As of today at least 20 prisoners in Red Onion State Prison are beginning a hunger strike against exterminatory living conditions and racist torture.
Their demands are as follows:
“We (Prisoners at Red Onion State Prison) demand the right to an adequate standard of living while in the custody of the state!
1. We demand fully cooked food, and access to a better quality of fresh fruit and vegetables. In addition, we demand increased portions on our trays, which allows us to meet our basic nutritional needs as defined by VDOC regulations.
2. We demand that every prisoner at ROSP have unrestricted access to complaint and grievance forms and other paperwork we may request.
3. We demand better communication between prisoners and higher- ranking guards. Presently higher-ranking guards invariably take the lower-ranking guards’ side in disputes between guards and prisoners, forcing the prisoner to act out in order to be heard. We demand that higher- ranking guards take prisoner complaints and grievances into consideration without prejudice.
4. We demand an end to torture in the form of indefinite segregation through the implementation of a fair and transparent process whereby prisoners can earn the right to be released from segregation. We demand that prison officials completely adhere to the security point system, insuring that prisoners are transferred to institutions that correspond with their particular security level.
5. We demand the right to an adequate standard of living, including access to quality materials that we may use to clean our own cells. Presently, we are forced to clean our entire cell, including the inside of our toilets, with a single sponge and our bare hands. This is unsanitary and promotes the spread of disease-carrying bacteria.
6. We demand the right to have 3rd party neutral observers visit and document the condition of the prisons to ensure an end to the corruption amongst prison officials and widespread human rights abuses of prisoners. Internal Affairs and Prison Administrator’s monitoring of prison conditions have not alleviated the dangerous circumstances we are living under while in custody of the state which include, but are not limited to: the threat of undue physical aggression by guards, sexual abuse and retaliatory measures, which violate prison policies and our human rights.
7. We demand to be informed of any and all changes to VDOC/IOP policies as soon as these changes are made.
8. We demand the right to adequate medical care. Our right to medical care is guaranteed under the eight amendment of the constitution, and thus the deliberate indifference of prison officials to our medical needs constitutes a violation of our constitutional rights. In particular, the toothpaste we are forced to purchase in the prison is a danger to our dental health and causes widespread gum disease and associated illnesses.
9. We demand our right as enumerated through VDOC policy, to a monthly haircut. Presently, we have been denied haircuts for nearly three months. We also demand to have our razors changed out on a weekly basis. The current practice of changing out the razors every three weeks leaves prisoners exposed to the risk of dangerous infections and injury.
10. We demand that there be no reprisals for any of the participants in the Hunger Strike. We are simply organizing in the interest of more humane living conditions.”
Updates will be provided by the Virginia Prison Strike blog and mirrored on this site which will suspend regular coverage for the duration of the strike.
We ask that all of our readers where ever they may be in the US and abroad organize solidarity actions in support of this struggle which like the strikes in Georgia and California before it stands in the forefront of the broader mass momentum against the imperialist system of national and class oppression.
As one of the strike organizers stated recently:
“..No room for neutral stance,its two classes oppressors and oppressed..”
So show whose side your on and mobilize to support the brave comrades at Red Onion State Prison. Time is of the essence.
Please contact the following to express your support for the strike.
Governor Bob McDonnell
Robert.F.McDonnell@Governor.Virginia.Gov
(804) 786-4273
VA DOC Director Harold W Clarke
Email: Harold.Clarke@VADOC.Virginia.Gov
Business Phone: 804 674 3118
ROSP Chief Warden Randall Mathena
Email: Randall.Mathena@VADOC.Virginia.Gov
Business Phone: 276 796 7510
Regional Operations Chief, Western Region Corrections Operations G.K. Washington
Email: GK.Washington@VADOC.Virginia.Gov
Business Phone: 804 674 3612
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