Political prisoners in the USA

Artist: Josh MacPhee

Read “While claiming to defend freedom around the world, the U.S. has hundreds of political prisoners – and the majority are people of color,” a comprehensive analysis of political imprisonment in the United States today

Introduction & methodology

Below is a list of individuals currently incarcerated in the United States for actions threatening U.S. imperial power. AFGJ considers them both political prisoners and “prisoners of Empire.” We define prisoners of Empire as people incarcerated for acts of resistance to domestic and international oppression and repression and whose cases require a political resolution. Political prisoners are imprisoned because of activities that in some way respond to systemic repression and violations of human rights. Whether the circumstances of the alleged crimes are true or false, we strenuously reject the individualized and out-of-context treatment of these cases as simply “common crimes.” Our listing of these prisoners does not constitute an endorsement of the tactics or immediate goals of every individual. We also recognize that people have a right to resist oppression, and the denial of that right can be, in itself, a crime against the people. In many cases, those incarcerated have been set up, falsely accused, railroaded, and/or denied adequate defense and basic human rights. More often than not, they have received harsher sentences than usual because of the political nature of their activities.

Our documentation of political prisoners is made on a case-by-case basis involving a holistic assessment of individual backgrounds, motives, the contexts in which their actions took place and their treatment in the justice system. The criminalization of their actions, often targeting social movement leaders and disruptors of the status quo, is a reflection of decades-old tactics of persecution, intimidation and suppression of political resistance. While it would be ideal to include all such individuals jailed in the United States today, the grim reality is that that number is too endless to document in its entirety. For this reason we’ve mostly limited the scope of our list to include individuals already formally sentenced to long-term incarceration (e.g. at least six months of imprisonment or home confinement) with the exception of emblematic cases we find important to draw attention to, such as individuals extradited and indefinitely detained in the United States for actions promoting the self-determination, liberation and defense of their territories from occupation, war, sanctions and blockades.

We are also guided by a commitment to only document individuals who are directly oppressed by the abuses and neglect of the neoliberal and militarist U.S. Empire and engaged in or somehow advancing a revolutionary program to end that Empire and the global capitalist model it serves, even if they do so unintentionally. Before the Cuban Revolution, as a private citizen and lawyer, Fidel Castro denounced a right-wing coup in 1952 by Fulgencio Batista, who maintained that his crimes were “legal” because Cuban law allowed for the legitimacy of revolution. Castro responded:

“There was no revolutionary program, no revolutionary theory, no revolutionary statements preceding the coup: (they are) politicians without people, who, in any case, became assailants seizing power. Without a new conception of the state, of society and the legal system, based on profound historical and philosophical principles, there can be no revolution deserving of the right. They cannot even be called political delinquents.”

We need your help. This list is an ongoing draft. If you see any mistakes, know people who should be listed who are not, have updates on the status of political prisoners or have any other questions or comments, please send them to [email protected] or [email protected].

Political prisoners in the USA

Abdul Azeez, Hanif Shabazz Bey and Malik El-Amin of the Virgin Island Three are from the U.S.-occupied Virgin Islands, sentenced to life in prison in 1973. After the murder of eight American tourists in the island during a period of anti-imperial struggle against the United States, the three were targeted for being supporters of the struggle, falsely accused of murdering the tourists and tortured into making false confessions. 

Leonard Peltier, Indigenous leader and activist in the American Indian Movement (AIM) who participated in the AIM encampments on the Pine Ridge Reservation, was sentenced to life in prison in 1977 for murdering those two FBI agents. In 1975 a COINTELPRO style FBI operation led to a confrontation in which two FBI agents died. Evidence exonerating Peltier was withheld by the FBI. In his appeal, the government admitted it had no evidence to show he killed the FBI agents. He is the longest-held political prisoner of the American Indian Movement in United States history.

Mumia Abu-Jamal was sentenced to death in 1982 following a COINTELPRO style operation in an unfair trial for the murder of a Philadelphia policeman (later sentenced to life in prison). He was held in isolation on death row for 30 years and remains imprisoned for life. Abu-Jamal, one of the founding members of the Philadelphia chapter of the Black Panther Party, was an organizer and campaigner against police abuses in the African American community and president of the Association of Black Journalists. During his imprisonment he has published several books and other commentaries, notably Live from Death Row. After decades of suppressing evidence that would support his case and thanks to the tireless advocacy of Abu-Jamal’s supporters, his judge has ordered the disclosure of all evidence and is expected to rule on an appeal for a new trial in February or March of 2023.

Michael Kimble was sentenced to life in prison in 1987 for defending himself and his friend against a homophobic attack by a white supremacist in Alabama. His trial was typical of what could be expected from Alabama’s racist criminal justice system. Kimble, an anarchist, became politicized in prison and alongside the Free Alabama Movement has helped organize the historic national prison strike of 2016. He is an outspoken advocate for queer prisoners, assists in legal defense for his fellow inmates and coordinates political reading groups and Black history events in his prison. We consider Kimble to be a political prisoner because the criminalization of his self-defense is reflective of the legal system’s historical complacency towards white supremacist terror and the rigid lack of consideration towards his sentence reduction is likely reflective of his political persecution.

Simón Trinidad is a long-time leader of mass movements for social change and was a top negotiator for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP) sentenced to 60 years in prison in 2008. He was arrested in 2004 in Ecuador in the process of negotiating with the UN for the release of FARC prisoners. He was then extradited to the United States on charges of narco-trafficking and kidnapping and subjected to four separate trials due to the difficulty the prosecution had in securing a conviction. A Colombian government spokesperson told Alliance for Global Justice in April 2015 that the repatriation of Trinidad to Colombia is key to the success of the peace talks between FARC-EP and the Colombian Government. So far, the U.S. government has refused to return Trinidad. He remains in solitary confinement in federal prison.

Ivan Vargas is a citizen of Colombia and former member of FARC sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2010 on bogus drug trafficking charges. He was captured by Colombian forces and then extradited to the United States, where he remains incarcerated, in violation of Colombia’s self-determination. His repatriation to Colombia is important to create the conditions for a stable peace between FARC and the Colombian government.

“Muhammad” Fred Burton, one of the “Philly 5,” was sentenced to life in prison in 1972, framed for the murder of a policeman during a time of massive police crackdowns on Black activists in Philadelphia. He is an organizer in his prison and a teacher advocating for racial justice.

