Day 45: CA Prison Hunger strike: HEALTH CARE IS A HUMAN RIGHT — EVEN FOR HUNGER STRIKERS!

[annm4peace]

Last edited Fri Aug 23, 2013, 01:26 AM - Edit history (1)

http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/

Last week, more than 120 health care professionals signed an open letter in support of the Five Demands of the hunger strikers. The letter stated, in part:

“As healthcare providers, we are issuing this statement to register our concern with reports that the hunger strikers are being denied appropriate medical care. Where there has been a concerted attempt by
the authorities to censor the strikers, and to keep the strike out of the news, dozens of letters from affected strikers at prisons across the state have reached supporters on the outside. These letters repeat similar details of medical neglect and abuse.”

EXCERPTS OF LETTERS FROM HUNGER STRIKERS (Names withheld):

From the Adjustment Center of San Quentin:
“…This is just a small note to let you know I’m still alive. But on Friday morning at around 12:30am they found me on the floor unresponsive & a little blue-ish purple. From what the guys here say, the guards opened the door, I fell out and they jumped on me with a shield, cuffed me and took me out. Then dropped me at the first tier ’cause their hands slipped..
“…What happened?…The nurses said kidney failure. That I was so dehydrated that my kidneys shut down and I was blue-ish purple ’cause I almost froze to death….they put me on IV and warmed up my body with blankets and sent me… back to my cell by 4 am… “The nurses said…they’ll see me again soon if I don’t start eating. Which I won’t…”

From Corcoran State Prison:
“The doctor asked me how long I’d gone without eating and I told him (at that time) 31 days. I then began explaining about my racing heart and difficulty breathing, and he said, ‘You’re still hunger striking? I thought you were here for…refeeding… Because you’ve not eaten in over 30 days, you’re high risk, but if you don’t eat, there’s nothing I can do for you. Just sign a ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ order so you can die!’”

“One doctor told a hunger striker, ‘Unless you’re dying or seriously bleeding, we can’t do anything for you. Sacramento has ordered us to only provide the most minute of medical care…”

“Dr. Wang has instructed medical staff here to completely disregard the mass hunger strike, fasting and refeeding policy…so none of the medical or custody staff, anyone, knows what they’re supposed to be
doing…”

“A hunger striker with chronic back pain has received pain relievers since 2010. Medical staff stopped it abruptly when he went on hunger strike. When the hunger striker asked for his medication, the doctor
just laughed at him…”

“A prisoner had been hospitalized for high blood pressure (225) in June, before the hunger strike began. But now that he’s on hunger strike, medical staff is doing no blood pressure checks at all.”

From the SHU (Security Housing Unit) of Pelican Bay:
“…So far I’ve lost over 40 pounds, my energy level is at rock-bottom, and it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to concentrate. But, my spirit is still soaring with the eagles; and emotionally and mentally, I’m strong and unwavering in my conviction to follow this through to the end, if necessary. Some of us are ready and willing to take it to the grave…let’s just hope it doesn’t come
to that…”

*********

HOW MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS SUM UP THESE HEALTH CARE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS:

(1) “Medications are being withheld in an attempt to coerce those on strike into
abandoning their protest….
(2) “Prison medical staff are required to monitor the health and weigh those on strike. Yet, we hear that many institutions are violating this protocol…
(3) “…Nurses are required to conduct daily checks (but) are simply advising strikers to drink a lot of water.
(4) “…Physicians have been dismissive of patient complaints, and patients in need have been refused care and have been ignored…in some cases, even mocked by the very health care practitioners they are supposed to be able to depend upon for care.
(5) “CDCR refuses to provide (hunger strikers) with liquid sustenance other than water, and guards even confiscate any such liquids that (hunger strikers) had in their cells.
(6) “(Hunger strikers) are not being provided with medical release forms, which they need to send to their loved ones and family members, or to outside supporters, so that these people can access their
medical records.
(7) “(Hunger strikers) have been reclassified as ‘not on hunger strike’ because they have been accused of having food in their cells…Determining who is (or is not) on hunger strike (can) mean that prisoners who have not eaten for weeks will be dropped off the list for ‘medical oversight’.”

The health workers condemn such ‘”coercive neglect/abuse as both unethical and illegal under California Penal Code Section 673.” They allege that “such acts of deliberate indifference to a patient’s serious medical needs constitute a violation under the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.”

Complete text of Health Care Professionals’ open letter

******
A GREETING FROM SITAWA NATAMBU JAMAA
(Sitawa is one of the four Pelican Bay ‘Short Corridor’ Reps of the Hunger Strikers)

” Be mindful that our success will depend on our collective resolve and determination to put an end to this system of human torture.”

