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NEWS & LETTERS, July 2004Iraq abuse no surprise to U.S. prisonersSumner, Ill.--To struggle may not be our individual choice, but struggle is very much a part of us. Fallen prey for over 400 years to cruel, racist evil and inhuman suffering, where was the outcry for Afrikans? Where were the UN, international laws, World Courts, Senate committee hearings? If the soldiers who perpetrated the acts of torture and abuse on the Iraqi prisoners were prison guards here in the U.S., then obviously that will tell anyone where there's smoke, there's fire. We, as prisoners in the U.S. penal system, are more than familiar with the techniques that were used by soldiers in Iraq. For years now our criminal in-justice system has consistently upheld such extreme treatment of its prisoners. Under the guise of "security" the high courts have allowed for retired farmers, Klansmen, recovering alcoholics, etc, to work as prison guards with full authority to strip prisoners completely naked in mass groups, ordering them to bend over at the waist and pull our buttocks apart while the white demons laugh and giggle, all in an effort to humiliate the prisoners. Those who refuse to dehumanize themselves are viciously attacked while their arms are handcuffed behind their backs. This attack is carried out, by guards weighing over 300 pounds, with mace, huge stacks, shields and steel-toed boots, beating prisoners unconscious and forcefully probing their buttocks. The guards often use racial slurs and spit on the prisoners, who are usually Afrikan or Hispanic. In the maximum institutions this occurs daily and in medium facilities periodically. At no time has there been a public outcry or investigation by any senator or congressman, state or federal. So tell me again, what's all the fuss about? Iraqis who? The only reasonable statement I can make about those who have tasted a small portion of what we as Afrikans live with on a daily basis is, welcome to the struggle! --Mahdi, Lawrence Correctional Center |
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