Bill Dunne was sentenced to 90 years in prison in 1980 for the attempted liberation of anarchist political prisoner Artie Ray Dufur (Dunne received an additional 15 years in 1983 for attempting himself to escape prison). Dunne is politically active in prison. He organizes solidarity 5k runs with the Anarchist Black Cross, helps educate fellow inmates and writes and edits for the 4struggle magazine.

“Balagoon” John Cole and “Naeem” Christopher Trotter were prisoners who intervened directly in the 1985 Pendleton Uprising to stop the brutal beating of fellow inmate and beloved jailhouse lawyer Lokmar Abdul Wadood Yazidi (AKA Lincoln Love) at the hands of the “Sons of Light,” a white supremacist organization of prison guards. Both Cole and Trotter had less than two years to serve in their sentences at the time but as a result of their life-saving actions were sentenced to an additional 84 (Cole) and 142 (Trotter) years in 1987 and have spent 33 and 20 years in solitary confinement, respectively.

Fran Thompson is a long-time ecological defender sentenced to life in prison in 1994 for successfully defending herself against a man who had broken into her home and threatened to murder her. What she did was an act of personal defense against the patriarchal system, and she was likely targeted because of her eco-defense, given that she was not allowed to enter a plea of self-defense.

”Xinachtli” Alvaro Hernandez is a Chicano community organizer and prison activist sentenced to 50 years in prison in 1997 on trumped up charges of threatening a sheriff while resisting arrest. Hernandez was the National Coordinator of the Ricardo Aldape Guerra Defense Committee and involved in anti-police brutality activism in Houston. He was continually targeted by the police since 1976 when he was sentenced to prison for a murder he didn’t commit.

“Oso Blanco” Byron Chubbuck is a member of the wolf clan Cherokee/Choctaw sentenced to 80 years in prison in 2001 (reduced to 55 years in 2016) for expropriating over $165,000 in bank funds to give to the Zapatistas of Chiapas, Mexico. He became known as “Robin the Hood” because he would let the bank tellers know that he was taking the money to give to the poor.

Rev. Joy Powell was a consistent activist against police brutality, violence and oppression in her community, sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2006 for burglary and assault by an all-white jury. The state had provided no evidence and no eyewitnesses for her case. Powell, a Black woman, had been warned by the Rochester Police that she was a target because of her speaking out against corruption. She now faces an additional 25 years to life due to her framing in a murder case.

Ghassan Elashi, Mufid Abdulqader and Shukri Abu-Baker of the Holy Land Foundation Five were sentenced to prison in 2008 for giving more than $12 million to charitable groups in Palestine which funded hospitals and schools and fed the poor and orphans. Elashi and Abu-Baker were sentenced to 65 years in prison and Abdulqader was sentenced to 20 years in prison. The United States Government said these groups were controlled by Hamas, a group it lists as a terrorist organization. Hamas is the elected government of Gaza. Some of these charitable committees were still receiving U.S. funding through USAID as late as 2006. The defendants were originally acquitted in their first trial when the jury remained deadlocked. Testimony was later given in the case by an Israeli government agent whose identity and evidence was kept secret from the defense. This was the first time in U.S. legal history that testimony has been allowed from an expert witness with no identity, and therefore immune from perjury.

Marius Mason (formerly known as Marie Mason) is an environmental political prisoner sentenced to 22 years in prison in 2009 for vandalism of a laboratory creating genetically modified organisms for Monsanto. He was charged with arson for this and for damaging logging equipment in 1999 and 2000. No one was harmed by these actions. Mason pled guilty to arson charges, but the judge applied a “terrorism enhancement,” resulting in the longest sentence of any “Green Scare” prisoner.

Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist educated in the United States, was sentenced to 86 years in prison in 2010 for assault with intent to murder her U.S. interrogators in Afghanistan. Four British Parliamentarians wrote to President Obama that “there was an utter lack of concrete evidence tying Dr. Siddiqui to the weapon she allegedly fired at a U.S. officer,” calling for her to be freed immediately. The weapon she allegedly fired in the small interrogation room did not have her fingerprints, nor was there evidence the gun was fired.

Josh Williams was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2015 for arson, burglary and looting during the Ferguson Uprising of 2014 that followed the police murder of unarmed Black teenager Michael Brown. Williams had entered a QuickTrip convenience store previously broken into by other looters and lit fires in and outside of the store. His shockingly long sentence marked the beginning of systematic suppression and intimidation of Black Lives Matter protestors. As of May 2021, following the Black Lives Matter uprising sparked by the police murder of George Floyd, Williams has been held in solitary confinement. Felony charges have recently been issued against Josh during his last year in prison that threaten his release.

Eric King is a long-time anti-racist activist sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2016 for his activities since the 2014 Ferguson Uprising against the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. King is scheduled for release in 2023 but has been constantly targeted by authorities during his time in prison. He recently beat trumped up additional charges against him for defending himself against beatings by guards that threatened his life. He has been held in solitary confinement for three years now, “in some of the most inhumane conditions throughout the system,” according to the Civil Liberties Defense Center.

Maddesyn George was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison in 2020 for defending herself from assault by a white man who had raped her only one day before. George is a member of the Colville Confederated Tribes and a survivor of domestic and sexual abuse. We include her as a political prisoner because her case is reflective of two areas of human rights violations that demand a political solution. Women are suffering from an epidemic of misogynist violence and sexual abuse that is rooted in the patriarchal system. There are hundreds of women arrested and detained in the U.S. for their self defense against perpetrators of abuse against them. The legal system treats these as individual cases, neglecting the fact that women are both attacked and criminalized as a class for their acts of survival. George is also a native woman, a segment of the population that experiences murder rates 10 times higher than the national average. George is being punished for refusing to become another number in that grim statistic. Her incarceration is emblematic of all women, and of native women specifically, who have defended themselves against their oppressors and are being systematically ignored and, indeed, punished for their self-defense.

To learn more about the targeting of native women and criminalization of survival as an act of political repression, visit: Survived and Punished, Defend Survivors, Coalition to Stop Violence against Native Women and MMIW USA.

Daniel Hale was sentenced to nearly four years in prison in 2021 for releasing classified documents on the United States Drone Program and targeted assassinations. Hale participated in the program while with the Air Force in 2009-2013 and, upon leaving, became an outspoken critic and a defender of whistleblowers.