*******

PLEASE PHONE AND/OR EMAIL THESE PRISON OFFICIALS:

1. Receiver, Ca. Correctional Health Care Services:
J. Clarke Kelso: 916-739-7000; email [e-mail];

2. CCHCS “Inmate Inquiry Hotline”: 916-691-1404;

3. CDCR Secretary Jeffrey Beard’s ‘Hunger Strike Hotline’:
916-324-3397;

4. Governor Jerry Brown: 916-445-2841 (for English, press 1, then 6);

5. Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at Corcoran Prison:
Jeffrey Wang, MD: phone: [phone] x6930;
email: [e-mail].

********

PLEASE SEND THIS MESSAGE: (Always leave a message, even if you just get a voice mail. Be polite but persistent. Lives of hunger strikers are in the balance.)

^^^ Do not threaten or punish hunger strikers by denying them medical care!
^^^ Demand that all health care workers uphold their codes of medical ethics and provide highest quality of medical care to all prisoners;
^^^ Demand that Gov. Brown and CDCr Secretary Beard negotiate with the hunger strikers immediately and meet their five reasonable demands.
^^^ (If you believe that Health Care should be a Human Right for all prisoners, please let the prison authorities know.)

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[Scootaloo]

1. This is chilling.

“One doctor told a hunger striker, ‘Unless you’re dying or seriously bleeding, we can’t do anything for you. Sacramento has ordered us to only provide the most minute of medical care…”

“A hunger striker with chronic back pain has received pain relievers since 2010. Medical staff stopped it abruptly when he went on hunger strike. When the hunger striker asked for his medication, the doctor just laughed at him…”

These aren't doctors. They're agents of the state inflicting retributive harm on a captive populace.

[sabrina 1]

4. They should have their licenses taken away. That is an outrage.

Sickening. Cruel and inhumane.

I am sad to say it doesn't surprise me that they stopped the pain medication for one of those on hunger strike.

That is not unusual in our prison system. I remember someone being prison for a minor infraction who needed medication for a serious condition. He missed getting it due to a change in his living quarters. The guards refused to even report it telling him 'you should have been where you were supposed to be'.

His family tried to help but got the same response. It was the weekend so most of the medical staff were not there. His family went to an attorney who told them 'come back if he dies, but if you rock the boat while he is there, he is likely to be targeted'.

They worried for the entire weekend until finally Monday came and he was able to get the medication.

We are a disgrace.

[sabrina 1]

2. Torture is a US policy. Someone needs to intervene in this human travesty. But it's not likely

We have few politicians who have the guts to do what is right IF they determine it might not be the popular thing to do.

I feel hopeless for this country when I read stories like this. The criminals who are doing this are not better than the prisoners, some probably worse.

It speaks volumes about this country to see how long this has been allowed to go on.

Thank you again for keeping the story alive.

[annm4peace]

3. Day 45 – Statement from the Mediation Team

( Shame on the Democrat Leaders for not supporting the Hunger Strikers and force the CDRC to meet the Prisoners human rights demands)


The Department of Corrections is preparing to force-feed prisoners who have filed do-not-resuscitate orders, on the grounds that gang leaders may have coerced some of them into hunger-striking and even into signing do-not-resuscitate orders. However, thirty thousand prisoners embarked on the hunger strike initially, and only 69 of them were still on it last I heard—not very effective coercion. I’ve heard from men at multiple prisons who say that they personally, and others, did not sign do-not-resuscitate directives. So whatever drives the men to starve themselves and even martyr themselves is more powerful than the so-called gang coercion.

What is this powerful force? It is the dignity of mistreated people asserting itself. It is the indignation of the abused. It is the clamor of prisoners for their human rights.

Here is how prisoners themselves have said it in just the last week. J. at Corcoran wrote that a disciplinary write-up he received states “we were doing this on orders of the [gang] members housed at Pelican Bay State Prison (PBSP). [But] in fact we are participating in this peaceful protest cause we want to be treated like human beings and want our living environment to be as such. We are not animals.”

J. at California Medical Facility, who vows to hunger strike until the demands are met, wrote, “I too can relate to CDCR torture tactics as I’ve spent quite a bit of time in segregation at PBSP and other CDCR prisons. I’ve been locked in cages like an animal even when I’ve done nothing wrong. I’ve enclosed a picture of the type of cages prison staff have repeatedly placed me in for hours at a time.” (These cages are about the size of a phone booth.) He continues, “Officers passed me by in these cages and laughed or made rude, sarcastic and disrespectful comments to me…. No person(s) are asking me or pressuring me to join in hunger strike. This is by my own free will.”

M. at Corcoran told an interviewer that the crux of the motivation to protest was the inhumane amounts of time that prisoners are held in isolation [in the Security Housing Units (SHUs)]. We are suffering, he said, but let this be the last time we have to suffer. Even if we have to suffer for two or three more months, it will be worth it to win our demands.

