Amnesty International Calls for Angola 3′s Release from 40 Years of Solitary
Confinement
by James Ridgeway and Jean Casell,
solitarywatch.com
June 7th 2011
Amnesty International has issued a press release, action alert, and detailed
report on the case of the Angola 3, which has been extensively documented in
Mother Jones (here, here, and here). The press release, issued yesterday,
concerns the two members of the Angola 3 who remain in prison and have now
entered their 40th year in solitary confinement.
The US state of Louisiana must immediately remove two inmates from the solitary
confinement they were placed in almost 40 years ago, Amnesty International said
today.
Albert Woodfox, 64, and Herman Wallace, 69, were placed in “Closed Cell
Restriction (CCR)” in Louisiana State Penitentiary – known as Angola Prison –
since they were convicted of the murder of a prison guard in 1972. Apart from
very brief periods, they have been held in isolation ever since.
“The treatment to which Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace have been subjected
for the past four decades is cruel and inhumane and a violation of the US’s
obligations under international law,” said Guadalupe Marengo, Americas Deputy
Director at Amnesty International.
The action alert urges readers to sign a petition to Louisiana Governor Bobby
Jindal. The twelve-page report describes the apparent miscarriages of justice
involved in Woodfox and Wallace’s original murder conviction, and then asks,
“Why are they still in isolation?” It goes on to explain:
In the early 1970s, conditions at Angola were brutal. Racism was rife. Inmates
were racially segregated and guarded exclusively by white officers, as well as
armed white inmates. The culture of violence that infused prison life was
reflected in the high number of murders and the widespread use of sexual
slavery among inmates.
In this toxic environment, Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace, who were both
imprisoned for unrelated cases of armed robbery, founded a prison chapter of
the Black Panther Party (BPP). They were later joined by Robert King and
together the men campaigned for fair treatment and better conditions for
inmates; racial solidarity between black and white inmates; and an end to the
rape and sexual slavery that was then endemic in the prison.
“They tried to change conditions… the prison was considered the worst in the
nation. They brought people together and brought in an ideology that said that
despite the fact that you were prisoners, you still had some rights. Because of
this, the administration saw them as being threats and they have paid dearly.”
–Robert King, 2011
Throughout the long years of isolation, Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace have
consistently maintained that they did not kill Brent Miller. They believe that
they were falsely implicated in the murder because of their political activism
in prison as members of the BPP. During the many years of litigation in the
case, evidence has emerged to suggest that the decision to keep them in
solitary was based at least in part on their political activism and association
with the BPP.
“I would still keep [Albert Woodfox] in CCR. I still know he has a propensity
for violence. I still know that he is still trying to practice Black
Pantherism, and I still would not want him walking around my prison because he
would organize the young new inmates. I would have me all kinds of problems,
more than I could stand, and I would have the blacks chasing after them. I
would have chaos and conflict and I believe that. He has to stay in a cell
while he’s at Angola.” –Burl Cain, Angola prison Warden, 2008. These remarks
were made despite a finding by a US district judge in November 2008 that Albert
Woodfox had maintained a clean conduct record for 20 years.
Since 1972, the prison review board has reviewed the prison’s original decision
to keep the men in solitary on more than 150 occasions. At each review, without
giving the men an opportunity to participate in the process or dispute the
decision, the review board has determined that Albert Woodfox and Herman
Wallace should continue to be held in CCR due to the “nature of the original
reason for lockdown”.
In 1996, Louisiana prison policy was changed to remove “original reason for
lockdown” as a factor to be taken into account by the review board when
considering whether to continue an inmate’s confinement in CCR. This change has
never been applied to reviews of the continued isolation of Albert Woodfox or
Herman Wallace; the board simply continues to note “Original reason for
lockdown” on all of the documents explaining why release from CCR has been
denied.