Daniel Baker is an anarchist and antifascist activist, yoga teacher and emergency medical technician trainee was sentenced to nearly four years in prison in 2021 for posting a call for armed defense of the state capitol against possible attacks from the far-right in the wake of the January 6, 2021 riots in Washington, D.C. Baker never organized an armed contingent to go to the Capitol, nor did he go himself with a weapon or issue any threats against any individuals. According to Natasha Lennard, “Baker will, nonetheless, face considerably more prison time than most January 6 defendants, including those who crossed state lines, small arsenals in tow, with the aim of overturning a presidential election.” Baker is also a former army veteran who went AWOL rather than continuing to fight in Iraq.

“Grandmaster Jay” John Johnson is the leader of the Black nationalist militia composed of ex-military shooters, “Not F*cking Around Coalition,” sentenced to over seven years in prison in 2022 for pointing a rifle in the direction of a federal officer during a September 2020 protest for Breonna Taylor in Louisville. The incident took place while several groups were demonstrating in Jefferson Square Park calling for the prosecution of the police who killed Breonna Taylor.

Alex Saab was extradited to the United States from Cabo Verde in October of 2021 (even though no extradition order was provided) while on a diplomatic mission to buy food and nutritional supplies to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela resulting from the illegal unilateral coercive measures imposed by the U.S. on the nation. Despite his status as a diplomat and the United Nations as well as other international human rights advocates and organizations having denounced his incarceration Saab has been denied immunity on the basis of the recently passed Bolivar Act, which set the premise for his judge’s ruling that “any claim of diplomatic immunity asserted by a representative of the Maduro regime must […] be considered illegitimate.” His defense attorney is working on an appeal.

Mun Chol Myong is a North Korean businessman extradited from Malaysia in March of 2021 for allegedly violating U.S. laws for taking measures to circumvent illegal sanctions imposed by the United States a country he had never set foot in against North Korea. Myong has argued that his case is being used as leverage in possible nuclear negotiations between the United States and North Korea. He is to be sentenced in January of 2023.

Black Panther Party (BPP), New Afrikan, and Black Liberation Army (BLA) political prisoners were victims of the COINTELPRO operations in the 1960s-1970s when the FBI sought to destroy the Black Liberation Movement. Those currently incarcerated include but are not limited to:

  • Ed Poindexter was sentenced to life in prison in 1971 on charges of killing an Omaha policeman. A leader of the National Committee to Combat Fascism, he was convicted on the testimony of a teenage boy who had been threatened with an electric chair if he did not blame the crime on Poindexter and Mondo We Langa (who died in prison). Amnesty International defends them as “prisoners of conscience.” Poindexter is the longest-held political prisoner of the Black Liberation Movement.
  • “Joe-Joe” Joseph Bowen was radicalized when he was jailed as a young man in 1971 for his activities in the 30th and Norris street gang. He is a member of the Black Liberation Army and remains incarcerated today as a result of acts of armed struggle since he was sentenced to life in prison in 1973 for the murder of a warden and deputy warden in Philadelphia’s Holmesburg Prison (along with political prisoner “Muhammad” Fred Burton, who was also incarcerated at the time).
  • Veronza Bowers was sentenced to life in prison in 1974 for the murder of a U.S. park ranger by word of two government informers. There were no eyewitnesses or evidence independent of these informants. During his trial, two relatives of the informants gave testimony insisting that they were lying, which was ignored.
  • “Cinque” Ruchell Magee was already imprisoned on trumped up charges when he appeared in a courtroom in 1970 to testify in a trial related to the Soledad prison revolt. There, he was spontaneously recruited into the Marin County Courthouse Rebellion, a bid to expose the racist court system and negotiate the liberation of the Soledad Brothers by taking hostages. He was sentenced to life in prison in 1975 as a result of his actions.
  • “Zulu” Kenny Whitmore is a former Angola Black Panther sentenced to life in prison in 1977 on false charges accusing him of the robbery and murder of the former KKK member and mayor of a rural town in the Parish of East Baton Rouge, Louisiana, during a time of heightened racial tensions. During his arrest he was held incommunicado for three days, during which he was denied food and drink, tortured and beaten into a false confession. He has endured many years of brutal solitary confinement and continues to be denied his release, despite maintaining his innocence. 
  • Kojo Bomani Sababu, New Afrikan prisoner of war active with the Black Liberation Army, was sentenced to 55 years in prison in 1981 on charges of seditious conspiracy for attempting to free former Puerto Rican political prisoner Oscar López Rivera while they were both incarcerated in Kansas.
  • Imam Jamil Al-Amin, formerly H. Rap Brown, was sentenced to life in prison in 2002 for the murder of a Georgia sheriff’s deputy and other criminal charges. Al-Amin was Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Black Panther Party’s Minister of Justice. His position in the Black Liberation Movement spurred decades of bogus charges and detainments until he was convicted despite contradicting evidence overlooked by his jury.
  • Kamau Sadiki, community organizer for the Black Panther Party involved in its Free Breakfast for School Children Program and political education efforts, was sentenced to life in prison on trumped up charges related to the murder of an Atlanta police officer in 2003.

To learn more about Black Panther Party (BPP), New Afrikan, and Black Liberation Army political prisoners, see the documentary films The FBI’s War on Black America: COINTELPRO, Cointelpro 101, or visit the Prison Activist Resource Center or the Jericho Movement.

The Water Protectors were prisoners of Empire incarcerated for their resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline and its threats to the Missouri River and the Standing Rock Sioux people. Today only Jessica Reznicek remains in jail.

  • Jessica Reznicek was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2021, convicted with a “terrorism enhancement” that added years to her sentence, for taking action in 2016 to stop the construction of Dakota Access Pipeline by dismantling construction equipment and pipeline valves.

To learn more about the Water Protectors, visit waterprotectorscommunity.org

Defendants of the 2020 Black Lives Matter uprisings represent a new wave of political prisoners incarcerated for acts of resistance to racism and state violence. The repression of the movement by militarized police and federal law enforcement has led to thousands of protest-related arrests and detentions. Two years since the eruption of social unrest following the police murder of George Floyd, dozens, if not hundreds, of protesters have been sentenced to prison for their participation in the uprisings and actions targeting individual, institutional and symbolic centers of power, among them police officers, police vehicles, police stations, courthouses, commercial centers and racist historical monuments celebrating the U.S. legacy of slavery, genocide and colonialism.

