Hunger Strikers at Virginia Supermax Face Retaliation for Protest Against Torturous Conditions

http://truth-out.org/news/item/9624-hunger-strikers-at-virginia-supermax-face-retaliation-for-protest-against-torturous-conditions

Dozens of inmates at Red Onion State Prison, Virginia's only supermax facility, have been on a hunger strike since Tuesday, May 22, in what supporters say is a protest against inhumane conditions.
The strikers' demands range from access to basic necessities like fully cooked food and adequate medical services, to an end to indefinite solitary confinement and a transparent grievance process.
Red Onion State Prison, said to house the "worst of the worst," was built in 1998 during a statewide prison boom that also saw the creation of Wallens Ridge, an identical nearby supermax that was downgraded to maximum-security status following a series of lawsuits.
Since its opening, Red Onion has been plagued by scandals of abuse and torture. By 1999, Human Rights Watch had published a report documenting the harsh, abusive and degrading conditions that still take place today.
As early as Saturday, May 26, Virginia Department of Corrections (VA DOC) spokesman Larry Traylor declared that the hunger strike had ended, saying in a statement, "As of breakfast this morning, there are no inmates on hunger strike. All have now accepted food."

But a coalition of supporters, calling themselves Solidarity With Virginia Prison Hunger Strikers, are reluctant to believe prison officials, given that it took them four days to even acknowledge the situation. On top of that, a prisoner recently told supporters that hunger strikers were stripped of their clothes by prison guards, who said they wouldn't get them back until they accepted food.

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Supporters like Ryerson and Sanders argue that the show serves as a counter to the racial tensions that have been built into the system. While black men from the urban centers of Richmond and Northern Virginia account for the majority of inmates, they are at the mercy of rural white prison guards.
"Most of the people in these prisons are from hundreds if not thousands of miles away, and have no contact with the communities outside these prisons beside the guards," said Ryerson. "One thing that we try to do with this show is show the men and women incarcerated here in the mountains of Central Appalachia that they have a lot of people in the area that care about them and want to support them."



Breaking Fingers and Crushing Souls
Meanwhile, supporters are concerned about retaliation against prisoners involved in the strike. "The Tenth demand is no reprisals for people who have organized this, because we fear that once the smoke clears and Red Onion is forgotten, they will be tortured and held in solitary," argued strike supporter John Tuzcu. "This is not conjecture. This has happened to people like Mac."
Tuzcu is referring to former Red Onion State Prisoner, John "Mac" Gaskins, who told Truthout, "There is no doubt in my mind that prisoners participating are being punished." He called the treatment of Pierre Watkins "an old time practice of Red Onion," where leaders of resistance efforts are isolated as punishment. "Pierre was one of the first guys who called SPARC and said we're going on strike in two days, here's our demands," said Gaskins.

Guards are equipped with stun guns and shotguns that fire rubber pellets, which, Gaskins said, are routinely used to control and punish. "I saw guys get shot in the back. One guy even got his eye shot out," said Gaskins.
Another method of punishment often dished out to Red Onion prisoners is the finger-bending technique, where fingers are bent back one by one causing some to break. Gaskin told Truthout he once had three fingers broken on his right hand, injuries for which he was denied medical treatment. "They also sometimes squeeze your testicles and try to break your toes," he added.
But, said Gaskins, a few broken fingers are nothing compared to five-point restraints. According to Amnesty International, inmates at Red Onion are routinely subjected to five-point restraints, a technique where an inmate is stripped and shackled, sometimes for days, to a steel bed by the wrists, ankles, chest and thighs, causing severe pain.

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Broken fingers and five-point restraints are just a few of the reasons behind the hunger strikers' demand to have "3rd party neutral observers visit and document the condition of the prisons to ensure an end to ... widespread human rights abuses."
Solitary Confinement With No End in Sight
Organizing a hunger strike is no easy feat at Red Onion, where over 500 of the 750 inmates are held in isolation, more than at any other Virginia prison. On top of that, as many as 173 of Red Onion's isolated prisoners have a diagnosed mental illness. That's why prisoners are demanding an end to indefinite solitary confinement, or segregation, as the VA DOC prefers to call it.
Though Virginia is just one of 44 states that continue to use solitary confinement as way to control and punish, of the 25,000 people held in solitary confinement nationwide, Virginia accounts for 1,800 of them, a rate three times the national average.

Abigail Turner with the Legal Aid Justice Center, which represents 12 Virginia inmates in isolation, told Truthout that most of her clients have suffered from mental illness since early childhood and isolation has only worsened their condition. After decades of study, the majority of legal and medical experts agree that extended periods of isolation can exacerbate and even cause mental illness as well as hallucinations, reduced brain function and suicide.

**Speaking to Truthout about his experience, Virginia Del. Patrick Hope (D-Arlington) argued that solitary confinement, particularly at Red Onion, amounts to torture. "I think it's a basic civil rights issue. There is no question in my mind they're violating the 8th amendment of these people," argued Hope. "You don't lose your right against cruel and unusual punishment just because you're in jail."

*** Hope has worked with his fellow legislators to push the VA DOC toward making much needed changes. "We sent a letter to the Department of Justice asking that they investigate Red Onion. We also proposed a bill this year asking that a study be made about Red Onion and our entire prison system, making sure mental health services are available where needed, and coming up with recommendations."

But the VA DOC has repeatedly refused calls to bring in outside experts, though in March they acknowledged the need for serious changes. Still, said Hope, "They haven't been specific with us about what those changes are," adding, "Even if there are changes underway, it's clearly not evident to the prisoners or they wouldn't be on a hunger strike."

(and politicians like to say Abu Ghraib was just a small group of bad apples)

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