadness, profound sadness at this news.

Hugo Pinell is gone. His bid, his sentence is now ended. After 50 years of captivity, that is not a bad thing. Even as an elderly person, in his 70’s, Hugo Pinell died in the struggle. The hands that struck him down, it is reported, were prisoners, but the actual force that killed him was the capitalist police state prison system that holds 2.2 million men, women and children in captivity.

Hugo Pinell, we will remember you brother and your strong life long example of resistance. We will continue this resistance and this struggle for Freedom.

This is Jaan Laaman.” 10372-016 USP Tucson, AZ 85734

HPG: 43 soldiers and 6 police killed in actions by guerrillas (Kurdistan, Turkey)

From 325:

Guerrillas affiliated to HPG (People’s Defense Forces) and YJA Star (Free Women’s Troops) continue their actions in response to the ongoing attacks and operations by Turkish military forces.

Thursday, September 3, 2015 at 5:00 PM
BEHDINAN – ANF

Guerrillas affiliated to HPG (People’s Defense Forces) and YJA Star (Free Women’s Troops) continue their actions in response to the ongoing attacks and operations by Turkish military forces.

HPG Press Office reported that a total of 43 soldiers and 6 police were killed in actions by guerrillas.

According to the statement, guerrillas hold the road between Hakkari’s Yüksekova district and Geliyê Doskî area and the one between Mergê Zerê- Şıtaza and Oremar guard post since August 10.

Turkish army airdropped soldiers in Çelareşkê area at 10:00 on September 2 and started an operation in the area.

Responding to the military activity of Turkish troops, guerrillas hit from five sides the soldiers that attempted to enter Geliyê Doskî from Çelareşkê in three groups.

The action by guerrillas killed 10 soldiers in the first group, 5 in the second group and three in the third group.

Guerrillas hindered the Turkish troops that attempted to enter the area to remove the casualties after the action. While clashes in the area continued till 19:00 in the evening, Turkish army shelled Geliyê Doski area from guard posts in surrounding areas.

One soldier was killed in an assassination action conducted by guerrillas against soldiers at Şemzinan Brigade at 16:00 on September 1st.

On September 2, Turkish troops from Garê and Şemzinan Brigade guard posts launched an operation in Katûna, Helena and Garê triangle area in Hakkari’s Şemzinan (Şemdinli) district, the control of which had been taken by guerrillas on August 28.

Guerrillas hit the Cobra type helicopters that flew over the area at 07:00, and forced them to retreat.

A group of soldiers participating in the operation entered the area of guerrillas, upon which a short-lasting clash erupted.

Simultaneously with the operation, Turkish forces shelled the Helena-Katûna-Garê triangle, as well as Hill Geniş and Hill Konserve, in response to which guerrillas hit the Gare guard post. The Turkish operation in the area continues.

Guerrillas sabotaged and destroyed the Qaportê bridge between Yüksekova – Şemzinan districts of Hakkari at 00:00 on September 3rd.

In another action targeting hills held by Oremar guard post, guerrillas damaged one tank and one emplacement at 14:50 on August 2nd.

BASE STATION DESTROYED

Guerrillas destroyed a base station in Albayrak village in Van’s Başkale district at 21:00 on September 2nd.

One soldier was killed in an assassination action conducted by guerrillas against Kısımlı guard post in Başkale at 05:45 on September 2nd. One other soldier was killed as guerrillas also hit the soldiers that came to the scene in the wake of the action.

Guerrillas hit a military armored vehicle in Miks (Bahçesaray) district of Van on September 1st. The vehicle retreated from the area following a short-lasting clash.

A vehicle carrying supplies to Bêgendê guard post in Siirt’s Kurtalan district was burnt down at 13:30 on September 2nd.

19 SOLDIERS KILLED IN BESTA

A guerrilla unit was ambushed by Turkish soldiers in Çiyayê Fıllah area of Besta region on September 1st, upon which a clash erupted, lasting till 19:00 in the evening.

Intervening the scene with Cobra type helicopters at 16:00, Turkish troops at Gundıkê Mellê and Çelê Nımêja guard posts in Şırnak bombarded the area with howitzers and mortars. 15 soldiers were verified killed as guerrillas responded to the attacks. Details of the clashes will be announced later.

Martyr Kamuran team conducted an action against the soldiers guarding the security hill of Şırnak Brigade at 10:35 on September 2nd. Four soldiers were killed in the action which was carried out in memory of the four guerrillas fallen in Besta.

Guerrillas destroyed a base station in Şevasor village of Şırnak’s Silopi district at 22:00 on September 1st.

One soldier was killed in an assassination action conducted by guerrillas against Korxê guard post in Amed’s Lice district at 12:00 on September 2nd. Guerrillas also hit a container and tower in the post, but the casualties couldn’t be verified.

Turkish army airdropped soldiers onto Hill Zerga in Karas-Lice-Hani triangle area in Amed from 07:00 to 08:30 on September 2nd.

Guerrillas destroyed a base station in Yayla area in Bingöl’s Genç district at 21:30 on August 30.

ACTION IN MEMORY OF MARTYR DERSİM

Guerrillas conducted another action against Kanakder guard post in Bitlis in memory of Martry Dersim at 10:00 on September 2nd. Two soldiers were killed and one other was wounded in the action in which the entrance gate of the post was also hit.

Cobra type helicopters intensely shelled the scene at noon, while Sikorsky helicopters removed the casualties from the area.

SIX POLICE KILLED IN ELAZIĞ

As part of the ongoing actions in Martyr Rojhat Batman Initiative, Martyr Destan and Martyr Fırat Revenge teams conducted an action against police station in Kovancılar area of Elazığ at 20:15 on September 2nd. Six police were killed and many others were wounded as guerrillas hit the police group outside the station and the sentry boxes with rockets. The action was conducted in memory of Martyr Fırat, Martyr Destan, Martyr Cihand and Martyr Ekin Van.

On August 27, a team affiliated to HPG forces killed İsmet Tatar and his son who played a role in the murder of four guerrillas and many patriotic civilians in Şırnak’s Silopi district.

Building autonomy in Turkey and Kurdistan: an interview with Revolutionary Anarchist Action

From Corporate Watch:

In May this year, Corporate Watch researchers travelled to Turkey and Kurdistan to investigate the companies supplying military equipment to the Turkish police and army. We talked to a range of groups from a variety of different movements and campaigns

Below is the transcript of our interview with three members of the anarchist group Devrimci Anarşist Faaliyet (DAF, or Revolutionary Anarchist Action) in Istanbul during May 2015. DAF are involved in solidarity with the Kurdish struggle, the Rojava revolution and against ISIS’ attack on Kobane, and have taken action against Turkish state repression and corporate abuse. They are attempting to establish alternatives to the current system through self-organisation, mutual aid and co-operatives.

The interview was carried out in the run-up to the Turkish elections, and touches on the election campaign by the HDP, the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party. Soon after the interview took place, the HDP passed the threshold of 10% of the total vote needed to enter the Turkish parliament.

The DAF members – who all preferred to remain anonymous – began the interview by talking about the history of anarchism in the region:

DAF: We want to underline the relationship between the freedom struggle at the end of Ottoman times and the freedom struggles of Kurdistan.

In Ottoman times anarchists organised workers’ struggle in the main cities: Saloniki, Izmir, Istanbul and Cairo. For example [the Italian anarchist, Errico] Malatesta was involved in organizing industrial workers in Cairo. The freedom struggles of Armenia, Bulgaria and Greece had connections with anarchist groups. Alexander Atabekian, an important person in the Armenian freedom struggle, was an anarchist, translating leaflets into Armenian and distributing them. He was a friend of [the Russian anarchist, Peter] Kropotkin and distributed Kropotkin’s anarchist leaflets.

We are talking about this as we want to underline the importance of freedom struggles and to compare this to the importance of support for the Kurdish struggle.

Corporate Watch: What happened to anarchists after the Ottoman period?

DAF: Towards the end of the Ottoman Empire, at the end of the 19th century, Sultan Abdul Hamid II repressed the actions of anarchists in Turkey. He knew what anarchists were and took a special interest in them. He killed or deported anarchists and set up a special intelligence agency for this purpose.

Anarchists responded by carrying out attacks on the Yildiz Sarayi palace and with explosions at the Ottoman bank in Saloniki.

The government of the Ottoman Empire didn’t end at the Turkish republic. The fez has gone since but the system is still the same.

At the beginning of the [Kemalist] Turkish state [in 1923] many anarchists and other radicals were forced to emigrate or were killed. The CHP, Mustafa Kemal’s party, didn’t allow any opposition and there were massacres of Kurds.

From 1923 to 1980 there was not a big anarchist movement in Turkey due to the popularity of the socialist movements and the repression of the state.

The wave of revolutions from the 1960s to the ’80s affected these lands too. These were the active years of the social movements. During this period, there were revolutionary anti-imperialist movements caused by the Vietnam war, youth organizations, occupations of universities and increasing struggle of workers. These movements were Marxist-Leninist or Maoist, there were no anarchist movements.

In 1970 there was a long workers’ struggle. Millions of workers walked over a hundred kilometres from Kocaeli to Istanbul. Factories were closed and all the workers were on the streets.

CW: Was there any awareness of anarchism in Turkey at all at this time?

DAF: During these years many books were translated into Turkish from European radicalism but only five books about anarchism were translated, three of which were talking about anarchism in order to criticize it.

But in Ottoman times there had been many articles on anarchism in the newspapers. For example, one of the three editors of the İştirak newspaper was an anarchist. The paper published [Russian anarchist, Mikhail] Bakunin’s essays as well as articles on anarcho-syndicalism.

The first anarchist magazine was published in 1989. After this many magazines were published focusing on anarchism from different perspectives; for example, post structuralism, ecology, etc.

The common theme was that they were written for a small intellectual audience. The language of these magazines was too far away from the people. Most of those involved were connected with the universities or academia. Or they were ex-socialists affected by the fall of the Soviet Union, which was a big disappointment for many socialists. That’s why they began to call themselves anarchists, but we don’t think that this is a good way to approach anarchism, as a critique of socialism.

Between 2000 to 2005 people came together to talk about anarchism in Istanbul and began to ask: “how can we fight?”. At this time we guess that there were 50-100 anarchists living in Turkey and outside.

CW: Can you explain how DAF organises now?