*An Associated Press review of court documents for over 300 federal cases involving protesters following the murder of George Floyd from August of last year (2021) shows that at least 120 people have pleaded guilty or been convicted of federal crimes for their activities, at least 70 have been sentenced an average of 27 months in prison and at least 10 have been sentenced to a minimum of five years in prison. The sheer number of cases, lack of readily available information about them and limited staff capacity prevents us from being able to list every one that meets our criteria for documentation. We have to the best of our ability documented all cases we’ve found publicized by local and national news outlets and will continue to monitor the situation for new information.

  • Fornandous Cortez-Henderson and Garrett Patrick Ziegler were sentenced to prison for their roles in the arson of the Dakota County Western Service Center in the early morning hours of a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest that had erupted in Apple Valley, Minnesota following the police murder of George Floyd. Cortez-Henderson was sentenced to nearly seven years in December of 2020 and Ziegler was sentenced to five years in February of 2021. Henderson, a Black man, had admitted that his targeting of the building was motivated by his experiences with the justice system there and his anger towards law enforcement in light of the recent murder of George Floyd.
  • Steven M. Fitch was sentenced to nearly three years in prison in January of 2021 for possessing a molotov cocktail while participating in a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Omaha.
  • Emmanuel Quinones was sentenced to nearly four years in prison in March of 2021 for brandishing a rifle during a June 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Lubbock, Texas, in an open-carry state. Quinones had not harmed anyone. His sentence ultimately stemmed from threatening comments he had made prior to the protest against former President Donald Trump and his intentions to “off racists” and “MAGA instigators.” Prior to his actions, Quinones had also posted on social media: “while a race riot erupted in Minneapolis the President literally retweeted a video of one of his supporters saying the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat. These people are PUSHING for America to rip itself to shreds. Disgusting. I’ll tell you right now if you keep provoking regular people we’ll make sure you never cross that line ever again. I guarantee it.” When taken into custody during the incident, Quinones could be heard shouting “this is a revolution.”
  • Kelly Jackson was sentenced to three years in prison in March of 2021 for using molotov cocktails to burn two police vehicles during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest that had erupted in Seattle.
  • Jonathan Montanezage was sentenced to two years in prison in April of 2021 for using his fists to damage a police vehicle during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Fargo, North Dakota. 
  • Brandon Wolfe, Bryce Williams, Davon Turner and Dylan Robinson were sentenced to prison for the arson of the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct during a May 2020 protest that erupted following the police murder of George Floyd. Wolf was sentenced to nearly four years in prison in May of 2021. Robinson was sentenced to four years in federal prison in April 2021. Turner was sentenced to three years in prison in May of 2021. Williams was sentenced to just over two years in prison in June of 2021.
    *A meme circulated on social media claiming that Wolfe was a white supremacist and provocateur, but the meme was anonymous and included nothing to back up the allegations. Up until now, we have seen nothing indicating that Wolfe’s motivations were that of a provocateur. Unless we receive other substantiated reports, we will consider his actions to be directed against police brutality and racism and the indictment of those involved in the act to be politically-motivated. We encourage those with more information to contact us.
  • Desmond David-Pitts was sentenced to almost two years in prison in May of 2021 for setting fire near a police precinct during an August 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Seattle. David-Pitts, a Black homeless youth and racial justice activist, had testified earlier that summer about the police murder of his brother and lack of accountability around police brutality impacting his communities. David-Pitts suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder due to the loss of his brother and his own experience with homelessness and police violence. He participated in local protests in Anchorage and marched with protesters in Seattle before lighting garbage on fire near the entrance of the Seattle Police East Precinct.
  • Alexander Steven-Heil and Marc Gonzales were sentenced to prison in May of 2021 and June of 2021, respectively, for their roles in the arson of a Wells Fargo bank during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest that shortly followed the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Steven-Heil, who aided in the arson, was sentenced to nearly three years, and Gonzales, who started the fire, was sentenced to just over three years.
  • ”Sire” Marquon Clark, a local organizer known by his community as a revolutionary and anti-capitalist social justice activist, was sentenced to seven years in prison in June of 2021 for tossing a lit roll of toilet paper into the City-County Building, a center of city and county government offices, during a June 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Madison.
  • Andrew Garcia-Smith and Charles Pittman were sentenced to prison for their roles in setting fire to the Fayetteville Market House, a racist historical site that once served as a center for lynching and slave trade, during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Garcia-Smith was sentenced to just over two years in prison in June of 2021 and Pittman was sentenced to five years in prison in July (2022).
  • Gavaughn Streeter-Hillerich was sentenced to five years in prison in June of 2021 for starting a dumpster fire near the Police Bureau’s North Precinct during a June 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Portland.
  • Tyre Means was sentenced to five years in prison in June of 2021 for helping to set a police car on fire and possessing an AR-15 from another police car during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Seattle. According to Puget Sound Prisoner Support, Means explained to a judge, “the days of just rolling over to police brutality and injustices are over.”
  • Earlja Dudley, Justin Spry and Killian Melecio were sentenced to prison for their roles in an attempt to set fire to a police vehicle during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Trenton, New Jersey. Melecio was sentenced in June of 2021 to just over two years in prison; Spry was sentenced in October of 2021 to two years in prison; Dudley was sentenced in March (2022) to just over two years in prison.
  • Abraham Jenkins was sentenced to nearly two years in prison in July of 2021 for damaging police vehicles and spraying police officers with a fire extinguisher during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Charleston. Jenkins’ actions took place against the backdrop of the militarization of Charleston police forces that engaged in mass violence against unarmed protesters.
  • Cyan Bass was sentenced to four years in prison in July of 2021 for throwing a molotov cocktail near police during a September 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Portland. Bass, who also attempted to set fire to the Portland Justice Center, is a described antifascist. The protest he attended occurred during a violent escalation of police repression and mobilization of federal troops, namely the so-called “marine corps of the U.S. federal law enforcement community,” the Border Patrol Tactical Agency (BORTAC).
  • Zachary Karas was sentenced to nearly three years in prison in August of 2021 for possessing a molotov cocktail during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in La Mesa, California. Karas did not actually start any fires and was originally arrested for refusing to leave his position while law enforcement were attempting to disperse a crowd during the protest. 
  • Shamar Betts was sentenced to four years in prison in August of 2021 for posting a flyer on Facebook calling for people to rise up against police violence following the police murder of George Floyd in May of 2020. His post had been shared hundreds of times, and on May 31, 2020 several hundred people gathered at the Marketplace Mall in Champaign, Illinois to protest racism and police brutality. 
  • Jackson Patton, Larry Williams Jr. and La’Troi Newbins were sentenced to prison for their roles in the burning of a Salt Lake City police cruiser during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest. Patton was sentenced in August of 2021 to two years in prison; Newbins was sentenced in December of 2021 to one year in prison; and Williams Jr. was sentenced to one year in home confinement in January (2022).
  • Isaiah Willoughby was sentenced to two years in prison in October of 2021 for setting fire to the outside of the Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct during a June 2020 Black Lives Matter protest. According to his attorney, Willoughby’s own experiences with law enforcement and the police murders of George Floyd and Manuel Ellis motivated his decision to light the fire. Ellis, who was Willoughby’s friend and housemate, had been stopped by Tacoma, Washington police without cause, a confrontation that left him beaten, stunned and suffocated to death. 
