|
Please circulate
widely! Click
here
for a printable flyer. Join
other groups internationally supporting the Dallas 6, whose stand against
prisoner abuse in Pennsylvania and US prisons is a stand against prisoner
abuse everywhere. See What can you do below
for how to support. |
|||
|
Action Alert!!! Support
Pennsylvania Prisoner Whistleblowers Stop the abuse and torture of prisoners! |
|||
|
The Dallas 6 are six African-American prisoners in solitary confinement in SCI
Dallas PA prison who blew the whistle on & peacefully protested against
abuse and violence by prison guards. Four of them face trial on Feb 17 in
Luzerne County (infamous for the “kids for cash” scandal) for “rioting.”
Their jury trial will begin on February 17, 2015 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, USA. |
Why support the Dallas 6? They are whistleblowers who put their lives on the line by taking action to stop the rampant abuse and violence by guards at SCI Dallas and other PA prisons. We all depend on prisoners like the Dallas 6 to tell the truth about our society and to defend all our civil and human rights. They are part of a movement of prisoners taking action and speaking out through hunger and work strikes such as in Georgia, Ohio, Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Virginia and California. Torture must remain illegal in this country. Charles Graner honed his torture skills in PA where he was a prison guard before moving on to Abu Ghraib. We should not have to go to Iraq to find out what is happening here, not when there are prisoners telling it like it is. Solitary confinement is torture according to Juan Méndez, UN Special Rappateur on Torture, who has called for an absolute ban on solitary for longer than 15 days. Mass incarceration has meant many prisoners are inside for non-violent offenses such as minor drug convictions, immigration and parole violations & not paying fines, or are innocent of any offense. But whatever the offense, the sentence does not include torture. Their
trial is taking place in
the infamous Luzerne ‘Kids for Cash’
County where judges were convicted of kickbacks for incarcerating
children. Legal help is needed to navigate those dirty waters. |
||
|
What can you do?
► Fundraisers in
Pittsburgh Feb 13 and
Philadelphia Feb 14.
►
Endorse the call to support the Dallas 6.
► Help to
pack the court on Feb 17.
Sign up
here if you are planning to come, need or can offer transportation/ housing. ► Set up a speaking engagement for Shandre, Derrick and Isaac who give dynamic presentations (see video below).
►
Sign the Petition to Indict Corrupt Luzerne County Officials. ► Help with housing, rides, food for those coming to the trial. |
|||
|
Your support is needed to insure
that these men receive a fair trial, that the abuses that they faced in
prison do not continue, and, for the legal precedent that this court case
will establish. If
the Dallas 6 are justifiably cleared of all charges
Pennsylvania prisoners will be able to speak up against abuse and torture
without fear of retaliation.
Derrick Stanley of the Dallas 6 (at right) with Shandre Delaney (center), mother of Carrington Keys of the Dallas 6 and campaign coordinator |
|||
|
For more information
|
|||
|
Justice for the Dallas 6 Support
Campaign: Abolitionist Law Center; Every Mother is a Working Mother
Network; Fight for Lifers West; Germantown Friends Meeting Mass Incarceration
Working Group; Global Women’s Strike & Women of Color@GWS
– US; Human Rights Coalition – Fed Up; Human Rights Coalition – Philadelphia;
Marcellus Shale Earth First; Mishkan Shalom New Jim
Crow Study-Action Group; Payday men’s network; Peacehome
Campaigns; Shalefield Organizing Committee. Endorsements:
Brandywine Peace Community; California
Families Against Solitary Confinement (CFASC); The Center for Returning
Citizens (TCRC); Decarcerate PA; Defending Dissent
Foundation; Global Women’s Strike & Women of Color@GWS
– UK; Human Rights Defense Center – Lake Worth, Florida; Jewish Voice For
Peace - Philadelphia; Sin Barras – Without (Prison) Bars – Santa Cruz; T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights; WHAT’S UP?!
Pittsburgh; Welfare Warriors; Women’s International League for Peace and
Freedom (WILPF) – Philadelphia. Individual
Endorsements: Pam Africa, International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal; Patrice Armstead,
Building People’s Power and Coalition Demanding Reinstatement of Dr. Monteiro; Malik Aziz, Founder,
Men United for a Better Philadelphia and Chairman, National Exhoodus Council; Pastor Antoinette Johnson, King Solomon
Baptist Church; Dr. Anthony Monteiro; Rev. Bob
Moore, Executive Director, Coalition for Peace Action (for id purposes only);
Dr. Heather Ann Thompson, Professor of African American Studies & History,
Temple University; Dr. Cornel West, Princeton University; Dr. Carla Willard,
Africana Studies Program, Franklin & Marshall College. Partnering with: AFSC Prison Watch. |
|||
|
Phone: (US) 412-403-6101 Email:
sd4hrc@gmail.com Website:
scidallas6.blogspot.com |
|||
|
Background |
|||
|
Six African-American prisoners from the
State Correctional Institute (SCI) in Dallas, PA are facing charges of
“rioting” for blowing the whistle on the abuse of prisoners in solitary
confinement. On April 10, 2010, illegal and barbaric conditions at the hands of prison guards at SCI Dallas led these inmates, held in solitary confinement, to stage a protest. For over a year they had suffered food deprivation, destruction of mail, beatings, neglect of medical conditions, use of a torture chair and the deaths of some other prisoners, including the coerced suicide of an older white prisoner with mental health issues. After guards kept prisoner Isaac Sanchez
confined in a torture chair overnight, six protested by covering their cell
door windows with their bedding. The prisoners demanded that the abuse stop,
and requested access to their counselors, state police, the District Attorney
and the Public Defenders’ Office. They had no access to telephones or
computers and their incoming and out-going mail were being destroyed to
undermine their ability to expose the corruption. Prison guards responded with an armed
assault against the unarmed men locked inside individual cells. They attacked
the six men with electroshock shields, tasers,
fists and pepper spray. The guards involved suffered no injuries
and initially no charges were filed against the Dallas 6, who were left
bloodied, naked, burnt and in pain. Although some of the men were transferred
to other prisons, they were able to file complaints and initiate civil
actions against the prison guards and officials involved. Prison officials, state police and the
Luzerne County DA retaliated four months later by charging the Dallas 6 with
rioting. The Dallas 6 believe that they are facing these trumped up charges
because they contributed to
Institutionalized
Cruelty, Human Rights Coalition Report 1, and, then
subsequently stood up for their lives, which is documented in
Resistance &
Retaliation, Report 2. The
US has the largest prison population in the world with Black and Brown
communities disproportionately impacted. Prisoners across the US are taking
action and speaking out against their inhumane and tortuous conditions,
including prisoner hunger and work strikes in Georgia, Ohio, Alabama,
Illinois, Indiana, Virginia and California. As a result of their actions,
prisoners are retaliated against by prison
authorities. The trial of the Dallas 6 will represent a moment of truth and
exposure about wide-spread use of solitary confinement and torture in
prisons. We call on all who believe in justice and equality to support the
Dallas 6. |
|||