DAF: Now we get 500 anarchists turning up for Mayday in Istanbul. We are in touch with anarchists in Antalya, Eskişehir, Amed, Ankara and İzmir. Meydan [DAF’s newspaper] goes to between 15 and 20 cities. We have a newspaper bureau in Amed, distributing newspapers all over Kurdistan. Until now, it is in Turkish but maybe one day, if we can afford it, we will publish it in Kurdish. We send Meydan to prisons too. We have a comrade in İzmir in prison and we send copies to over 15 prisoners.

A few months ago there was a ban on radical publications in prisons. We participated in demos outside prisons and we managed to make pressure about this and now newspapers are allowed to go into prisons again.

The main issue for DAF is to organise anarchism within society. We try to socialize anarchism with struggle on the streets. This is what we give importance to. For nearly nine years we have been doing this.

On an ideological level we have a holistic perspective. We don’t have a hierarchical perspective on struggles. We think workers’ struggle is important but not more important than the Kurdish struggle or women’s struggles or ecological struggles.

Capitalism tries to divide these struggles. If the enemy is attacking us in a holistic way we have to approach it in a holistic way.

Anarchy has a bad meaning for most people in society. It has a link with terrorism and bombs. We want to legitimize anarchism by linking it to making arguments for struggles against companies and for ecology. Sometimes we try to focus on the links between the state, companies and ecological damages, like the thing that Corporate Watch does.

We like to present anarchy as an organised struggle. We have shown people on the streets the organised approach to anarchism.

From 1989 to 2000 anarchism was about image. About wearing black, piercings and Mohicans. This is what people saw. After 2000, people started to see anarchists who were part of women’s struggles and workers’ struggles.

We are not taking anarchism from Europe as an imitation. Other anarchists have approached anarchism as an imitation of US or European anarchism or as an underground culture. If we want to make anarchist a social movement, it must change.

DAF’s collectives are Anarchist Youth, Anarchist Women, 26A cafe, Patika ecological collective and high school anarchist action (LAF). These self-organisations work together but have their own decision-making processes.

Anarchist Youth makes connections between young workers and university students and their struggles. Anarchist Women focuses on patriarchy and violence to women. For example, a woman was murdered by a man and set on fire last February. On 25 November there were big protests against violence against women.

LAF criticises education and schooling in itself and tries to socialize this way of thinking in high schools. LAF also looks at ecological and feminist issues, including when young women are murdered by their husbands.

PATIKA ecological collective protests against hydro electric dams in the Black Sea region or Hasankey [where the Ilisu dam is being built]. Sometimes there is fighting to prevent these plants from being built.

26A Café is a self organization focusing on anti-capitalist economy. Cafes were opened in 2009 in Taksim and 2011 in Kadıköy [both in Istanbul]. The cafes are run by volunteers. They are aimed at creating an economic model in the place where oppressed people are living. It’s important to show people concrete examples of an anarchist economy, without bosses or capitalist aims. We talk to people about why we don’t sell the big capitalist brands like Coca Cola. Of course the products we sell have a relation to capitalism but things like Coke are symbols of capitalism. We want to progress away from not-consuming and move towards alternative economies and ways of producing.

Another self organisation, PAY-DA – ‘Sharing and solidarity’ – has a building in Kadıköy, which is used for meetings and producing the Meydan newspaper. PAY-DA gives meals to people three times a day. It’s open to anarchists and comrades. The aim of PAY-DA is to become a cooperative, open to everybody. We try to create a bond which also involves the producers in the villages. We aim to have links with these producers and show them another economic model. We try to evolve these economic relations away from money relations. The producers are suffering from the capitalist economy. We are in the first steps of this cooperative and we are looking for producers to work with.

All of these projects are related to DAF’s ideology. This model has a connection with Malatesta’s binary model of organization.

These are anarchist organizations but sometimes people who aren’t anarchists join these struggles because they know ecological or women’s struggles, and then at the end they will learn about anarchism. It’s an evolving process.

As DAF we are trying to organise our lives. This is the only way that we can touch the people who are oppressed by capitalism.

There is also the Conscientious Objectors’ Association, which is organised with other groups, not just anarchists. Our involvement in this has a relation with our perspective on Kurdistan. We organize anti-militarist action in Turkey outside of military bases on 15 May, conscientious objector’s day. In Turkey the military is related to state culture. If you don’t do your military duty, you won’t find a job and it’s difficult to find someone to marry because they ask if you’ve been to the army. If you have been to the army, you’re a ‘man’. People see the state as the ‘Fatherland’. On your CV they ask whether you did military service. ‘Every Turk is born a soldier’ is a popular slogan in Turkey.

CW: Is Kemalism [the ideology associated with Mustafa Kemal] as strong a force as it used to be?

DAF: Kemalism is still a force in schools but the AKP has changed this somewhat. The AKP has a new approach to nationalism focused on the Ottoman Empire. It emphasises Turkey’s ‘Ottoman roots’. But Erdoğan still says that we are ‘one nation, one state, one flag and one religion.’. There is still talk about Mustafa Kemal but not as much as before. Now you cannot criticize Erdoğan or Atatürk [the name used for Kemal by Turkish nationalists]. It’s the law not to criticize Atatürk and the unwritten rule not to criticize Erdoğan. The media follows these rules.

CW: Can you talk about your perspective on the Kurdish freedom struggle?

Kurdish freedom struggles didn’t start with Rojava. Kurdish people have had struggles for hundreds of years against the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish state.

Since the start of DAF we have seen Kurdistan as important for propaganda and education.

Our perspective relates to people’s freedom struggles. The idea that people can create federations without nations, states and empires. The Turkish state says the issue is a Kurdish problem, but for us it is not a Kurdish problem, it’s an issue of Turkish policies of assimilation. It’s obvious that since the first years of the Turkish republic the assimilation of Kurdish people has not stopped. We can see this from the last Roboski massacre [of 34 Kurdish cross-border traders by Turkish F16s on 28 December 2011] by the state during the ‘peace process’. We can see this in the denial of Kurdish identity or the repeated massacres. Making people assimilate to be a Turk and making the propaganda of nationalism.

The AKP [the ruling Justice and Development Party] say they have opened Kurdish TV channels, allowed Kurdish language and that we are all brothers and sisters, but on the other hand we had the Roboski massacre which occurred during their government. In 2006 there was government pressure on Erdoğan at a high level. Erdoğan said that women and children would be punished who go against Turkish policies. Over 30 children were murdered by police and army.

The words change but the political agenda continues, just under a new government. We do not call ourselves Turkish. We come from many ethnic origins and Kurdish is one of them. Our involvement in conscientious objection is part of this perspective. We want to talk to people to prevent people from going to the army to kill their brothers and sisters.

After the 2000s there has been an ideological change in the Kurdish freedom struggle. The Kurdish organizations no longer call themselves Marxist-Leninist and Öcalan has written a lot about democratic confederalism. This is important, but our relation to Kurdish people is on the streets.

CW: Can you talk about DAF’s work in solidarity with people in Rojava?

In July 2012 at the start of the Rojava revolution, people began saying that it was a stateless movement. We have been in solidarity from the first day of the revolution. Three cantons have declared their revolution in a stateless way. We try to observe and get more information. This is not an anarchist revolution but it is a social revolution declared by the people themselves.

Rojava is a third front for Syria against Assad, ISIS and other Islamic groups. But these are not the only groups that the revolution is faced with. The Turkish republic is giving support for ISIS from its borders. The national intelligence agency of the Turkish republic appears to be giving weapons to ISIS and other Islamic groups. Kurdish people declared the revolution under these circumstances.

After the ISIS attack on Kobane began [in 2014] we went to Suruç. We waited at the border as Turkish forces were attacking people crossing. When people wanted to cross the border to or from Kobane they were shot. We stayed there to provide protection.

In October, people gathered near Suruç, and broke through the border. Turkish tanks shot gas over the border at them.

From 6 to 8 October there were Kobane solidarity demonstrations across Turkey. Kader Ortakya, a Turkish socialist supporter of Kobane, was shot dead trying to cross the border.

We helped people. Some people crossed the border from Kobane and had no shelter. We prepared tents, food and clothes for them. Sometimes soldiers came to the villages with tear gas and water cannons and we had to move. Some people came through the border searching for their families and we helped them. Other people came, wanting to cross the border and fight and we helped them. We wore clothing that said we were from DAF on it.

The YPG and YPJ [‘People’s Protection Units’ of Rojava, the YPJ is a women’s militia] pushed ISIS back day by day. Mıştenur hill was very important for Kobane. After the hill was taken by the YPG and YPJ some people wanted to return to Kobane. When they went back their houses had been destroyed by ISIS. Some houses were mined and some people have been killed by the mines. The mines need to be cleared, but by who and how? People need new houses and help. We have had conferences and talked about how to help Kobane. There was a conference two weeks ago in Amed.

CW: What is your position on the elections?

DAF: We do not believe in parliamentary democracy. We believe in direct democracy. We do not support the HDP in the election, but we have links in solidarity with them on the streets.

Emma Goldman said that if elections changed anything they would be illegal. There are good people in the HDP who say good things, but we think that the government can’t be good because the election system isn’t equal.

In Rojava they do not call it an anarchist revolution, but theres no government, no state and no hierarchy, so we believe in it and have solidarity with it.

Can you tell us about the bombing in Suruç [we asked this final question by email weeks after the original interview

Over 30 young people who wanted to take part in reconstruction of Kobane were killed by an ISIS attack. This attack was clearly organised by the Turkish State. They did not even do anything to stop it although they got the information of the attack one month before. Moreover, after the explosion the Turkish State has attacked Rojava and made operations against political organisations in Turkey. Now there are many operations and political pressures on anarchists and socialists and Kurdish organisations. They are using the explosion as a reason to make this political repression on both the domestic and international levels.

We have lost our 33 comrades, friends who struggled for the Rojava Revolution against the state’s repression, denial and politics of massacre. There are people who are killed by state, ISIS and other powers. But our resistance won’t stop, our struggle will continue, as always in history.

Title picture taken from the Crimethinc website

Attack against Turkish general consulate in Zurich (Switzerland)

From 325:

In the night of the 25.8. to the 26.8.2015, we attacked a car on the terrain of the Turkish general consulate at the Weinbergstrasse 65 in Zurich with an explosive device after the Turkish state launched a massive attack against progressive forces in the region with cover from the USA, NATO and the Barzani clan in Iraq in the past weeks. We are in solidarity with the struggle for a free Rojava and the struggle of the revolutionary movement in Turkey!

