This text is machine-read, and may contain errors. Check the original document to verify accuracy. If we are their family and friends, we may visit, write, call, and advocate on their behalf. It is time we did just that; prisons reflect the societies that create them. International treaties, conventions, and declarations provide basic guidelines for the treatment of prisoners. These guidelines are often ignored by the U.
Its goal is to cast light on the torture and abuse of prisoners. During that time AFSC has received thousands of calls and letters of testimony of an increasingly disturbing nature from prisoners and their families about conditions in prison. The concepts of human rights law must be upheld by the United States police, court, and prison justice systems. One way to foster this change is for prisoners, their families and loved ones, and prisoner rights advocates to weave the language of international standards and treaties into their arguments for humane prison conditions and treatment of prisoners.
(mh=iUFMbwY86d4eNDdh)10.jpg "Woman Pueblo")
The practice of extended isolation in particular is of growing concern to many prison activists, both inside and outside the walls. The reports that come to AFSC about prisoners subjected to devices of torture have largely been from isolation cellsβoften called management control units or special management unitsβin which there are few witnesses.
Ojore Lutalo is one such prisoner, and you can find his full story in the Appendix. There are thousands of similar stories as well, some of which are included here. Torture in United States Prisons 2nd Ed. The details are hard to read; some of the language is crude and the accounts graphic. All are compelling. Read on. Tell us your story. And, above all, we urge you to use the language of international standards and treaties in your argument for humane prison conditions and treatment of prisoners.
Bonnie Kerness and Beth Breslaw Acknowledgments This document would not have been possible without the courage of those people in prison who were determined that their witness and testimonies reach the outside world. In many cases, they were afraid of retaliation, and in many cases they were beyond fear. We especially thank those who wrote on behalf of and about people who could not write on their own. Very special thanks to Beth Breslaw, an extraordinary intern student from Rutgers University, New Jersey, who drew excerpts from the hundreds of letters, drawings, and photographs we received.
