Prison Protest Dec. 10th

US: Janet Fleming, Richmond-area activist, emphasizes: "Inmates are not disposable people." Even as facilities like the city jail are dangerously overcrowded, the government continues to target poor people and people of color with its completely harmful and ineffective War on Drugs. The US has the highest rate of incarceration in the world, with 2.1 million prisoners and growing.

The protest will be followed by a panel discussion on the harmfulness of prison and alternative ways to deal with crime, to be held at the Pace Center, 700 W. Franklin St., by Monroe Park, at 7pm.

2:30 pm, Saturday, December 10, 2005 Oliver Hill Courts Building, across from the Richmond City Jail Richmond, Virginia

Followed by a Panel Discussion on the Harmfulness of Prison and Alternative Ways to Deal with Crime. 7pm, Saturday, December 10, 2005 Pace Center, 700 W. Franklin St. Richmond, Virginia

The following day, Sunday, December 11, we will caravan to Red Onion State Prison, to hold a protest there in support of the many supermax prisoners locked away in inhuman conditions in the far southwest corner of Virginia.

Rampant brutality by the guards has been documented at Red Onion. Inmate "TA" at Red Onion writes: "The Correctional officers constantly laugh and joke about abusing prisoners. Prisoners are handcuffed and shackled when leaving the cell and the CO's will say things like, "We outta beat your ass" or "Don't you just like our southern hospitality." The nearby Wallens Ridge State Prison has been cited for subjecting inmates to severe medical neglect, and has also drastically cut inmate access to water.

Richmond, Virginia --11-30-2005 -- December 10 is international human rights day, and people across the world will speak out against torture and abuse carried out in US-run prisons in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay.

In Richmond, we will be bringing attention to many of these same abuses happening in the prison system domestically. "By challenging the prison system we are holding accountable the corporations and institutions that benefit from the destruction of our communities," says Sean O'Hern, an organizer from Richmond who is participating in the event.

O'Hern adds: "Prisons are a prominent part of our lives in this country, especially for communities of color and the poor. Yet with over 2 million people locked away we have to ask, do we feel safer?"

On December 10, 2005, people from Richmond and across Virginia, including former prisoners, family members of prisoners, and human rights activists, will converge on the Richmond City Jail at 2:30pm to protest the proliferation of prisons amidst systemic human rights abuses.

For more information:  http://www.signalfire.org/Dec10/
or Contact: Art Burton 804 467-6408
Peter Gelderloos 540 438-1647
 antiprison@yahoo.com

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