  • John Boampong was sentenced to five years in prison in October of 2021 for shooting at police officers after one of them started hitting his car with a baton while he was driving amid the eruption of social unrest in Boston in June of 2020 that followed the police murder of George Floyd. Boampong, who participated in protests earlier that day, had been driving around the area when he was ordered to leave by police officers. When he refused, they proceeded to attack his car, to which he responded by shooting in their direction. According to his attorney, Boampong’s response to the police officers was informed by anger that stemmed from multiple traumatic experiences involving police earlier that day and throughout his lifetime. 
  • Da’Jon Lengyel and Christopher West were sentenced to prison in October of 2021 to two and four years in prison, respectively, for their roles in setting fire to a police car during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Pittsburgh. 
  • Bruce Thompson, Dashun Martin, Delveccho Waller, Jr., Jesse Smallwood and Judah Bailey were sentenced to prison in November of 2021 for burning a police car during a June 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Gainesville, Georgia. The five had planned their action as part of their participation in the protest. Waller, Smallwood and Bailey were sentenced to nearly two years in prison, while Thompson and Martin were each sentenced to just over a year in prison. 
  • Brandon Pack and Romell Whiteside were sentenced to prison in November of 2021 and June (2022), respectively, for their actions during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Columbus, during which they threw commercial-grade fireworks near a group of police officers. Pack was sentenced to eight years in prison and Whiteside to three years in prison. The incident took place just hours after Columbus police had fired tear gas and wooden bullets into crowds of protesters earlier that day.
  • George Allen was sentenced to one year in prison in December of 2021 for hurling pieces of concrete at the window of a police vehicle during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Pittsburgh.
  • Kenyatta Huggins, Shamerin Johnson and Terry Dorsey were sentenced to nearly two years in prison in December of 2021 for their roles in the arson of four commercial buildings in the early morning of a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest that had erupted in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. All three defendants, who are Black, admitted that their actions were intended to “make a statement” regarding injustice related to police conduct. Their judge acknowledged that the three were motivated by “passion for the cause of justice.”
  • Jacob Gaines was sentenced to nearly four years in prison in December of 2021 for hitting a deputy U.S. marshal with a construction hammer during a July 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Portland while attempting to break through a barricaded entrance at the Hatfield Federal Courthouse. The deputy was among several federal agents guarding the courthouse, a site of repeated protests and violent confrontations from city and federal police during that summer. 
  • Tyvarh Nicholson was sentenced to just over three years in prison in December of 2021 for possessing a molotov cocktail he allegedly attempted to throw at law enforcement officers during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Erie, Pennsylvania. 
  • Andrew Augustyniak-Duncan was sentenced to just over three years in prison in December of 2021 for throwing concrete and a pipe at police officers during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Pittsburgh.
  • Courtland Renford was sentenced to five years in prison in December of 2021 for throwing a burning laundry basket into the City Hall and participating in the looting of a 7-Eleven store during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Buffalo. Renford’s prosecutors claim that his motive was “to cause destruction and mayhem.” Members of Renford’s community have demanded his release and collected funds towards that end, according to his attorney.   
  • Robert Perkins was sentenced to four years in prison in December of 2021 for tossing an explosive he’d believed was a smoke bomb at the entrance of the Tippecanoe County Courthouse during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Lafayette, Louisiana. The blast did not harm any protesters and ultimately destroyed two doors.
  • Victor Edwards was sentenced to over eight years in prison in December of 2021 for his participation in the looting and arson of multiple businesses during an August 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Minneapolis. According to evidence presented at his trial, Victor had gathered with a large crowd following false rumors of a police shooting on Nicollet Mall, a commercial center in Minneapolis. 
  • Joseph Harrison-Craft was sentenced to one year of home confinement in January (2022) for smashing the window of a police vehicle during an August 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Pittsburgh. At his sentencing, Harrison-Craft, who earlier that summer distributed granola and fruit to demonstrators and has a history of working for nonprofits, indicated that his intention was to provide support for other protesters and to put others before himself despite the consequences. 
  • Cyril Lartigue was sentenced to two years in prison in February (2022) for attempting to make a molotov cocktail in the parking lot near the Municipal Court while participating in a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Austin. Lartigue has indicated that his actions were motivated by his solidarity with the anti-racist movement.
  • Howard Nall was sentenced to nearly three years in prison in February (2022) for property destruction and rioting after destroying a parking lot ticket dispenser and payment machine during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the historical home of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Nall was also sentenced for breaking and entering and illegal entry for taking a beer from a bar during his participation in the protest.
  • Corey Smith and Elaine Carberry are anti-racist and LGBTQ activists sentenced to six months in prison followed by six months of home confinement in February (2022) for torching a homeless outreach police van during a July 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in New York City. 
  • Ellie Brett and John Wade are anti-racist and antifascist activists sentenced to five years in prison in February and March (2022), respectively, for setting fire to U.S. Postal Service trucks in Atlanta in protest of the upcoming presidential election, which they deemed “faithless.” Brett and Wade are associated with a New York City-based anarchist group called The Base. Wade was subject to GPS ankle monitoring at the time of their actions after being released on bond during the Summer of 2020 Black Lives Matter protests for burning down the Wendy’s where Rayshard Brooks had been killed by Atlanta police, for which he is also being tried. 
  • Dyshika McFadden and Miguel Ramos were sentenced to nearly three years in prison in August and February (2022), respectively, for their roles in the burning of a police car during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Rochester, New York. Their actions took place against the backdrop of increasing unrest propelled by law enforcement’s deployment of tear gas against protesters earlier that evening.
  • Margaret Channon was sentenced to five years in prison in March (2022) for setting five police vehicles on fire during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Seattle, amid the explosion of unrest that followed the police murder of George Floyd. She faced unfounded accusations from prosecutors and police throughout the course of her proceedings.
  • Diego Vargas was sentenced to five years in prison in March (2022) for using an explosive device to damage a closed suburban Chicago restaurant during a June 2020 Black Lives Matter protest that erupted following the police murder of George Floyd in Naperville, Illinois, a historically racist town. 
  • Jordan White was sentenced to six years in prison in March (2022) for his leadership role in what the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office described as a “siege” on the Municipal Courthouse during a July 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Aurora, Colorado. Local protests following the murder of George Floyd had erupted in the name of Elijah McClain, an unarmed Black man murdered by Aurora police in August of 2019.
  • Jacob Greenberg was sentenced to five years in prison in March (2022) for his role in an arson attack on the Seattle East Precinct and for hitting an officer with a baseball bat as police moved in on a large crowd protesting the police murder of Breonna Taylor in September of 2020. The incident took place shortly after the clearance of the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHOP).