The interviewer also spoke with A. at Corcoran, who said that the hunger strikers seek simply “decency and respect.” Though he knows he will spend his life in prison, “everything changed” for him when he learned that his son was imprisoned too. The change he desired took on a whole new level of importance. He pointed out that people on the outside have loved ones, friends and family members, who are inside, so what happens in prisons affects everyone.

C. at New Folsom wrote (in Spanish; this is my translation): “..we are just human beings who made errors and are paying with our liberty for our bad decisions. We are not animals! Yes, we have a heart that beats and bleeds at indifference, like anyone else. We are men who at times cry from the pain of loneliness but we refuse to accept it. We are men with feelings and the desire to help our children and youth so that they don’t repeat our histories—but we are not given the opportunity!”

The demands are decent food and healthcare, access to sunlight, an end to group punishment, not putting or keeping people in isolation based on secret allegations or who they associate with, use of isolation only as a last resort, and an end to indefinite isolation. International law makes the same demands, but California defies it.

California corrections officials, apparently, prefer to further torture the protesting prisoners through the excruciating procedure of force-feeding than to meet these reasonable demands.

On behalf of the Mediation Team,
Marilyn McMahon, California Prison Focus, [phone]

Hunger Strike Mediation Team
Dr. Ronald Ahnen, California Prison Focus and St. Mary’s College of California
Barbara Becnel, Occupy4Prisoners.org
Dolores Canales, California Families to Abolish Solitary Confinement
Irene Huerta, California Families to Abolish Solitary Confinement
Laura Magnani, American Friends Service Committee
Marilyn McMahon, California Prison Focus
Carol Strickman, Legal Services for Prisoners With Children
Azadeh Zohrabi, Legal Services for Prisoners With Children

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[Wilms]

5. ^

[Live and Learn]

6. K&R nt

[annm4peace]

7. CA Democrat Politicians don't care of Human Rights

I called the CA State Senators on the "Senate Public Safety Committee" 5 are Democrats and 2 are Republicans. Chair Sen. Hancock staff person said they have talked to both sides. The rest of the Senator's staff person either had no comment or no position. I asked even after 45 days you have no comment on force feeding or hunger strike.. nada. I live in MN but from CA. Sad that these Democrats aren't sticking up for humane and human rights. Why vote Democrat if they can't stand up for Human rights?
I got the list from the link far below. Here are some of the responses from the staff.

Senate Public Safety Committee

Senator Loni Hancock
[phone]
* Democrat, Past Mayor of Berkley 1986-94, her staff said she had no comment at this time but has met with both CDRC and some advocates of the Hunger Strikers. Didn't have plan for emergency Safety Hearing.

Senator Darrell Steinberg
[phone]
* Democrat (strong advocate for Mental Health) no Comment. Was starting to discuss with other Senators of the Hungerstrike

Senator Joel Anderson
[phone]
* Republican and member of ALEC. Staff heard of the Strike on the news but nothing from the Senator

Senator Marty Block
[phone]
* Democrat. Staff was not sure if the Senator knew of the Hunger Strikers, didn't know view of Senator Block

Senator Kevin DeLeon
[phone]
* Democrat, Senator for Los Angeles, her staff was knowledgeable but said there is two sides of the story. Wasn't sure that gangs weren't pressuring the prisoners into the hunger strike. ( I found her comments disturbing and sad)

Senator Steve Knight
[phone]
* Republican, staff was rude, and obnoxious.. gave right wing talking points. "They aren't being force feed are they?" "Which would you rather have, them dying or being force feed".

Senator Carol Liu
[phone]
* Democrat, her staff said she didn't know what the Senator had to say, but didn't like it when I said "so no opinion".. staff said no, the Senator just hasn't shared it with the staff.

**** if this represents the Democratic Party then I think CA should vote Green or other party cause the are supporting torture and abuse of human rights by being silent and not speaking out. ***


If you want to make calls please click on link below, and do it today. If you can, post what the staff tells you.
I said some things on the script and some of my own questions and let them know I was calling from Minneapolis MN and belonged to social justice organizations that included many churches.

http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/51040/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=11853

Join us today to demand that the California Public Safety Committees convene an emergency session to address the crisis caused by CDCR!

Call and Email Public Safety Representatives every day until they agree to rein in CDCR’s unconscionable violence.
Sample Script: We are calling you with great urgency to ask you to convene an emergency hearing of the Public Safety Committee to address the critical situation facing prisoners who are in their seventh week of hunger strike. As you know, Governor Brown and Secretary Beard, rather than entering into good-faith discussions with the prisoners to resolve this strike, have obtained a court order to permit force-feeding them against their will. Such actions are generating a true human rights crisis in our prisons, and we are asking you as elected officials with the responsibility of prison oversight to act swiftly. The hunger strikers are risking their health and possibly their lives to bring an end to unbearable conditions of confinement. One prisoner who was on strike has died already; your immediate intervention can prevent the further loss of life.