After a long period of a strategy of tension and the massacre in Suruc on July 20th (where more than 30 comrades from different political tendencies died and dozens were injured), the Turkish state has launched an open attack against the progressive movement. On the one hand, this represents continuity in the collaboration of the AKP with the “Islamic State” and in the struggle of the AKP against progressive forces. Since the city of Kobane on the Syrian-Turkish border was massively attacked by the “IS” in the fall of last year and the military contention around Kobane and the liberation of the city became international focal points for the revolutionary process, it has been shown time and time again how the Turkish state aids the gangs of “IS” while those fighting with the YPG/J are hindered. This was shown exemplary in the treatment of the wounded from Syria. While those supporting “IS” could be transported to Turkey withouth hindrance and didn’t have much to fear, fighters of the YPG/J had to be smuggled across the border and had to fear being arrested while in the hospital bed. Recently, six YPG/J fighters were even extradited to the Al-Nusra-Front by Turkey! Other examples are the refusal of a humanitarian corridor to Kobane for medicine or food, the documented shipments of weapons by the Turkish secret service MIT to the “IS” or the obvious acceptance of recruitment centres of the “IS” in Turkey. In this sense, the attack in Suruc on July 20th (while Kobane was attacked in parallel with car bombs) which was only possible with the support of the MIT and other security institutions of the Turkish state in this city was only the consistent continuation of AKP-politics against the movement.

On the other hand, this attack was of course also an escalation, a qualitative change in the attack against the revolutionary movement in the region. It wasn’t the first attack by “IS” against progressive forces in Turkey within the context of a strategy of tension (for example the bombs against events of the legal HDP or the sneaky attack against Kobane on June 25th from Turkish soil), but in it’s quality and goals targeting the solidarity explicitly, this attack was different to previous ones. This is also shown in the subsequent actions of the AKP government after this attack. The massacre of Suruc was the kick-off to a broad attack of the Turkish state against all revolutionary forces (prior to this attack, the state attacked the movement via “IS”, now it attacks openly).

This broad attack is presumably driven by (at least) two motivations. On the one hand, Erdogans speculates that in a climate of war and fear the AKP will gain the votes necessary to introduce a presidential system of their liking. On the other hand, it is certainly also the case that a chance was seen to try to halt the revolutionary process in the region. Beside the geo-strategisch importance of the region as it is, where it is in the interest of imperialist forces to have forces in power that favor them (like the Barzani clan in northern Iraq), the struggle for Kobane and then Rojava has reached a political dimension which must be a pain for those in power. Because the struggle there shows that a perspective is possible which stands outside of capitalist or imperial logic. It is important to not neglect this dimension when trying to evaluate the current situation.

In this sense, it is only consistent when the USA and the NATO approves of the airstrikes by Turkey against Qandil or the attacks by the police and military against cities and neighborhoods with a strong presence of revolutionary forces. Not only because they were allowed the use of the airfield Incirlik in Turkey, but also because it would fit their agenda if Rojava were governed by forces like the Barzani clan, who have proven in their history to be loyal to imperialist forces.

Despite or maybe even because of the growing complexity of the conflict in the region, the fundamentals shall not be forgotten. The movement in Rojava is an emancipatory moment with an incredible power, it is not the time to stand aside but to support this path in solidarity. The same is valid for the revolutionary forces in Turkey whose strengthening has been helped by the experiences in the struggle around Gezi-Park and now by the inspiration from Rojava. Confronted with the attacks against them by the Turkish state which also consist of executing militants, we must of course support them.

International solidarity is practical and not dependent on seasonal fluctuation but driven by the necessity of actions because of political reference points and principals. We don’t stand here today and there tomorrow, but at the side of the revolutionary forces fighting for a society with socialist elements. There exist different forms of international solidarity, one was the support of the defense of Kobane through massive pressure from the streets of Europe, others are the support of the military struggle (as in the context of the International Freedom Brigade) or in the reconstruction of the destroyed cities (as was the campaign targeted on July 20th in Suruc, carried by the federation of socialist youth groups and bringing together different forces). Finally it can be a contribution to push forward the revolutionary process here and connect it to the revolutionary process there to advance together.

Solidarity and power to all fighters for a free Rojava!
Solidarity and power to all fighting for a revolutionary perspective!

For a revolutionary perspective

Political Prisoner Birthday Poster For September 2015 Is Now Available

From Prison Books Collective:

Hello Friends and Comrades,

1) Here is the political prisoner birthday poster for September. As always, please post this poster publicly and/or use it to start a card writing night of your own.

2) We’ve put the text online of our new zine How To Start A Prison Books Collective. We hope that this humble contribution will help other prison books groups get started and expand the important work of sending political, legal, and self-educational resources to prisoners. You can find the text here.

3) The Prison Ecology Project has extended its online fundraiser. They are creating tools to dismantle toxic prisons. So far, they are the only group focused on the intersection of environment and mass incarceration. Currently they are building a database of the five thousand prisons and jails around the country, finding the weak points in the environmental realm, and providing tools to organize locally. You can donate here.

4) Michael Kimble is up for parole in December and we are trying to get people to write letters to the parole board on his account.

Michael is a gay, black anarchist imprisoned in Alabama since 1986 for murdering a racist homophobe. He has been active for much of that time in prison organizing and rebellion. In recent years, he has been involved in hunger and work strikes in Alabama, working with the Free Alabama Movement. Michael has suffered severe consequences for his uncompromising attitude, including numerous stints in solitary (where he currently is held). Despite this, he remains committed to struggle against prison and the state.

Please, if you can, write the parole board and help get Michael free. Also, please spread this information using whatever media have available to you. Here’s a link to Michael‘s website, with a write-up on how to support his parole.

5) On Wednesday, August 12th, long term political prisoner, Hugo “Yogi Bear” Pinell was murdered. The context for his murder remains unclear, save for the fact that it happened in the midst of a prison riot.

In the early 1970s, while imprisoned in San Quentin State Prison, Hugo Pinell made contact with revolutionary prisoners such as George Jackson, one of the Soledad Brothers, and W.L. Nolen. On August 21, 1971, there was a prisoner uprising in Pinell’s housing unit at San Quentin, led by George Jackson. On that date, Jackson used a pistol to take over his tier in the Adjustment Center. At the end of the roughly 30 minute rebellion, guards had killed George Jackson, and two other prisoners and three guards were dead. Of the remaining prisoners in the unit, six of them, including Pinell, were put on trial for murder and conspiracy. Together, they were known as The San Quentin Six. Three of them were acquitted of all charges, and three were found guilty of various charges. Pinell was convicted of assault on a guard. For more on Hugo Pinell’s life and death see this excellent article from the San Francisco Bay View.

6) Be sure to check out the latest Political Prisoner/Prisoner Of War every-other week update by the  NYC-Anarchist Black Cross. There are lots of important updates on many political prisoners. This one includes updates on Jeremy Hammond, Barrett Brown, Memorials for Hugo Pinell, poetry and more.

Until Every Cage Is Empty,

The Prison Books Collective

Three dead, dozens wounded in police attack on Yüksekova

From JINHA:

COLEMÊRG – In the Kurdish town of Yüksekova, Turkish police and soldiers have attacked neighborhoods where residents formed self-defense units. Three are dead.

As the Turkish state escalated its attacks on Kurdish citizens, residents of the town of Yüksekova formed self-defense units in several neighborhoods. Yesterday night at 11:30 p.m., the provincial governor declared a curfew in the town. Five minutes later, police and soldiers launched an attack.

The attack began with a mortar bombardment on civilian areas. As military armored vehicles entered the neighborhoods, violent clashes began.

Clashes lasted from 11:35 p.m. until 7:00 this morning. Electricity and telephone lines went out in the neighborhood as the sounds of explosions rose from the streets. Residents of other neighborhoods chanted slogans of support until the morning came.

At least three people have died in the attack. More than ten have been wounded, some seriously. Residents have looked after the wounded in their homes. With the first light today, hundreds headed to the Orman neighborhood, the center of the clashes. Security forces opened fire on the crowd from armored vehicles. However, the crowd overcame police barricades to treat those wounded on the barricades. Mosques issued a call from their speakers for all Yüksekovans to come to the aid of the wounded. Police withdrew to main roads.

Gunshots continue to echo in the area, where clashes are ongoing. Many homes have been destroyed.

Prisons and the Struggles Against Them (regularly updated)

From Dialectical Delinquents:

This page will be subject to regular updates, most notably in the chronology , but also in giving references to interesting texts. So far (22/8/15), in addition to the chronology , I’ve only put in a couple of minor personal experiences related to prison which follows the chronology, and
some other reading material , which will be added to bit by bit. But I wanted to put this out in time for this week’s “solidarity with anarchist prisoners”. 

This is dedicated to Keith LaMar, who in 1993 took part in a prison uprising which united blacks with white “nazis” 1 against the prison system, in which 9 prisoners and one guard died. Keith LaMar has just had his final appeal against the death penalty turned down, and it looks very likely that, after over 22 years, he will be murdered by the state  (look here).

Pictures of the Gordon riots in London 1780, when several prisons were liberated and the buildings set on fire

I’ve put this out as a kind of contribution to the International week of solidarity with anarchist prisoners  (23-30 August). A bit tokenistic maybe – as it’s only an internet page, but  if there’s something going on in my part of the world (Montpellier, France) I’ll probably participate.

And whilst I really like, for instance, this from Emma Sheppard, why limit this solidarity to “anarchist prisoners”? Though obviously people who call themselves anarchists (I’m not one) are more in a position to express practical solidarity with prisoners who they know, do all those prisoners that they know call themselves anarchists? And on the most general level of information and propaganda, it seems  far more worthwhile to address all prisoners, considering the necessity for the abolition of prisons and of the society that requires them. Addressing only anarchist prisoners does not contribute to the necessity to overcome separations between “political” prisoners and other class war prisoners (and the vast majority of those in prison are because of class society, especially property laws). It seems to make a hierarchy between apparently “politically conscious” prisoners and others, even though most anarchists want the abolition of prisons. Which is why below I’ve listed a chronology of all prison-related riots, escapes and other things taken from my News of Opposition page, dating back to March 2013, regardless of whether they involved anarchists or not.

