PR Political Prisoners:II id NAA20260; Thu, 9 Oct 1997 13:22:50 -0400 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit source Jmvilar@aol.com Wed Oct 8 02:22:18 1997 Dear Friend, On behalf of the National Committee to Free Puerto Rican Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War I ask you to join in the campaign to transfer Oscar Lopez Rivera from USP Marion to USP Lewisburg or it's equivalent (general population). Attached you will find materials that explain our campaign and may be of help to you in increasing the impact and getting other people to join. There are two more emails with attachments, please help us win Oscar's transfer to a general population prison! For more information call (773)278-0885 STOP THE TORTURE OF OSCAR LOPEZ RIVERA Who is Oscar Lopez Rivera? Oscar Lopez emigrated at a young age from Puerto Rico to the U.S., as thousands of Puerto Ricans were forced to do in the 1950s, arriving in the new and hostile environment of Chicago. Upon coming of age, he enlisted and was sent to Viet Nam, where he was decorated for his bravery. Upon his return to Chicago, he saw that his community faced ever worsening conditions. He became a dedicated and talented community organizer working for better housing, nondiscriminatory employment, bilingual education sensitive to the needs of the students, drug rehabilitation, and many other issues which he saw as clearly connected to the colonial plight of Puerto Rico. In a time when wars of liberation were being waged throughout the world, and the Latino and Black communities in the United States were struggling for power, repression of such community work was on the rise. Oscar became part of a clandestine movement for Puerto Rican independence. For the past 11 years of his 16 years in prison, the U.S. Justice Department and its Federal Bureau of Prisons have waged a relentless effort to break him, subjecting him to the most punitive treatment in their vast arsenal=2E Yet his strength, creativity, love for people, and strong commitment to justice persist. As their efforts continue to fail, they increase the pressure. What is the government doing to him? In 1981, he was given a 55 year sentence for seditious conspiracy and related charges and sent to USP Leavenworth, a maximum security prison, where officials labeled him an "incorrigible criminal" although he had never before been convicted of a crime. Using desperate prisoner informants and provocateurs, the government spent years making a sting operation and in 1986 accused him of conspiring to escape from prison, resulting in an additional 15 year sentence. This government plot formed the rationale for moving him to USP Marion, the harshest prison in the federal system, where prisoners are confined to their cells 22 hours a day and permitted no group dining, education or religious worship; no contact visits; minimal property; and limited access to the telephone. According to a 1987 Amnesty International report, conditions at Marion violate virtually every one of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. A federal court, in a shameful abdication of its responsibility to enforce the constitution, even as it upheld the conditions, acknowledged them to be "sordid and horrible" and "depressing in the extreme". Many other human rights and religious groups concluded that Marion "is not a normal maximum-security prison on lockdown status, but rather a firmly established, fully functioning behavior modification program" which "seems to be designed to break the defiant spirit and behavior...through a year or more of sensory and psychological deprivation [in which] prisoners are stripped of their identities"; concluding that the conditions constitute "psychological pain and agony tantamount to torture." In 1990, when he had worked his way to Marion's pretransfer unit, officials planted contraband in his cell, refused to give him the lie detector test he requested, and refused his request to fingerprint the items. They returned him to the most restrictive unit, to start the program anew. In December of 1994 he was among the first prisoners to be sent to the new Administrative Maximum Unit [ADX] in Florence, Colorado, designed to be the most maximum security federal prison, where long term isolation and sensory deprivation were perfected with modern technology. After having spent two long years in compliance with all the program requirements at ADX Florence, in November of 1996 he was returned to Marion. Officials at ADX did not recommend his return to Marion. Every other graduate of the ADX program was sent to the lower security prison he selected. Oscar served more time at Marion (1986 to 1994) before being sent to ADX Florence than other ADX graduates served. The average length of stay at Marion is 3 years. THE PRESENT On August 25, 1997, he was moved from Marion's E Unit to G Unit, to a smaller cell with a solid steel door which remains shut 22 hours daily. Officials offered no reason, claiming falsely it was simply a move to another "general population" unit. Conditions at Marion have worsened over the years, including fewer out-of-cell opportunities (closing recreational spaces, shrinking the size of remaining recreational space) worse nutrition and medical care, and increased number of cells with solid steel doors. Criteria for transfer from Marion require that the criteria for placement no longer apply. Officials have never articulated any legitimate reason for his placement at Marion or ADX, instead referring obliquely to his "security needs", i.e., that he is considered to be a leader of the clandestine movement for Puerto Rican independence. Thus, the only ticket out of Marion would be if he were to renounce his political beliefs and affiliations. WHAT YOU CAN DO Write to Attorney General Janet Reno ADDRESS and demand his placement in the general population of USP Lewisburg or its equivalent. Write to President Clinton ADDRESS and urge him to grant the pending petition for the immediate and unconditional release of Oscar Lopez Rivera and the 14 other Puerto Rican women and men in prison for pro-independence acts and beliefs. Enlist your friends and colleagues to do the same. Etc. ???????? ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytjus-10.09.97-13:23:10-13010