Letterwriting night in solidarity with California prisoners

The Hunger strike Support Committee invites you to an info session and letter-writing night
In solidarity with participants in the recent California prison hunger strike

Where: QPIRG Concordia, 1500 de Maisonneuve west, suite 204 (métro Guy-Concordia)
When: Tuesday, August 23rd from 6:30pm to 9pm
The evening will feature:
* Background info & analysis on the 3-week hunger strike that swept 13 of California’s 33 prisons this July
* An update on where the prisoners’ campaign is going from here
* Letter-writing to hunger strike participants
The space is wheelchair accessible. Snacks will be served.
For more info contact: montrealcontreprisons@gmail.com
Presented by
The Hunger strike Support Committee
contrelesprisons.blogspot.com
Cosponsored by Certain Days & the Prisoner Correspondence Project (both working groups of QPIRG Concordia)
certaindays.org – prisonercorrespondenceproject.com – qpirgconcordia.org
About the hunger strike:
From July 1st to 20th, thousands of prisoners in long-term isolation units in California prisons (“SHUs”) went on hunger strike. For many, this hunger strike is an indefinite one. At its highpoint, 6600 in 13 prisons were participating.
The California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation (CDCR) is claiming to reevaluate its practices based on the demands of the hunger strike. Although prisoners have begun to accept food again, strike leaders have stated that they are giving the CDCR 2-3 weeks to make some movement on the demands, or they will recommence the hunger strike. Those of us on the outside need to keep the pressure on the CDCR to  ensure that they follow through on meeting the prisoners’ demands, and that there is no retaliation against strike participants.
The prisoners’ demands are:
1. Eliminate group punishments.
2. Abolish the debriefing policy and modify active/inactive gang status criteria.
3. Comply with the recommendations of the US Commission on Safety and Abuse in Prisons (2006) regarding an end to long-term solitary confinement.
4. Provide adequate food.
5. Expand and provide constructive programs and privileges for indefinite SHU inmates.
The US now holds over 2,000,000 prisoners, almost 100,000 of them in isolation. Meanwhile, in Canada the government is preparing for a massive rise in the number of prisoners as a result of new and upcoming legislation (e.g., the “omnibus crime bill”).
To support the fight of SHU inmates in the US is to fight against the Canadian government’s attempts to implement and expand those policies here!