***

Amongst those who claim to want an anti-state revolution, there have been  some who  believe that “after the revolution” there will still be specialists-in-order (anarcho-cops) and prisons. For instance,  leading Libcom admin member Fall Back once called for, “far more complex, modern, well resourced kinds of ‘prisons’ with more progressive aims than currently exist…”communist prisons” …would be a place where people had broken laws would be forcibly detained”. 2 To talk about communist prisons being entirely different from capitalist prisons is like saying the communist State will be entirely different from the capitalist State: here so-called “anarchism” joins Leninism. Incarcerating anti-social leftovers of the mad alienation of class society (the recalcitrant ex-cops, ex-screws, mass-murdering politicians, mass-thieving bourgeoises, rapists, paedophiles, etc.) all in the same hellhole is obviously idiotic. If elements of communal constraint are necessary they will have nothing to do with the brutal repressive reality of prisons throughout history. To think that we’d call such forcible restraint a ‘prison’ is like calling ‘workers’ councils’ (or whatever term you’d like to imagine the future fantasy society to be) ‘the State’ or ‘the government’. This is not just a question of semantic terms but of a break with hierarchical notions and practices of social control. Killing scum is not the same as capital punishment. Forcible restraint is not the same as prison. A margin of rationing (where scarcity is not forced by capitalist property relations but comes about because of, for example, differences between different geographical areas) is not money. Obviously in this future possibility there will be some way of punishing people who act in ways the community they’re part of find unbearable. But it’s not just semantics that separates, say, “grounding” a teenage kid from the idea of putting him/her in prison, but a general attitude that you want social relations to constantly experiment with changes that have some healthy result. If we talk about the abolition of the State that also means abolishing specialists in social control; the task of determining the methods of making it clear to people that certain behaviour is unacceptable will be the task of the whole of the anti-hierarchical community. To ground this in the past and present: what punishments have we received or given that we considered changed a situation for the good? What punishments during intense moments of class struggle have changed situations for the good? What punishments are we prepared to mete out to those we consider beyond the pale? To anyone not clogged up with dominant perspectives, prison isn’t an answer to any of these.

Chronology

This is a chronology of prison riots, hunger strikes and other prison-related matter taken from the News of Opposition page, going back to March 2013.

18/8/15:

Australia, New South Wales: 10 hours of freedom

17/8/15:

South Africa, Gauteng: 5 prisoners awaiting trial escape

14/8/15:

Germany, Leipzig: court spray-painted in support of prisoners

Syria, Hama: hundreds of prisoners riot against conditions “…furniture and equipment ransacked and beds turned into barricades to sealed iron gates…. inmates, mostly held on terror-related charges and for joining protests against the state, took control of several major wards and ransacked prison quarters.“

Iran, Tehran: over 500 on hunger strike in new prison

12/8/15:

US, California: riot follows prisoner’s killing of Hugo Pinell, one of the San Quentin 6 politicised prisoners of 1971, a man who’d killed a screw Though this is pure speculation – maybe this was manipulated by screws…? And this seems to confirm something like that…More here “This is revenge,” declared his close friend, fellow Black Panther veteran Kiilu Nyasha, on Hard Knock Radio Aug. 13. “They hated him as much as George Jackson. They beat him constantly, kept him totally isolated for 46 years – no window, no sunlight – but they could never break him, and that’s why they hated him. “The only way he survived was that this man was full of love….He participated in the hunger strikes and applauded the Agreement to End Hostilities, authored by 16 of his comrades, Black, Brown and White, and dated Aug. 12, 2012, three years to the day before he was killed. It has nearly erased racial violence from California prisons.“

10/8/15:

Palestine, Jerusalem: activists occupy Red Cross in support of hunger striking prisoner

31/7/15:

Iran, Tehran: 500 on hunger strike in new prison

29/7/15:

US, Arkansas: riot at prison causes hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of improvement

29/7/15:

Eire, Dublin: prisoners take to the roof, riot “…two inmates remained on the prison roof staging a protest. They accessed the roof at around 11am, followed some time later by a linked protest at the B Yard in the west Dublin prison. Some 60 inmates in the yard refused to leave at 12pm. Prison authorities identified a core of 15 ringleaders, who …demolished soccer goals and used the metal posts, along with security razor wiring, as improvised weapons.” At the same time some of the prisoners take hostage and beat up an Afghani refugee.

28/7/15:

Australia, Melbourne: another fire at prison famous for its earlier riot

24/7/15:

UK, Surrey: prison riot

France, Yvelines: report of designer clothes manufacturer-cum-prisoner using his past to gain street cred and trying to calm down angry youths after constant on-off mini-riots “This man in his thirties is known to all here. He is extremely active on social networks and in recent months has launched his clothing brand called “For youv”. All this from … his  prison cell  where he’s been  incarcerated for almost thirteen years after a series of robberies. “My past allows me to be credible to those kids”, says youv, who was given permission to organise a barbecue [presumably outside prison] “Burning cars, throwing stones at the police, I did it! And today I am in prison. And believe me, prison is not really an example. ” Sitting in the middle of a group of teenagers consuming a merguez sausage or emptying a coke, the young man commands respect. The kids listen in silence, in awe…. The discussion continues for several minutes. The tone is never preachy. He warns, pacifies, without pointing the finger at one youth or another. “I do not want to appoint blame, I do not want to be in a confrontation. I just use my little notoriety to make things happen in my own way, ” insists youv.  An intervention that could possibly bear fruit amongst this very young audience who are not very sensitive to traditional prevention messages.“

23/7/15:

Algeria, Ouargla: youths attack courtroom and cops after arrests on previous day’s riot “…Comrades [of those previously arrested] … moved to Ouargla Court demanding their immediate release, without further ado …Young people decided to throw stones and other objects at the windows of the court in a sudden escalation of violence which sparked a forceful intervention from the security forces to deter attackers from crossing the boundary wall of the court and to protect the public building. The clashes lasted a good half hour before the youths were pushed outside the perimeter of the court which also has several banks, tax management, the headquarters of the wilaya [kind of prefecture] and the operational area of ​​the army ….The authorities had to close their doors, several businesses pulled down their shutters before the street regained its composure.“

17/7/15:

Germany, Berlin: security company car burnt, culmination of other anti-political attacks on cars

15/7/15:

Argentina, Wallmapu: indigenous prisoners in Great Escape

11/7/15:

UK, London: SWP/SYRIZA meeting disrupted by anarchist prisoner solidarity group

9/7/15:

Argentina, Tucuman: 20 youths attack police station with sticks and stones, burn or smash 3 cars belonging privately to cops and 2 hijacked vehicles According to this, this attack was made by friends and family of someone who died of asphyxiation in a prison.

5/7/15:

US, Arizona: I have only one burning desire – let me stand next to your fire

4/7/15:

US, Arizona: July 4th celebrations prison-style “Problems began July 2 in the medium-security Hualapai Unit of the Arizona State Prison Complex-Kingman when inmates were “non-compliant and caused significant damage” in two housing areas”

South Africa, North West: Famous 5 On Adventure Holiday 

2/7/15:

US: Arizona: 2nd night of riot in prison “In Wednesday’s incident, a small group of minimum security inmates were chasing down an inmate when prison staff intervened to stop the assault, Wilder said. The inmates assaulted the officers, and six officers suffered minor injuries.,.. it took a couple of hours to get the prisoners back to their housing units…Thursday’s incident involved many more inmates and turned into a full-blown riot involving an unknown number of inmates…. It took many hours for prison staff and Department of Corrections officers to bring the situation under control, and the prison wasn’t secured until early Friday morning, Wilder said. Three guards were hurt.”

Mexico, Mexico City: prisoners’ hunger strike now in 6th day Pi writes: “A declaration on the sixth day of hunger strike of the “Informal Coordination of Prisoners in Resistance” by Fernando Bárcenas, an anarchist jailed and accused of having burnt a coca-cola tree during a movement against the rise of metro ticket prices. What is pretty interesting is that this new declaration (several have been issued during these last days) clearly states they’re against all prisons and the distinction between “political prisoners” and others.” See 27/6/15 for original declaration.

1/7/15:

Australia, Melbourne: there’s no smoking ban without fire “Fire crews have returned to the scene of a blaze at the Metropolitan Remand Centre in Ravenhall, a day after inmates rioted and lit fires at the prison. At least nine CFA and MFB crews were dispatched to the prison about 11am on Wednesday. The incident was declared over and the fire labelled “safe” about 12.20pm…Five inmates were injured when police clashed with as many as 50 armed prisoners in an operation to end the riot about 3am.  Heavily armed police used tear gas, the dog squad and other tactics to quell the riot. Rampaging inmates lit fires, rammed an exit door, and penetrated a control room after guards came under attack at 12.20pm on Tuesday at the prison, 20 kilometres west of Melbourne. …Guards first came under attack at 12.20pm on Tuesday. Up to 300 inmates are believed to have been involved in the riot, but many surrendered to police or prison staff as the situation escalated. More than 100 were still on the loose in the centre at nightfall. They had armed themselves with makeshift weapons found in prison workshops, including metal bars and planks of wood….Several vehicles were believed to have been torched in the rampage, while a fence that divided rival outlaw motorcycle gangs was ripped down at the prison, 20 kilometres west of Melbourne.” More here. “Heavily-armed police quelled a riot involving up to 300 inmates at an Australian jail on Wednesday over the introduction of a smoking ban, with a handful of prisoners injured. Melbourne’s Metropolitan Remand Centre remains in lockdown after the 15-hour disturbance when doors were smashed, fires lit and some inmates armed themselves with sticks and iron bars from the jail’s agricultural sheds. Three prison staff received minor injuries and five inmates were taken to hospital, some with dog bites, after police moved in during the early hours of the morning, reportedly using tear gas. Brett Collins, a former prisoner and spokesman for Justice Action, an advocacy group targeting abuse of authority, called the ban “bullying” and “a denial of their rights”. “People are just totally outraged… they have very little to lose” Nearly $8m. worth of damage to state infrastructure “The protest… has on Thursday been described as causing the biggest damage bill from a jail outbreak in Australia….”Everything in there is destroyed, including prisoner files over 20 years old,” the source said. “From what I understand, there is not one thing in that prison that didn’t get broken. I think it was well thought out.”” This report shows that authorities knew that prisoners would riot

30/6/15:

Australia, Melbourne: 300 prisoners riot against smoking ban

27/6/15:

Mexico, Mexico City: prisoners’ hunger strike by the “Informal Coordination of Prisoners in Resistance” begins Very rough translation:

“Today, June 27th, a hunger strike of several prisoners in different prisons of Mexico City has begun. Strike demands focus on…torture and abuse in prisons and the actions of the Commission on Human Rights in the City, the institution which is the prison authorities’ accomplice . Likewise the business conducted with inmates through their sexual exploitation is denounced.

