Weekend Conference On Prisoner Torture (Berkeley)

[struggle4progress]

By JUDITH SCHERR
Special to the Planet (04-22-05)

On Sept. 13, 1971, a four-day revolt against abominable prison conditions ended with police and guards storming Attica State Prison, killing 32 inmates and 11 corrections officers. At Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere, U.S. military and private prison guards have tortured prisoners. In Dublin, Calif., and other federal prisons around the country, inmates known for political activism have been convicted for alleged criminal acts. Political prisoners—some charged as criminals, many not charged at all—sit in jails in Palestine, the Philippines, Haiti and elsewhere.

The United States’ role in supporting the criminalization of political activities must stop, says Kali Akuna, an organizer with the conference “Attica to Abu Ghraib” that begins tonight at 6 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison St. with a keynote address by Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Georgia. <snip>

http://www.berkeleydaily.org/text/article.cfm?issue=04-22-05&storyID=21219