  • Tandre Buchanan was sentenced to four years in prison in March (2022) for robbery and evidence tampering related to his actions at a Colossal Cupcakes store during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Cleveland. According to court documents, Buchanan smashed one of the store’s windows, allowing multiple individuals to enter the building and take store inventory. Buchanan later distributed cupcakes obtained from the store to protesters. According to his attorney, Buchanan, who had been struck by a rubber bullet by police outside of the Justice Center, was “filled with rage” over law enforcement’s reactions to demonstrators.
  • Wesley Somers was sentenced to five years in prison in March (2022) for setting fire to the Metro Courthouse during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Nashville. She was among dozens of demonstrators who had gathered by the courthouse that night to protest police brutality and racism. 
  • Alexander King was sentenced to over a year in prison in April (2022) for his role in the arson of a Chase bank during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in La Mesa, California that shortly followed the police murder of George Floyd. 
  • James Massey was sentenced to over a year in prison in May (2022) for posting Facebook messages and videos mobilizing demonstrators during an August 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Chicago. 
  • Brittany Martin was sentenced to four years in prison in May (2022) for remarks she made to police officers during a June 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Sumter, South Carolina. Martin, a pregnant Black woman, was found guilty for “breach of peace” in a “high and aggravated manner” for chanting “no justice, no peace” in an officer’s face and exclaiming, “we [are] ready to die for this. We are tired of it. You better be ready to die for the blue. I’m ready to die for the Black.” State law defines breachers of peace as “dangerous and disorderly persons” or people who utter “menaces or threatening speeches.” There is no evidence to suggest that Martin was physically threatening or directly threatening officers’ lives. Martin’s attorneys and racial justice activists pushed for a reconsideration of her sentence expressing concern about her pregnancy and health, which Martin’s jury was unresponsive to. Martin is currently ill and facing premature birth as lack of adequate prenatal care in prison is taking a toll on her mental and physical health. In accordance with the South Carolina Department of Corrections’ policy, Martin will be separated from her child, who will be placed in foster care, within hours of delivery.
  • Christian Rea was sentenced to one year in prison in May (2022) for throwing a firework in the direction of police officers during a June 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Naperville, Illinois, a historically racist town.
  • Nicholas Lucia was sentenced to two years in prison in June (2022) for throwing a firecracker jurors described to be a “weapon of mass destruction” at a group of police officers during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Pittsburgh that had erupted following the police murder of George Floyd. 
  • Malik Muhammad was sentenced to 10 years in prison in June (2022) for throwing molotov cocktails at police and smashing the windows of the Oregon Historical Society during Black Lives Matter protests in Portland in September and October of 2020. Muhammad, a local activist and army veteran, is an outspoken anti-colonialist and anti-war advocate. Firm in his ideals since his formative years, Muhammad recalls refusing to say the pledge of allegiance during his time in school. Raised by a Black Muslim family in Chicago’s south side, he first got involved in anti-racist protest in elementary school following the murder of Trayvon Martin by neighborhood watch guard George Zimmerman. During his time in the army he refused to shoot by mere command, getting himself labeled as a “conscientious objector.” Muhammad’s experience in the military only further reinforced his commitment to justice when he returned to the U.S. and began volunteering and supporting the homeless (many of whom are war veterans). Muhammad describes the deep pain he and other other BIPOC people feel when someone in their community is murdered. When learning of George Floyd’s agonizing last words, “I can’t breath,” before being choked to death by a white Minneapolis police officer, Muhammad was reminded of those same words cried by Eric Garner during his death in the hands of New York City police and felt compelled to take direct action in defense of his community. 
  • Devarian Haynes was sentenced to two years in prison in June (2022) for setting fire to a police vehicle during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Las Vegas. His actions took place amid a week of uprisings met with an escalation in police repression and just a day after SWAT units were deployed and police fired projectiles at protesters fleeing pepper gas.
  • Timothy O’Donnell was sentenced to nearly three years in prison in June (2022) for torching a police vehicle during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Chicago. In a letter submitted to the court ahead of his sentencing, O’Donnell admits that his actions were triggered by anguish he felt stemming from experiences involving mental and physical abuse by law enforcement while he was homeless.
  • Dwight Parker was sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in prison in June (2022) for his activities during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Albany, New York that erupted following the police murder of George Floyd. Parker was participating in the protest when he threw molotov cocktails in the direction of police and set fire to a tractor-trailer. Parker, an active father, received one of the harshest sentences given to a defendant for similar protest-related activities. 
  • Nicholas Scaglione was sentenced to three years in prison in July (2022) for torching a police cruiser while participating in a June 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Providence, Rhode Island. 
  • Ayoub Tabri, a Moroccan immigrant, was sentenced to just under one year in prison in July (2022) for setting fire to a police SUV during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Philadelphia.
  • Olivia Hull was sentenced to one year in prison in October (2022) for causing damage to private property during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the historical home of the KKK, that erupted shortly after the police murder of George Floyd. Hull was seen yelling at police officers in riot gear before bashing the windows of a storefront. 
  • Jeremy Trapp was sentenced to nearly two years in prison in October (2022) for attempting to cut the brake line of a police van during a July 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in New York City. According to a federal complaint unsealed in August of 2020, the New York Police Department had paid an informant to befriend, surveil and persuade Trapp, who, according to his attorney, is mentally ill and was emotionally charged by the injustices he was witnessing at that time, to attack the police van.  
  • Nikki Hubbard was sentenced to nearly five years in prison in November (2022) for defending a child and others during an antifascist counter-demonstration that coincided with a January 2021 “Patriot March” in San Diego. Among those attending the “Patriot March” were members of the far-right Proud Boys who had attended the January 6 “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington, D.C. Hubbard, a transgender woman who has been on estrogen for over three years, has been detained in men’s jails and was transferred to a men’s prison upon being sentenced.
  • Samantha Shader was sentenced to six years in prison in November (2022) for hurling a molotov cocktail at an occupied police van during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Brooklyn, New York that erupted following the police murder of George Floyd. The vehicle never ignited and no police officers were harmed in the act.
  • Alexander Contompasis is a self-described antifascist and independent journalist sentenced to 20 years in prison in November (2022) for coming to the defense of a Black man who had been tased by a member of the far-right Proud Boys during the January 6, 2021 “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington, D.C. The victims of his retaliation did not receive any life-altering injuries. According to Contompasis’ supporters, police did not intervene in the encounter until the violence had ended, after which they proceeded to arrest three Black activists, while the Proud Boys who had instigated the violence were never arrested at the scene. Law enforcement’s response to the incident was typical of what could be witnessed that day, during which police shrugged off right-wing protesters until they attempted to storm the Capitol.
  • Urooj Rahman is a human rights lawyer and activist sentenced to just over a year in prison in November (2022) for using a molotov cocktail to torch a police vehicle during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in New York City.
  • Derrick Weatherbe was sentenced to five years in prison in November (2022) for his role in the arson of a Lowe’s store during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Philadelphia that erupted following the police murder of George Floyd. While the judge who handed down his sentence claimed his actions had nothing to do with the protest against the police murder of George Floyd, Weatherbe, a Black man, admitted that he had not been “in the right state of mind” during the incident, implying that his actions were charged by passion for the cause of justice.