Beyond the differences in methods and strategies (for us prison should not be improved or reformed, but it must be destroyed), in solidarity with the comrades in struggle they …call upon all related organizations, groups and individuals to express solidarity.

Collective Hunger Strike

Informal coordination of Prisoners  in Resistance.

For the following demands:

1) Cease the abuse and torture in all prisons either by word or deed.

2) Termination of the silent repression exercised by the institution in collaboration with the CDHDF (Human Rights Commission of the Federal District)

3) For the people to stop all contact with jailers and / or officials who have been denounced for mistreatment.

4) Total rejection of the austerity measures that are being implemented worldwide, in prisons by various tendencies of economic and political interests.

5) Application of the  Istanbul Protocol on torture to all inmates.

6) Clarification and withdrawal of penal article 148/201H from the sentenced comrade  Jose Santiago Hernández who was sentenced and imprisoned for eight months before reaching his age of majority.

7) That due respect and consideration to the families of the prisoners when they are in the prisons is maintained.

8) No more illicit enrichment, based on the exploitation of prisoners.

9) No more illicit enrichment by officials based on the sexual exploitation of women and men interned in prisons.

10) Breaking the relationship of complicity between the administration and the medical unit; no more neglect and inhuman treatment.

11) Open more opportunities for cultural recreation and artistic projection and paid work for prisoners; the few that exist are elitist ​​and conditioned by the administration.

12) Waiver of staff who actively shapes the Technical Board in all prisons in Mexico City and generate the necessary mechanisms to eliminate corruption and authoritarianism of management and custody.

13) Let us not be judged or repressed for the activities that we protest about because we have always been incited by the malfunction of the penal institution.

14) No more violations of personal data and correspondence for the purpose of extortion, kidnapping, intimidation and confiscation of information material.

Also we denounce the confinement and incommunicado detention that is practiced against fellow prisoner Jessi Alejandro Montaño and we’ll carry out a day of struggle and resistance to make our mark against ignorance and our rejection of prison authority. Side by side with our brothers and sisters,  face to face with the enemy!”

23/6/15:

Lebanon, Beirut: prison riot

21/6/15:

Belgium, Nivelles: 7 prisoners in rooftop protest “Their anger is linked to the recent arrival of a fellow prisoner, who enjoys the favours of the prison governor.”

18/6/15:

Canada, Ontario: 6 hour riot in maximum insecurity prison ” Inmates at the maximum security facility in Penetanguishene, Ont., erupted into a random riot Thursday, destroying meal hatch doors, cell doors, phones, duct work and garbage bins in a six-hour incident that was only resolved when a tactical team used pepper spray.”

French Guyana: 2nd prison mutiny in 2 days Prisoners refuse to return to their cells, demand improved health conditions (there are rats and coackroaches in the cells), more interesting social activity, end of abuse by guards. More prisoners (189) in protest  than Tuesday’s (see 16/6/15).

17/6/15:

Trinidad & Tobago, Arouca: prison riot “Five officers were badly beaten … Officers were stabbed and one officer’s teeth were broken. T&T Guardian was informed that the prisoners were in possession of weapons crafted by the prisoners. These include shanks made out of tooth brushes and metal objects. The prisoners have barricaded themselves in an area in the prison. The officer said the prisoners have created shields to prevent the officers from harming them if the riot police were to enter. …many prison officers do not want to engage with the prisoners because they fear for their lives. Members of the Riot squad are standing by at Golden Grove to assist if prison officers are unable to contain the situation. A prisoner informed T&T Guardian that the riot ensued following an incident where the prisoners were soaked with water and an Imam was badly beaten inside the prison”

16/6/15:

Egypt, Cairo: arson attack on government building made by black blockers in solidarity with tortured prisoners

French Guyana: 74 prisoners refuse to return to cells in protest especially against screw’s union (Force Ouvriere) starving them by blocking food delivery

14/6/15:

UK, Rutland: 6 hour riot by about 100 prisoners “Up to 60 prison inmates attacked officers and started fires during a six hour riot at the weekend…It would appear there were over 100 prisoners involved in the riot”……More here “A prison officer has been hurt in a riot in Rutland involving scores of inmates. Police and fire crews were called in after small blazes were lit during the disturbance. Order was not restored until screws  specially-trained in brutal methods of inflicitng pain intervened. The defender of ruling class “justice” who was assaulted was treated in hospital and discharged on Sunday night, while four prisoners were taken to hospital  after a savage beating, and two screws were treated for smoke inhalation.  Around 30 inmates have been transferred to other prisons far away from friends and relatives to be beaten by cowards in uniform. A Prison Service PR manipulator said: “A serious incident of insubordinate lack of servilitiy  on one wing at HMP Stocken was resolved by a specially trained gang of ruling class protection racketeers. ….” [translated from the original Massmediatese]

13/6/15:

US, Missouri: 31 railway wagons carrying coal derailed  – part of solidarity with anarchist prisoners, apparently (see discussion below this latter article on how useful/stupidly dangerous such actions are/could be)

12/6/15:

Belgium, Brussels: arson attack on prison building company

9/6/15:

France, Val d’Oise: small deliberate fire, screws attacked, in prison…Limoges: 10 Eurovia-Vinci construction engines destroyed by arson Damage is estimated at over a million euros.  Threats have been made and sent to various companies involved in building the airport of Notre-Dame-des-Landes. Among the listed companies, there were Eurovia and Vinci. Vinci is particularly involved in the construction of prisons.

Limoges

8/6/15:

Thailand: prison revolt; 1 prisoner killed, 5 guards injured, as prisoners protest overcrowding etc.

7/6/15:

Kyrgyzstan, Bishtek: prison riot over failure of doctor to turn up

Brazil, Rio: 2 die in prison riot over overcrowding More here “The riot broke out in the Governador Valadares prison of the Minas Gerais state during visiting hours on Saturday morning and ended after a 21-hour standoff, leaving two inmates dead, according to the local Social Defense Secretariat. During the incident, a group of inmates broke security railings and invaded administration offices to protest the overcrowding of the prison, which, with a capacity for 290, holds some 800 inmates. In the end police launched an operation to regain control, using tear gas bombs and a helicopter”

6/6/15:

…Bedfordshire: fence round Yarls Wood prison for migrants torn down

US, New York: 2 prisoners have a nice day

31/5/15:

US, Florida: riot in teenage girls’ detention centre “One of the girls managed to steal keys from a member of the detention staff, enabling them to open doors inside the facility and allowing the other defendants to engage in multiple counts of battery”

28/5/15:

Nigeria, Zaria: prison riot

27/5/15:

Brazil, Caruaru: 2 teenagers killed in mattress-burning riot at prison for juveniles

France, Paris: JCDecaux (company collaborating in prison building) truck burnt out

26/5/15:

France, New Caledonia: prison riot following suicide

19/5/15:

US, California: 200 prisoners riot (not at all clear what this was about or what happened)

16/5/15:

UK, Wrexham: engines of construction equipment for site of proposed new prison (Europe’s 2nd largest) destroyed “The mega-prison, if built, will cage more than 2100 human beings at any one time. Multiple large diggers and construction equipment had their engines destroyed. Slogans were sprayed on the half-built prison fences including ‘Fuck Lend Lease’ and ‘Fire to the Prisons’. This is a warning to any company large or small that that is involved in the North Wales Prison Project, or any other prison building scheme that the state initiates. You are a target and you will feel the venom of the working classes fighting back.”

13/5/15:

Russia, Bashkortostan: 2nd prison riot against phoney enquiry into 1st “More than 100 inmates held at a maximum-security prison in the city of Salavat in Bashkortostan, also known as Bashkiria, broke windows and wreaked havoc, some of them climbing onto the roof on the security guards’ dormitory”

11/5/15:

Zimbabwe, Harare:  prison riot, 5 dead (no real information here)

10/5/15:

US, Nebraska: prison riot as 2 prisoners are found dead“Several disruptions followed in various housing units, resulting in small fires and property damage, prison officials said. … “The inmates have taken over the prison.” More here“We’ve pretty much taken the whole prison,” Frank told the newspaper. He said that no prison employees were inside the housing unit and described the scene, saying: “The ceilings are fallen. There’s drywall on fire. There’s cameras torn down,” according to the Journal Star.Foster told the Omaha World-Herald that inmates had gained access to an office with a phone. At some point during the disturbance, a second inmate was injured by a rubber projectile”

9/5/15:

Iraq, Baghdad: prison riot – 6 cops & 30 prisoners dead; 40 escape

6/5/15:

Russia, Nizhny Novgorod: riot of prisoners with TB “…at least one prisoner has been killed and 15 injured as a result of a riot at a prison facility for inmates with tuberculosis…eight inmates were seriously injured….Authorities said about 100 inmates set fire to two facilities on May 6, smashed security cameras, broke furniture, and attacked other prisoners…. tuberculosis-afflicted prisoners have been forced to work up to 12 hours a day there.”

4/5/15:

US, California: prison riot (no context for this riot) More here

28/4/15:

US, Seattle: juvenile prison construction truck burnt in solidarity with Baltimore

19/4/15:

US, New York State (Fingerlakes): riot in juvenile prison

Lebanon, Beirut: prison riot “…Asked about what triggered the riots, he replied: “The inhumane overcrowding at the block is one of the reasons.” The block is harboring 1,100 prisoners, while it only has the capacity for 400, he revealed.  …. “The riot is over and it will not reoccur,” he pledged. The first riot at block D took place on Friday where inmates seized the master key at the facility and opened all doors at the building. They also briefly held hostage a number of officers. Roumieh, the oldest and largest of Lebanon’s overcrowded prisons, has witnessed sporadic prison breaks and escalating riots in recent years as inmates living in poor conditions demand better treatment.”

15/4/15:

US, Ohio: partial victory for prison hunger strikers

7/4/15:

Greece, Athens: anarchists torch cars, fight cops in movement supporting anarchist prisoners (video here – tasteless, horrifying, shocking, nauseating …but that’s enough about the music – the video is interesting) “Deputy Citizen Protection Minister Giannis Panousis requested Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ intervention in order to address the riots issue, while he even hinted that he may resign if Tsipras does not take any action. “The Prime Minister must decide which side he wishes to support and which he will leave behind,” he said. Panousis also stressed that the anti-authoritarians want someone to die so that they will be able to repeat the episodes that occurred in 2008 after the death of Alexis Grigoropoulos.”

