Political Prisoners- General Info
Political prisoners are
people prosecuted for their political beliefs or ideologies, activities, and
affiliations with social movements. Political prisoners can be anybody from any
race, culture, age, or gender. They are often associated and identified as
leaders in organizations or movements opposed to the atrocities committed by
the United States government. Some examples of these crimes are the
infringement of privacy, police brutality, genocide of indigenous people,
forced dispossession of land.
The objective of the incarceration of political leaders by the government is to destabilize social movements of resistance. Political prisoners are often given harsh, long term sentences in prisons where they are mistreated on a daily basis. Mistreatment includes extensive periods of time in solitary confinement, denied recreational time, and insufficient visiting time. The primary purpose of mistreatment of political prisoners is to prevent organizing behind prison walls. The government often paints a negative picture of political prisoners by calling them criminals or terrorists in an effort to justify the imprisonment of these people to the general public. Often times when Political Prisoners are being prosecuted, they are charged with other crimes to hide the fact they are being imprisoned for their political beliefs. Their commonality is that they are fighting government oppression and were unjustly prosecuted in an effort to destroy their respective movements.
The objective of the incarceration of political leaders by the government is to destabilize social movements of resistance. Political prisoners are often given harsh, long term sentences in prisons where they are mistreated on a daily basis. Mistreatment includes extensive periods of time in solitary confinement, denied recreational time, and insufficient visiting time. The primary purpose of mistreatment of political prisoners is to prevent organizing behind prison walls. The government often paints a negative picture of political prisoners by calling them criminals or terrorists in an effort to justify the imprisonment of these people to the general public. Often times when Political Prisoners are being prosecuted, they are charged with other crimes to hide the fact they are being imprisoned for their political beliefs. Their commonality is that they are fighting government oppression and were unjustly prosecuted in an effort to destroy their respective movements.
Documents
5 Documents Found
You Can’t Jail the Spirit: Political Prisoners in the United States
Call Number: PM 226Format: CassetteProducers: Gloria AlonzoCollection: Political Prisoners- General Info
This program takes a look at political prisoners within the United States and their contributions and efforts to the social justice movement. The program takes a look at four specific cases. The first portion of the program addresses Cuban detainees being held without due process in U.S. federal prisons. The second part takes a look at Haitian refugees in the U.S. The third part discusses Irish national Joseph Daugherty who was imprisoned in 1983 without being charged of a crime within the U.S. The final portion of the program takes a look at the case of Silvia Baraldini, an Italian national who was imprisoned on charges of conspiring to free prominent Black Panther leader Asada Shakur and conspirancy to commit a bank robbery.
Interview with Susan Rosenberg about conditions in the women’s political prison, Lexington.
Call Number: PM 438AFormat: Cass AProducers: Sally O’Brian, Terry BissonCollection: Political Prisoners- General Info
Interview with Susan Rosenberg, an American revoluntionary anti-imperialist female political prisoner, about Lexington prison. . Susan Rosenberg describes the focus of Lexington as “the psychological element of incarceration to disintigrate the personality”. She speaks about the terribly harsh and restrictive conditions of Lexington, as well as the psychological impact of the prison. Rosenberg speaks about how every prisoner is there for political reasons, as the control unit is not based on disciplinary measures, but on classificationof who and what the prisoners are associated with.
Susan Rosenberg’s attorney, Michael Schubert, speaks about the isolation and solitary confinement the Lesington prisoners experience, and how such isolation is aimed at keeping the prisoners isolated from politics.
Political Prisoners in the US
Call Number: PM 256Format: CassetteProducers: Prison Radio ProjectProgram: You Can’t Jail the Spirit #8Collection: Political Prisoners- General Info
Political prisoners Ed Mead and Linda Evans, former political prisoner Pat Levasseur and Marilyn Kalmen, attorney and a member of Out of Control: Lesbian Community in Support of Political Prisoners. A discussion of their anti-imperialist actions; defying the government by using armed guerrilla tactics. Government repression of anti-imperialist action (labeled "terrorism") through lengthy jail sentences, harsh prison conditions, corruption of the prison industrial complex, and organizing support for political prisoners.
Political Prisoners - Historical Perspectives
Date: 11/15/1991Call Number: PM 405Format: CassetteProducers: Prison Radio ProjectProgram: Can't Jail the Spirit #1Collection: Political Prisoners- General Info
Discussion of definitions of political prisoners and the US government's denial of their existence in the US.
Readings from Harriet Jacob's "Diary of a Slave Girl", from Assata Shakur's "Assata", and from Emma Goldman, in addition to discussions with Dr. Chinasole from San Francisco State University, and a question and answer segment with Gloria Alonzo of the National Committee to Free Puerto Rican Political Prisoners, Dr. Candace Falk, Dr. Jose Lopez from the Movimento de Revolucion Nacional, and former political prisoner Alvaro Luna Hernandez from the Jailhouse Conveyor.
Political Prisoners - Historical Perspectives
Date: 11/15/1991Call Number: PM 406Format: CassetteProducers: Prison Radio ProjectProgram: Can't Jail the Spirit #1Collection: Political Prisoners- General Info
Discussion of definitions of political prisoners and the US government's denial of their existence in the US.
Readings from Harriet Jacob's "Diary of a Slave Girl", from Assata Shakur's "Assata", and from Emma Goldman, in addition to discussions with Dr. Chinasole from San Francisco State University, and a question and answer segment with Gloria Alonzo of the National Committee to Free Puerto Rican Political Prisoners, Dr. Candace Falk, Dr. Jose Lopez from the Movimento de Revolucion Nacional, and former political prisoner Alvaro Luna Hernandez from the Jailhouse Conveyor.
5 Documents Found