For more information about the 2020 Black Lives Matter uprisings defendants and support campaigns, visit uprisingsupport.org

Political prisoners in occupied Guantánamo

Last updated by the Close Guantánamo Campaign in November 2022

There are still 35 inmates held at Guantanamo Prison in indefinite detention without trial, most since 2002. The Guantanamo Prison is part of the United States base there illegally occupying Cuban land and is notorious for its inhumane and degrading conditions and systemic use of torture. Following is a list of the inmates from the closeguantanamo.org website:

Please also note that the numbers before the men’s names are their ISN numbers (the “Internment Security Numbers” by which they are identified in Guantánamo).

  1. 027 Uthman Abdul Rahim Mohammed Uthman (Yemen) Recommended for continued detention and possible transfer to detention in the U.S., but determined to be eligible for a Periodic Review Board in April 2013, his review took place in April 2016 and he was recommended for ongoing imprisonment in May 2016; another review took place in December 2016, but in January 2017, just days before President Obama left office, his ongoing imprisonment was again upheld, although he has finally been approved for release by a PRB under President Biden in May 2021.
  2. 028 Moath Al Alwi (Yemen) Recommended for continued detention, but determined to be eligible for a Periodic Review Board in April 2013, his review took place in September 2015, and he was recommended for ongoing imprisonment in October 2015. Another review took place in March 2018, but, shamefully, did not deliver its ruling until October 2020, when the board recommended him for ongoing imprisonment. He was finally approved for release by a PRB under President Biden in December 2021.
  3. 038 Ridah Al Yazidi (Tunisia) Cleared for release in 2010.
  4. 039 Ali Hamza Al Bahlul (Yemen) Convicted pre-Obama, and given a life sentence, although that conviction was largely, but not entirely overturned on appeal; see Ali Hamza Al-Bahlul, David Hicks and the Legal Collapse of the Military Commissions at Guantánamo and In Contentious Split Decision, Appeals Court Upholds Guantánamo Prisoner Ali Hamza Al-Bahlul’s Conspiracy Conviction.
  5. 242 Khaled Qassim (Khalid Qasim) (Yemen) Recommended for continued detention, but determined to be eligible for a Periodic Review Board in April 2013, his review took place in February 2015 and he was recommended for ongoing detention in March 2015, a decision that was upheld in March 2020, and was again upheld in December 2021. He was finally approved for release by a second PRB under President Biden in July 2022.
  6. 309 Muieen Abd Al Sattar (UAE) Cleared for release in 2010.
  7. 569 Suhayl Al Sharabi (Zohair Al Shorabi) (Yemen) Recommended for prosecution by the task force in January 2010, but determined to be eligible for a Periodic Review Board in April 2013, his review took place in March 2016 and he was recommended for ongoing imprisonment in March 2016. In March 2019, he boycotted his hearing, and his ongoing imprisonment was upheld. He was finally approved for release by a PRB under President Biden in November 2021.
  8. 682 Ghassan Al Sharbi (Abdullah Al Sharbi) (Saudi Arabia) Recommended for prosecution by the task force in January 2010, but determined to be eligible for a Periodic Review Board in April 2013, his review took place in June 2016 and he was recommended for ongoing imprisonment in July 2016. In August 2019, he boycotted his hearing, and his ongoing imprisonment was upheld, but in February 2022 he was finally approved for release by a PRB under President Biden.
  9. 685 Abdelrazak Ali (Saeed Bakhouche, Bakhouch) (Algeria) Recommended for prosecution by the task force in January 2010, but determined to be eligible for a Periodic Review Board in April 2013, his review took place in May 2016 and he was recommended for ongoing detention in July 2016. In January 2019, he boycotted his hearing, and his ongoing imprisonment was upheld, but he was finally approved for release under President Biden in April 2022. He is also currently challenging his ongoing imprisonment in the U.S. courts.
  10. 708 Ismael Al Bakush (Libya) Recommended for continued detention, but determined to be eligible for a Periodic Review Board in April 2013, his review took place in July 2016 and he was recommended for ongoing imprisonment in August 2016, a decision that was upheld in November 2020. He was finally approved for release by a PRB under President Biden in September 2022.
  11. 841 Said Salih Said Nashir (Yemen) Recommended for continued detention, but determined to be eligible for a Periodic Review Board in April 2013, his review took place in April 2016, and he was recommended for ongoing imprisonment in November 2016; another review took place almost immediately, in December 2016, but in January 2017 his ongoing imprisonment was again upheld. In October 2020, however, he became the only prisoner under Donald Trump to have his release recommended by a PRB.
  12. 893 Tawfiq Al Bihani (Saudi Arabia) Cleared for release in 2010.
  13. 1017 Omar Al Rammah (Zakaria al-Baidany) (Yemen) Recommended for continued detention and possible transfer to detention in the U.S., but determined to be eligible for a Periodic Review Board in April 2013, his review took place in July 2016 and he was recommended for ongoing imprisonment in August 2016. Another review took place in February 2017, but, shamefully, did not deliver its ruling until October 2020, when the board recommended him for ongoing imprisonment. He was finally approved for release by a PRB under President Biden in December 2021.