1/4/15:

Greece: various public buildings occupied by anarchists in different parts of the country “Around 20 people entered the courtyard of the parliament building in central Syntagma square…. they left after about five minutes. They scattered flyers and chanted slogans including for the immediate release of “Xiros”. Savas Xiros is serving multiple life terms for his role in the November 17 group, which killed Greek, US and British diplomats before being dismantled in 2002. …Protesters also called for the end to high security prisons, which the new Syriza government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has vowed to scrap. Small groups took over Syriza offices in the southern town of Patras, the office of a governing lawmaker in the Cretan capital Heraklion as well as the town hall in a suburb of Athens…Protesters also occupied part of a university in Thessaloniki, Greece’s second city, and have been occupying the offices of one of Athens’ main universities since Monday.” (video here) It should be pointed out that there are many currents of “anarchism” in Greece, including Leninoid-type shitheads who totally oppose looting. Also, see this mainstream journalistic take on these occupations “…there are signs government patience with the protests is finally wearing thin. The prolonged seizure of the Athens’ administrative building since March 30 prompted exasperated employees to stage a march last Wednesday outside their occupied offices. …”This hasn’t happened for years now — not in this manner,” said university vice-rector Thomas Sphicopoulos of the occupation. “We can’t work, and the university was already in a very difficult situation due to budget cuts.” Other demonstrating employees were more pointed in their anger at the government for not intervening. “Where is the respect for liberty, and where is the state?” fumed one university staffer who asked to remain anonymous.”

A friend in Greece wrote, referring  to the above link: “The demonstration of the “exasperated university employees” against the main university occupation mentioned in the link you sent was actually very small. Most of the employees were  either indifferent or supportive of the anarchists (without taking  part in the occupation).” 

30/3/15:

Greece, Athens: anarchists occupy Athens University as part of anti-prison movement

28/3/15:

Greece, Athens: another riot in support of hunger striking prisoners

18/3/15:

Australia, New South Wales: small riot at detention centre “Thursday’s resolution to the disruption inside the centre came after several days of rising tension. TVs were ripped from wall mountings and at least one fire lit in a rubbish bin.”

UK, Doncaster: report showing that riot squad was called to Doncaster prison 8 times last year

17/3/15:

Greece, Athens: anarchists confront riot cops in support of anarchist hunger strikers in prison

16/3/15:

US, Florida: small riot in juvenile prison

13/3/15:

Greece, Athens: anarchists occupy Athens Law School in support of prisoners

Zimbabwe, Harare: prisoners set fire to part of maximum security prison; 3 screws hurt

11/3/15:

Honduras, Tegicigalpa: 3 prisoners killed by cops etc. during prison riot “About 400 officers and military troops sent to the San Pedro Sula prison to restore order were met by gunfire from within the facility and pelted with stones and other projectiles, said a spokesman for the Honduras National Police”

10/3/15:

Bahrain: report in April of a prison riot on this day and its  horrendous consequences

9/3/15:

Greece, Athens: anarchists leave Syriza HQ, having occupied it in support of anarchist prisoners…another anarchist joins hunger strike

UK, Durham: mini-riot in young offenders prison “…inmates reportedly began throwing pool balls and lighting fires during the disturbance….prison guards had to withdraw because of the trouble….”The prisoners began throwing pool balls at them. A couple of inmates were injured and also a considerable amount of damage caused.”

8/3/15:

Greece, Athens: anarchists take over Syriza HQ in solidarity with hunger striking prisoners (more here) (video here)

7/3/15:

Afghanistan, Jawzjan: 3 cops killed (by prisoners) and a prisoner killed (by cops) as prisoners riot against search operation; 6 other cops wounded, and a prison”health” centre set on fire

Greece, Corinth: cops fire tear gas as demonstrators break into refugee detention camp

2/3/15:

France, Montreuil: truck belonging to prison construction company burnt

UK, London: Get Out Of Jail Free card played, then revoked

28/2/15:

UK, Swindon: riot cops pelted with missiles as they stop rave party (more here)…  Staffordshire: report on January prison riot

US, Nevada: Riot Of Passage youth detention centre; fires lit, 4 escape

21/2/15:

US, Texas: 100s of  prisoners make prison “uninhabitable” after seizing part of the prison “An official says as many as 2,800 inmates will be moved to other facilities one day after several hundred prisoners seized control of part of a federal prison in South Texas. Inmates were participating in a protest that escalated into throwing objects, burning bedding, and destroying bullet-proof tent structures…In addition, correctional officers released a “chemical agent” to disperse the unruly crowd that were ineffective due to wind conditions…..U.S. Bureau of Prisons spokesman Ed Ross says in a statement that the Willacy County Correctional Center in Raymondville is now “uninhabitable due to damage caused by the inmate population.” … a peaceful resolution may take days or weeks to resolve….The inmates being held at the facility are described as “low-level” offenders who are primarily immigrants in the U.S. illegally.”  More information here….And here

Eire, Dublin: imprisoned water protesters on hunger strike (see also this nicely expressed  article)

20/2/15:

US, Texas: about 2000 prisoners “riot” “The disturbance began Friday morning when inmates at the Willacy County Correctional Center refused to report to work or appear for breakfast…some of the prisoners were protesting medical services at the facility. The prison, located in Raymondville, about 40 miles northeast of the border town of McAllen, has been used to hold immigrant detainees…Soon after that, several inmates broke out of their housing units and went out into the recreation yard. About 2,000 prisoners are believed to have joined the protest…Officers deployed tear gas, and two officers and three inmates sustained minor injuries…“We are attempting to speak with the offenders to bring a peaceful solution to this incident,” Arnita said late Friday night. “The facility remains secured with no danger to the public.”…Earlier in the day, the riot prompted school officials to place three nearby schools on lockdown.” More here “Spence said the situation could last the whole weekend. “It’s calm right now, but with caution,” Spence said. “It could explode any minute.”…many offenders broke out of the housing structures and went to the recreation yard. Inmates set fire to three of the 10 prison tents, causing minor damage, officials said. …“There’s been some shots fired. Guards on top of the tower were firing. What they were using as ammunition, I have no idea,” Spence told the Valley Morning Star….In June 2014, the American Civil Liberties Union released a study that found inmates of these little-known prisons suffer from a lack of medical care….Prisoners interviewed by the ACLU complained of delayed medical care, guards using solitary confinement to punish those who are ill or who complained about squalid and cramped living conditions, and interference by prison officials with inmates trying to correspond with or meet with lawyers, the report says. Most of those in custody are charged either with illegally re-entering the country or with nonviolent drug crimes”

9/2/15:

France, Bordeaux: 45 JCDecaux advertising panels smashed  (JCDecaux is a company involved directly in the super-exploitation of prisoners)

5/2/15:

Brazil, Couiba: “Jailbait Jailbreak” – screws get screwed, but not how they wanted to – the dominators get dominated

27/1/15:

Italy, Turin: demonstrators block road in front of prison as 47 anti-TAV protesters are condemned to 140 years in prison altogether (plus massive fines)

22/1/15:

South Africa, Paarl, near Cape Town: prisoners stab 10 guards in retaliation for killing of prisoner

19/1/15:

Brazil, Recife: prisoner and prison guard killed during riot “The violence erupted in a Recife jail when an orderly protest broke down, and was brought under control only after police arrived. One officer died of a bullet wound in hospital, while details surrounding the inmate’s death were not released. ….Gunfire and explosions were heard coming from inside the prison, and G1 Globo newsportal showed a helicopter with an armed official flying overhead. Brazilian jails have faced a string of riots in recent months. The system’s 563,000 inmates make Brazil’s prison population the fourth-largest after the United States, China and Russia, according Amnesty International….”

18/1/15:

Papua New Guinea: Manus Island concentration camp prisoners barricade themselves in against Australian security guard attack (see link for 14/1/15)

14/1/15:

Australia, Manus Island: report of 500 concentration camp prisoners on hunger strike

5/1/15:

UK, Liverpool:  3 screws get screwed

4/1/15:

Australia, Darwin: small riot in teenage prison

1/1/15:

US, Pennsylvania: teenage prisoners  riot in “adolescent treatment centre”…Santa Cruz: anti-cop protesters smash up County Jail vehicles

Germany, Leipzig: Deutsche Bank stoned in solidarity with anarchists imprisoned in Spain

30/12/14:

Spain, Canary Islands: solidarity actions in solidarity with anarchists imprisoned in Spain

27/12/14:

Spain, Barcelona: demonstration against state arrests of anarchists – windows of banks, hotels and posh shops broken, barricades of containers; demos in several other cities, including Madrid, Zaragoza, Burgos, Castellón and Segovia 

10/12/14:

South Africa, Gauteng: well-crafted escapist story

9/12/14:

Greece: victory for movement of solidarity with anarchist hunger striker

Russia, Chelyabinsk: 100 prisoners riot

5/12/14:

Greece, Athens: anti-state riot in support of anarchist hunger striking prisoner (slightly absurd but kind of funny video here)

2/12/14:

Greece, Athens: solidarity demo for anarchist prisoner on hunger strike –  overturned bus, burning cars used as barricades, National Bank attacked, etc.

