A horrific human rights abuse — straight out of the USA.
In the scheme of human rights and the U.S. criminal justice system, the case of the “Angola 3″ is one of the great injustices of our time. In 1972, three black men, Albert Woodfox, Herman Wallace, and Robert King Wilkerson, were prisoners at Angola State Prison in Louisiana when a guard was stabbed to death. The three Black Panthers were blamed for the murder on the flimsiest of proof and placed in solitary confinement. They would stay there for the next three decades, quite possibly the longest span of time any prisoner has spent in solitary confinement in the U.S.
At Angola, a sprawling complex that was once a slave plantation, solitary confinement means living in a 6-by-9 cell, 23 hours a day, seven days a week. It is an extreme punishment that is physically and psychologically dehumanizing. “The SPCA would shut this prison down if they had dogs up here like this,” Herman Wallace says.
Angola has always had a reputation for racism and brutality, and the case of the Angola 3 has its own sordid back story. In the early 1970s, prisoners were, according to the Times-Picayune, “subject to being ‘sold’ to each other to be used as ‘sex slaves’ or prostituted out to other inmates in exchange for prison-brands of currency, such as cigarettes.” The warden in those years — a man who would later be jailed for trying to murder his wife — acknowledged the existence of the sex trade in his memoir. According to the New Orleans-based defense attorney who continues to advocate for the Angola 3, the three Black Panthers had been “trying to stop the sexual slavery and rampant rage occurring there everyday.” But organizing of any kind is frowned upon in a racist prison environment. In a very real way, the Angola 3 can be considered political prisoners.
Read the rest of the entry.
It’s been 35 years, and the three men are still in solitary confinement. That may not sound as horrific as it actually is, but take five minutes to google around and find out what happens to people mentally when they’re in solitary confinement — it’s not good. It is the very definition of cruel and unusual, and it’s disgusting that this continues to happen on our own soil. I don’t like to throw around words like “barbarians,” but here, that seems to be exactly what we are.
It seems that way because THAT IS what we are.
You know, for all that has gone on in the last number of years, not much shocks me any more, and not much moves me to tears. But when I saw that article earlier in the day (already a sad day considering the circumstances in Iraq, and a day in which I promised myself I’d try to see the sunshine beyond the clouds), my heart sank deep into my stomach. The fact that many parts of “our” government commits acts of terror on “our” behalf, in “our” country just makes me fit to be tied. And people don’t know about this. For 30-odd years this has happened, and who knew? Who are these assholes who say “racism isn’t that much of a problem any more, just your occasional backwards white supremacist”? So sad.
As an agoraphobe (I’m a control freak and being locked up or restrained in any way sends me into screaming fits) the idea of solitary confinement makes me break out in a cold sweat. The idea of spending 35 years in solitary….yeah, we live in an enlightened country trying to bring peace and good fellowship to the world. Hypocrit seems to be part of our national identity.
Jill, my understanding is that Mr. Wilkerson was released and is working to bring attention to the plight of the other two men. But then, I’ve seen King and King Wilkerson, so I’m still trying to sort it all out to make sure I understand.
When I first heard of this case (just last week) I kept saying, “It can’t be real solitary confinement. They couldn’t do that for almost 36 years.” I still can’t grasp that.
That may not sound as horrific as it actually is
Holy fuck, no, that sounds pretty god-fucking-damn horrific! Seriously, to be locked in a box, let out for one hour each day, for 12 years longer than I have lived at all…. shit!
(Pardon my French, please…. I just…. yeah. That’s pretty crazy. Cruel and unusual punishment, wot?)
This is why I sometimes feel compelled to tell American friends and former colleagues working on human rights causes abroad, “Go home.”
I’m a misanthrope who thinks being left alone is heaven and I think that kind of extended solitary is worse than death (and please do not take that to mean that I think they should have been put to death). This sort of stuff is why I hope there is some divine healing after death (and a pointed humiliation of anyone who could do that to another human being).
Elle is right. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Wilkerson on a recent speaking tour. He’s out, but he hasn’t forgotten his comrades behind bars, and he works tirelessly to bring attention to their plight.
More information here.
Sabotabby, how is Mr. Wilkerson able to function at all on the outside? Did he seem okay to you? I’m suprised he hasn’t completely collapsed.