Records show that neither man has committed any serious disciplinary
infractions for decades and prison mental health records indicate that the men
pose no threat to themselves or to others. However, none of this appears to
merit consideration in the view of the prison Warden who in 2006 said of Herman
Wallace: “his record… doesn’t really matter a lot. The original sentence,
that’s why he’s there, that’s why he’s there and that’s why he’s going to stay
there”.
Amnesty International believes that the men’s continued classification as CCR
inmates serves no legitimate penal purpose. Under the direction of Warden Cain,
who has dismissed the men’s clean disciplinary record as irrelevant, the review
board has effectively ignored Louisiana prison policies for 15 years. It has
failed absolutely to provide a meaningful review of the men’s continued
isolation. By simply rubberstamping the original decision to confine the men in
CCR, successive prison review boards have subjected Albert Woodfox and Herman
Wallace over the course of decades to conditions that can only be described as
cruel, inhuman and degrading.
The Amnesty report goes on to describe in detail the conditions in which these
men, both now in their sixties, continue to live.
Throughout their prolonged isolation, Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace have
endured very restrictive conditions. Herman Wallace was transferred to the
Elaine Hunt Correctional Center in 2009 and, the following year, Albert Woodfox
was transferred to the David Wade Correctional Center. But although both men
have now been moved out of Angola prison, the conditions in which they are held
have not changed. They are confined to their cells for 23 hours a day. When the
weather is fine, they are allowed outside three times a week for an hour of
solitary recreation in an outdoor cage measuring 1.8×4.5m. For four hours a
week, they are allowed to leave their cells to shower or walk, alone, along the
cell unit corridor.
Their cells measure 2x3m. All they can see from inside the cell is a small area
just beyond the bars at the front. Each cell has a toilet, a mattress on a
steel bed platform, sheets, a blanket, a pillow and a small metal bench
attached to the wall. Natural light is limited to a very small window at the
back of the cell.
They have restricted access to books, newspapers and TV. Throughout their
imprisonment, they have been deprived of opportunities for mental stimulation;
they have never been allowed to work or to have access to education. Social
interaction has been restricted to occasional visits from friends and family
and limited telephone calls .
Lawyers report that both men are suffering from serious health problems caused
or exacerbated by their years of close confinement. In the case of Herman
Wallace, this includes osteoarthritis aggravated by inadequate exercise,
functional impairment, memory loss and insomnia. Albert Woodfox is described as
suffering from claustrophobia, hypertension, heart disease, chronic renal
insufficiency, diabetes, anxiety and insomnia.
Decades of solitary confinement are also having a clear psychological effect on
the men. After being held together in the same prison for nearly 40 years, they
are now subjected to equally harsh conditions, but 250 miles apart in separate
institutions. Herman Wallace is being held on a tier alongside mentally ill
people and says that the shouting and screaming of inmates is making it very
difficult for him to sleep.
The report concludes with a call for the United States to honor its obligations
under international treaties.
Amnesty International believes that the conditions in which the two men are
held, including the length of time they have spent in isolation, violate
international human rights treaties to which the USA is a party.
The USA has an obligation under international standards to ensure that all
prisoners, regardless of their background, are treated humanely and that any
security measures that may be necessary conform to this requirement. The
prolonged and indefinite isolation of Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace without
meaningful review runs directly counter to this obligation.
The USA has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
and the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment, both of which prohibit torture and other
ill-treatment. The relevant treaty monitoring bodies (the Human Rights
Committee and the Committee against Torture) have found that prolonged solitary
confinement can amount to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment. Both bodies have expressed concern that the harsh conditions of
long-term isolation in some US segregation facilities are incompatible with the
USA’s treaty obligations. Amnesty International believes their findings are
particularly significant in the case of Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace given
that few, if any, other prisoners have spent so long in solitary confinement in
recent times.
Original Page:
http://solitarywatch.com/2011/06/07/amnesty-international-calls-for-angola-3s-release-from-40-years-of-solitary-confinement/
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