Athens

28/11/14:

Venezuela: report of prison hunger strike turning into  prison riot questions state’s version of how at least 13 prisoners died

27/11/14:

UK, Northumberland: small riot in prison

24/11/14:

Tunisia, Sidi-Bouzid: locals attack police station after rumour that prisoner was tortured to death

21/11/14:

Germany, Hamburg: probation office and juvenile court windows smashed in solidarity with prisoners

Greece, Athens: prison riot

20/11/14:

Colombia, near Bogota: 2nd riot within a week at youth detention centre; 15 escape

18/11/14:

Colombia, near Bogota: prison riot  – at least 27 cops and screws injured, 23 young offenders escape (video)

 

7/11/14:

Alaska: riot at teenage prison

3/11/14:

France, Yvelines: premises of prison-building company destroyed in arson attack

30/10/14:

France, Rennes: several bus shelters broken,  on demo about Remi Fraisse’s murder

One of the reasons bus shelters are constantly attacked is the fact that they’re constructed by JCDecaux, which exploits prisoners (JCDecaux also use the bus shelters for advertising other commodities, from where they obviously make massive profits)

24/10/14:

Dominican Republic, San Cristobal: 4 prisoners killed by screws as 10 escape during riot

Turkey, Izmit: prisoners burn cells in riot

23/10/14:

Paris: various attacks on companies that exploit prisoners or are involved in attacks on immigrants

14/10/14:

Brazil, Parana  state:  prison riot/rooftop protest…screws accidentally fall down stairs to the cells

10/10/14:

Nigeria, Lagos: major prison protest against  governor;  5 escaped prisoners killed “…  five inmates of the prison who managed to escape through the fence were killed….the aggrieved inmates started agitating against the way the out going Deputy Controller managed their affairs. They reportedly accused him of being high-handed. It was learnt that during the process, the inmates started stoning their top officials, leading to pandemonium in and around the prison. Eyewitnesses said they also held some of the officials hostage before embarking on the destruction of some offices inside the prison including that of the chief warder which was looted and razed down.” (more here)

3/10/14:

UK, Kent: uninformative report of major prison riot; screw stabbed

29/9/14:

Morocco, occupied Dakhla: cops launch tear gas at protest against death of political prisoner

25/9/14:

Chile, Puente Alto: prison riot

20/9/14:

Australia, New South Wales: prison riot

17/9/14:

Bolivia: riot and massive rooftop and courtyard protest at prison against screws’ theft of money and other belongings (video) More here  and here

South Africa, Rustengerg: 16 illegal aliens escape from jail

14/9/14:

France, Paris: vehicle belonging to prison collaborator company burnt out

11/9/14:

France, Paris: van belonging to prison building and management firm burnt

3/9/14:

US, Nashville: riot in juvenile prison, 6 escape (video) “Juvenile offenders, armed with sticks and poles, busted out of their dorms. Six teens became a mob of two-dozen. Swat teams posted outside watched some rioters shoot off fire extinguishers. Others chased away and attacked unarmed guards. Two staff members were hurt…. James Henry is the commissioner of Tennessee’s Department of Children’s Services. He said for the second time this week, teens got loose by kicking out aluminum panels under windows….”When they came out of their rooms they breached the door and they got out. They were able to knock those doors out again because they’d done it the night before very quickly.” On Monday night, thirty-two teens escaped the same facility. They busted out of their dorms, pulled up a section of chain link fence, and ran for a nearby highway. Six of those escapees remain at large.”

24/8/14:

Brazil, Parana: prison rioters take 2 guards hostage, apparently kill 4 prisoners, beheading 2 of them “the food is bad, there are no lawyers to work their trials, no basic hygiene materials”

prison rooftop protest, Parana, Brazil

21/8/14:

Australia, Darwin: tear gas used against teenagers’ mini-riot in prison

12/8/14:

US, New  York: prison riot over missed TV shows

8/8/14:

Panama: multimillionnaire fraudster trampled in prison riot

26/7/14:

UK, Retford: prison rioters take control of entire cell block

16/7/14:

Brazil, Bahia, Amargosa: after cops kill a  1 year-old girl, crowds seize the police station, take the cops’ weapons, liberate the 16 prisoners there, torch the station, then burn 30 motorbikes and 19 other vehicles “The violence forced the police chief, judge and prosecutor of Amargosa, located in Bahia state, to take refuge in a hotel.”

14/7/14:

Belgium, Steenokkerzeel: prison riot as screws refuse to respect Ramadan fasting hours

2/7/14:

Kazhakstan: prison riot for the right not to work

1/7/14:

Greece: prisoners’ hunger strike called off

30/6/14:

Greece: more on prisoners’ struggle

27/6/14:

Israel: 1000 refugees march to Egyptian border to protest indefinite detention in prison camp

25/6/14:

Greece, Thessaloniki: burning barricades erected in solidarity with prisoners’ hunger strike

24/6/14:

Greece: hunger strike against maximum security jail  by 3800 prisoners...solidarity demo…here it claims that the strike is being followed by 90% of prisoners, though I suspect that’s an exaggeration; it also mentions that a banking agency was attacked in Volos in solidarity with the prisoners (June 6th) …list of videos concerning Greek prisons

France, Pantin (93): Bouygues prison construction lorry set alight

22/6/14:

Venezuela, Caracas: very violent prison riot

20/6/14:

Palestine: Palestinian Authority violently disperses demonstration in solidarity with Israel’s prison hunger strikers

7/6/14:

France, Toulouse: several molotovs thrown at detention centre for expulsion of illegals

2/6/14:

Australia, Christmas Island: week-long protest by asylum seekers shut down by authorities (more here)…for more about asylum seekers in Australia, see this

1/6/14:

Palestine: shops on strike in solidarity with hunger striking prisoners

31/5/14:

Palestine, Tulkarem: dozens of Palestinian protesters in solidarity with hunger strikers hospitalised by IDA tear gas

27/5/14:

US, California: prison riot

19/5/14:

France, Paris: 453 tyres  belonging to JCDecaux bike and ad company that super-exploits prisoners punctured as part of ongoing campaign against them

18/5/14:

France, Paris: 2 vehicles belonging to companies involved in repressive social control torched

13/5/14:

UK, Peterhead: 14 hour prison riot (more here and here)

5/5/14:

Australia, Queensland: prison riot

2/5/14:

UK, Harmondsworth: mass hunger strike at immigration detention centre

1/5/14:

Egypt: thousands of prisoners stage protests against prison conditions and “justice” violations

30/4/14:

Bahrain, Sitra and Sanabis: protests in solidarity with female prisoners

22/4/14:

US, Alabama: prisoner trying to organise prison strike  “taken out of his cell … placed in solitary, without clothing or a bed, in retaliation… ” Phone warden Carter Davenport on (001) 205-467-6111 to tell him what you think of his slave empire…though one has to wonder what kind of tactical considerations  this prisoner was thinking of by announcing the proposed strike on the internet before it was supposed to take place, as if it wasn’t obvious that this would allow the authorities to make sure it never happened and to victimise him.

Paraguay: guards kill 2 during prison riot

17/4/14:

Australia, Albany: prison riot

US, Alabama: prisoners announce impending strike against “slave empire” “We decided that the only weapon or strategy … that we have is our labor, because that’s the only reason that we’re here…They’re incarcerating people for the free labor.” (article here on some aspects of why prison rate is so high in Alabama…and this IWW statement shows some of the horrendous miseries of prison life there: “The conditions in Alabama prisons are horrendous, packing twice as many people as the 16,000 that can be housed “humanely”, with everything from black mold, brown water, cancer causing foods, insect infestations, and general disrepair. They are also run by free, slave labor, with 10,000 incarcerated people working to maintain the prisons daily, adding up to $600,000 dollars a day, or $219,000,000 a year of slave labor if inmates were paid federal minimum wage, with tens of thousands more receiving pennies a day making products for the state or private corporations.” However,  it has this bizarre sentence: “the struggle of these brave human beings is the same as the millions of black, brown, and working class men, women, and youth struggling to survive a system they are not meant to succeed within.”, which implies that “black”, “brown” and “working class” are separate categories., though perhaps it’s a typo – maybe they unintentionally missed out “white” before “working class”.

UK, Berkshire:  riot in Broadmoor kept quiet for 9 months

16/4/14:

Iraq, Tikrit: prison riot

14/4/14:

Vietnam, Ca Mau: prison riot involving over 300 prisoners lasts 6 hours

2/4/14:

Papua New Guinea: student demo for political prisoners broken up by cops; students relatiate with stones, etc.

28/3/14:

UK, Northumberland: prisoners take control of part of prison wing…Brighton: kids given detention for going on strike during teachers’ strike

22/3/14:

UK, Doncaster: 6-hour prison riot

21/3/14:

San Francisco: anti-jail demo – police vehicles & jail vandalized with rocks, spray paint & paintbombs

11/3/14:

US, California: prison riot…Washington: imprisoned immigrants on hunger strike could be force-fed

2/3/14:

Saudi Arabia: riot in migrant workers’ detention centre (more here) 

1/3/14:

US, Seattle: Department of Corrections graffitied with “destroy all prisons”

26/2/14:

Papua New Guinea: more about the Manus Island asylum seekers’ riot (video)

24/2/14:

Greece: hunger strike by prison hospital prisoners

22/2/14:

Papua New Guinea: video of and about the imprisoned asylum seekers’ riot

17/2/14:

Kyrgyzstan: riot in mental hospital (ie a prison) – 6 – 9  cops injured; patients (ie prisoners) barricade themselves in

14/2/14:

Papua New Guinea: on the island of Manus asylum seekers  confront cops, escape from detention centre,burn part of the centre, destroy tents, smash fences (more here)

Indonesia, Aceh: 100s of prisoners riot

13/2/14:

Brazil, Pernambuco :  prison riot against miserable conditions; 2 prisoners killed

10/2/14:

United States, Illinois hunger strikers in the prison now refuse liquid  ( see also this)

7/2/14:

United States, Georgia 1000 prisoners begin a hunger strike against the brutality of the prison guards… (Illinois: in another prison, there was a fairly short-lived hunger strike)

6/2/14:

Kenya , Nairobi : clashes between prisoners and screws

7/1/14:

US, Alabama: prisoners use contraband cellphones to spread their protest through the internet

6/1/14:

US, Alabama: prison protests against slave labour and insanitary conditions spread

UK, Wolverhampton: riot  in prison previously known for rooftop protest (“incident resolved“) …more detailed  information here and here

4/1/14:

Sri Lanka: 27 prisoners in rooftop  protest

US, Alabama: protest strikes against slave labour in 2 prisons

30/12/13:

Angola: large riot in Viana jail (no further information, but this jail is notoriously brutal)

19/12/13:

US, Ohio: arrests in protests against detention of undocumented immigrants

18/12/13:

Georgia: 900 prisoners go on hunger strike

17/12/13:

Israel: 100s of undocumented African migrants flee detention centre (Sunday) to march and  demonstrate (Monday)…..and next day (today) dozens of them demonstrate in  Jerusalem outside PM’s office (more here)

14/12/13:

Indonesia: 100s of inmates at Palopo penitentiary, South Sulawesi, attack officers, set fire to parts of  building

11/12/13:

US, San Jose: prisoners go on hunger strike over visitation misery (lasts a week)

3/12/13:

US, Nebraska: protesting a policy limiting the number of prisoners allowed in the yard at one time, 33 prisoners at Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln refuse to return to their cells after dinner and set small fires in trash cans.
-KHAS TV (no link)

29/11/13:

Canada, New Brunswick: rocks thrown at cops during  anti-shale gas demo blocking highway for several hours (see also this)

27/11/13:

UK, Shropshire: prisoners in rooftop protest

21/11/13:

US, Arkansas: frustrated inmates in C-Pod at Baxter County Jail in Mountain Home, Arkansas broke sprinkler heads, lights, and a window, and flooded their cells.
-The Baxter Bulletin  (no link for this)

17/11/13:

UK: report of 189 prison uprisings in 2012; screws moan about their lack of monopoly of violence… It’s only by the grace of the Devil that a guard hasn’t been killed ….

US, Missouri: report of hunger strike by prisoners Another report (no link) said, “Fifteen inmates at Potosi Correctional Center in Missouri went on a week-long hunger strike to protest neglect, sanitation issues, and physical abuse by guards. Thirty-five inmates there also signed a petition in support of the strikers’ cause.”

7/11/13:

Trinidad and Tobago: prison officer killed, prisoners being starved in consequence

2/11/13:

Saudi Arabia: prison riot

UK, Maidstone: prison riot – screws “feared for their lives” (more here on the apparent pretext for this riot)…smallish disturbance at Rye prison

30/10/13:

Dubai: prisoners on hunger strike

29/10/13:

Turkey: riot in women’s prison

22/10/13:

Yemen: prison riot, director of investigations badly injured, after director of investigations threatens to ban  visits and limit water and medicine 

US, Illinois: 40  prisoners at Pontiac Correctional Center go on hunger strike ” A Chicago activist group says the prisoners have no heat, and they’re being denied personal hygiene supplies. They’re also upset they have to pay a fee to use nail clippers shared by all inmates. Correctional officers say they’re monitoring the health of all prisoners refusing to eat”. Apparently a radio report said something along the following lines: “Upset over the current grievance officer, inadequate sanitary supplies, no programs for prisoners in long-term segregation, and a poor recreation environment…prisoners at Pontiac Correctional Center in Illinois went on hunger strike.” 

10/10/13:

Brazil: prison uprising repressed – at least 10 prisoners killed (some reports say that these killings were caused by gang rivalries…who knows? but this report implies that it was a mixture of both  the authorities and the gangs that did it, but claims that in the local town where the prison is situated, 7 buses were set alight in relation to this riot )

4/10/15:

Turkey: fiery prison protest

3/10/13:

Canada: prisoners strike over pay cut spreads to 3 other areas

1/10/13:

Canada: prisoners go on strike against 30% pay cut (from $3 per day down to just over $2)…immigrants go on hunger strike in Ontario prisons…

21/9/13:

UK, Worcestershire: stand off with screws in Hewell prison, Redditch, has riot cops called

14/9/13:

USA, Florida: riot at juvenile detention centre Officials at Gulf Coast Treatment Center juvenile detention facility in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida reported rioting youth there threw chairs, flipped tables, damaged jail property, and used a seized staffer’s radio to communicate with guards.

10/9/13:

UK, Cumbria: prison rooftop protest

9/9/13:

Syria, Homs: prison riot

24/8/13:

UK, Aylesbury: 6-hour ‘siege’ as  prisoners riot

20/8/13:

France: attempted prison takeover by prisoners in Chateaudun 

19/8/13:

US, Florida, Polk County: riot wrecks youth detention centre

18/8/13:

Indonesia, Sumatra: prison riot

USA, Florida: 18 buildings destroyed in juvenile prison riot

16/8/13:

Bahrain: rison riot

US, California: prison hunger strike hits its 40th day

15/8/13:

UK, Sussex: anti-frackers win temporary victory as the fracking company pretends to be concerned about safety

10/8/13:

Greece: riot at immigration centre  …. (some escaped)

9/8/13:

Burundi: 2 prison riots

8/8/13:

India, Delhi: riot at juvenile prison …riot at Uttar Pradesh adult prison after suicide

5/8/13:

USA, Alaska: cells flooded as  prisoners smash toilets etc…Oakland: solidarity demo with Californian prisoners’ hunger strike blocks state building (more here)

Canada, Newfoundland: small riot at prison

3/8/13:

Indonesia, Jakarta: prison riot and escape  attempt

1/8/13:

France: short heated prison riot

27/7/13:

USA, California: hunger striker dies after being refused medical attention

23/7/13:

Ivory Coast: prisoners riot, set fire to cells and almost kill guard; 3 prisoners killed by guards

19/7/13:

Australia, Nauru: $60m damage to asylum centre in island riot

14/7/13:

UK, Kent: riot at prison – screw stabbed and 2 others injured

11/7/13:

Indonesia, Sumatra: 200 prisoners escape after firey riot

30/6/13:

Vietnam: prison seized by prisoners for a few hours

3/6/13:

US, California: prison riot – screws kill  prisoner

1/6/13:

New Zealand: prison riot 

 

30/5/13:

Pakistan: prisoners destroy wall, attack screws and top bureaucrats

13/5/13:

Kenya: asylum detention centre inmates make a radical critique of  conventional notions of mental health

12/5/13:

Thaïland, Bangkok: attempt at prison escape and riot

6/5/13:

Uganda: prison riot and escape

13/4/13:

Guatanomo Bay: confrontations between prison guards and prisoners as hunger strikers are forcefed

7/4/13:

USA:  demo in support of hunger strikers in  Guatanomo Bay  block traffic … hunger strikers forcefed …demos

21/3/13: 

Papua New Guinea: 49 escape as prisoners protest against conditions

18/3/13:   

Eire: riot in a small prison

17/3/13:

Thailand: 400 riot cops put down riot by 50 prisoners

15/3/13:

Guantanamo Bay: prisoners’ hunger strike now in its 2nd month  (more here )

12/3/13:

Sri Lanka: massive prison hunger strike and protest on the roof

11/3/13:

Iraq: prison riot in Abou Ghraib, Baghdad

A couple of  very minor personal experiences

1.

At the age of 19, I had my only very short-lived  experience of  being imprisoned.  I’d been arrested for “insulting behaviour” putting on a “guerrillla theatre”-type agit-prop play outside a school in Kings Cross, which caused a semi-riot. We were packed off to Ashford Remand Centre, even though our parents had turned up in court to put up surety for the bail which most of us had been granted (the only one of us that wasn’t was a couple of years older than us, the only one of us who was from a working class background – he went to Brixton for a week before bail was granted). Ashford, though technically a “remand centre” was no different from an ordinary prison – prison gate, barbed wire on the fencing, etc. There we were made to have a public cough ‘n’ drop medical inspection. In fact, this was the most humiliating moment for me – being forced to undress in a hallway surrounded by cells consisting solely of bars (no walls) and being examined naked whilst being stared at by several screws and prisoners whilst my balls were held by a doctor to see if I’d had a hernia or something (being a virgin probably made me feel even more anxious about being naked in front of so many people).  And then made to have a semi-public bath. We then had to wear prison clothes: my trousers were far too big – I had to permanently hold them to stop them falling down (no belts allowed), and my shoes were far too small, cramping my toes.

The cell smelled half the time of piss – someone had thrown out his slpping out pot out of the cell above and the piss had hit the outward opening window, hinged at the bottom, and the piss had run back down into my cell.  Unable to sleep due to the proximity of London airport and a railway line (though the window was too far up to look out of), plus the ever-echoing sound of slamming doors or footsteps along the concrete corridor, I somehow half-composed the following in my mind (no pens or paper and only a Western, with half the pages torn out, to read) and wrote it up properly as soon as I got out – a slightly pretentious poetic-type of attempt at something influenced by the surrealists, but which, despite its literary rhetorical style, also genuinely expresses some life-affirming emotions:

SOCIETY IS A PRISON – OPEN UP THE PRISONS!
There is no freedom for the enemies of freedom, the slaves of their hate and fear of freedom. Inside the corridors of tyranny the jackboots, the truncheons, the barred windows, the barred wire, the barbed wire, the 40 foot high double electrified fencing – are all screaming out the admittance of THEIR failure to exterminate OUR minds. Their judgements, their amnesties, their reprieves, their mercy – are the judgements, the amnesties, the reprieves, the mercy of the dead to the living – the dead beckoning the living to join them in the graveyard. Soon, from the warm comfort of their coffins, six foot under, they will wake up to find their nightmares becoming reality – obscene words painted on their gravestones, shit smeared over the epitaph, and finally their coffins disinterred and thrown into the burning streets. Soon freedom, the imagination, bruised, castrated, decapitated, buried alive in the dungeons of Pentonville and Ashford – soon, the imagination running riot, shall rise up, shatter the walls and gates, smash the locks, burn down the factories of pain and misery, and seize total power! The dictatorship of the imagination!

It was only 24 hours, but when it’s your first time in prison and you’ve got no idea how long you’ll be there, and you’ve never known anyone who’s been inside, it was a little worrying, though it was the boredom I remember most, because we were kept isolated for most of the time. I was so naïve, I remember being really outraged at the fact that teenagers were kept in prison without bail for 6 months or more before trial, at which they were often let off. (see this, for the context of this arrest and the subsequent trial).

2. On July 14th 2013, I was in St.Louis with my daughter at a demo called the day after George Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin’s killer, was found “not guilty”. This happened at the end of the demo:

So it’s pissing down and we all loudly head back toward what I somehow thought was the town courthouse, and I go first into  the little vestibule banging a saucepan very noisily. Everybody else seemed a little hesitant, like I’d stepped over an invisible barrier that everybody normally respected. But then this was the vestibule of the city jail, and not merely a courthouse as I’d assumed. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. The noise we were making was deafening, and seemed to echo into the area beyond the glass doors we were not going through.  I suggested going further than the vestibule. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread, urging others to join them. Ignorance is bliss.  A masked guy (Zorro? the Lone Ranger? Billy the Kid?) ran in and chucked the only thing that moved – a floor mat. When he returned a bit later, and threw in some flowers that he’d just picked from outside the jail, a black woman got upset – “This is meant to be a peaceful demonstration – Trayvon Martin’s family insisted it should be peaceful”. What sad/mad times these are when throwing flowers is somehow thought of as not peaceful enough.

“Fools rush in where angels fear to tread

Angels never go to war – they masturbate instead”

We then retreat from the jail as we get pushed out by armed guards.  A few minutes later the courthouse is surrounded by heavily armoured riot cops with their sticks at the ready, the TV cameras reappearing for the first time since the downpour.  We all go off back to our cars, and then off to a birthday party of a woman friend of my friends. She was born on July 14th, famous in France for what happened in 1789 – Bastille Day – appropriate, since we’d “stormed” the city jail. Well, almost –  the vestibule…still, it sounds good – “WE STORMED THE CITY JAIL!!! – ON BASTILLE DAY!!!!!”

– from here