  14. 1453 Sanad Al Kazimi (Yemen) Recommended for prosecution by the task force in January 2010, but determined to be eligible for a Periodic Review Board in April 2013, his review took place in May 2016 and he was recommended for ongoing imprisonment in June 2016. In December 2018, he boycotted his hearing, and his ongoing imprisonment was upheld, but he was finally approved for release under President Biden in October 2021.
  15. 1456 Hassan Bin Attash (Saudi Arabia) Recommended for prosecution by the task force in January 2010, but determined to be eligible for a Periodic Review Board in April 2013, his review took place in September 2016 and he was recommended for ongoing imprisonment in October 2016. In September 2019, he boycotted his hearing, and his ongoing imprisonment was upheld, but he was finally approved for release under President Biden in April 2022.
  16. 1457 Abdu Ali Sharqawi (Sharqawi Al Hajj) (Yemen) Recommended for prosecution by the task force in January 2010, but determined to be eligible for a Periodic Review Board in April 2013, his first review took place in March 2016 and he was recommended for ongoing imprisonment in April 2016. A second review took place in February 2017, upholding his ongoing imprisonment a month later, and in February 2019, he boycotted his hearing, and his ongoing imprisonment was again upheld. Shockingly, in 2019, he also attempted to commit suicide while on a phone call with his lawyers, and harmed himself again in March 2020. In April 2021, his fourth PRB hearing took place, and in June 2021 he was recommended for release.
  17. 1460 Abdul Rahim Ghulam Rabbani (Pakistan) Recommended for prosecution by the task force in January 2010, but determined to be eligible for a Periodic Review Board in April 2013, his review took place in July 2016 and he was recommended for ongoing imprisonment in August 2016, although he has finally been approved for release by a PRB under President Biden in May 2021.
  18. 1461 Mohammed Ghulam Rabbani (Ahmed Rabbani) (Pakistan) Recommended for prosecution by the task force in January 2010, but determined to be eligible for a Periodic Review Board in April 2013, his review took place in September 2016, and he was recommended for ongoing imprisonment in October 2016. In September 2019, he boycotted his hearing, and his ongoing imprisonment was upheld, but he was finally approved for release under President Biden in October 2021.
  19. 1463 Abdulsalam Al Hela (Yemen) Recommended for continued detention and possible transfer to detention in the U.S., but determined to be eligible for a Periodic Review Board in April 2013, his review took place in May 2016 and he was recommended for ongoing imprisonment in June 2016, a decision that was upheld in June 2018. In March 2021, he had another hearing, and was finally recommended for release in June 2021, although he is also currently challenging his ongoing imprisonment in the U.S. courts.
  20. 10011 Mustafa Al Hawsawi (Saudi Arabia) Recommended for prosecution, he was charged and pre-trial hearings are underway.
  21. 10013 Ramzi Bin Al Shibh (Yemen) Recommended for prosecution, he was charged and pre-trial hearings are underway.
  22. 10014 Waleed Bin Attash (Saudi Arabia) Recommended for prosecution, he was charged and pre-trial hearings are underway.
  23. 10015 Abd Al Rahim Al Nashiri (Saudi Arabia) Recommended for prosecution, he was charged and pre-trial hearings are underway.
  24. 10016 Abu Zubaydah (Palestine-Saudi Arabia) Recommended for prosecution by the task force in January 2010, but determined to be eligible for a Periodic Review Board in April 2013, his review took place in August 2016, when his ongoing imprisonment was upheld, as it was again in March 2020.
  25. 10017 Abu Faraj Al Libi (Libya) Recommended for prosecution by the task force in January 2010, but determined to be eligible for a Periodic Review Board in April 2013, his review took place in August 2016 and he was recommended for ongoing imprisonment in September 2016. In May 2019, he boycotted his hearing, and his ongoing imprisonment was upheld, as it was again in August 2022.
  26. 10018 Ammar Al Baluchi (Ali Abd Al Aziz Ali) (Pakistan-Kuwait) Recommended for prosecution, he was charged and pre-trial hearings are underway.
  27. 10019 Riduan Isamuddin (Hambali) (Indonesia) Recommended for prosecution by the task force in January 2010, but determined to be eligible for a Periodic Review Board in April 2013, his review took place in August 2016 and he was recommended for ongoing imprisonment in September 2016. In January 2021, just as Joe Biden took office, the Pentagon announced its intention to file charges against him in a military commission, along with Modh Farik Bin Amin (ISN 10021) and Mohammed Bin Lep (ISN 10022).
  28. 10020 Majid Khan (Pakistan) Recommended for prosecution, he accepted a plea deal in February 2012, although he was not sentenced until October 2021. It is anticipated that he will be released by February 2022.
  29. 10021 Modh Farik Bin Amin (Zubair) (Malaysia) Recommended for prosecution by the task force in January 2010, but determined to be eligible for a Periodic Review Board in April 2013, his review took place in August 2016 and he was recommended for ongoing imprisonment in September 2016. In May 2019, he failed to attend his hearing, and his ongoing imprisonment was upheld. In January 2021, just as Joe Biden took office, the Pentagon announced its intention to file charges against him in a military commission, along with Riduan Isamuddin (ISN 10019) and Mohammed Bin Lep (ISN 10022).
  30. 10022 Mohammed Bin Lep (Lillie) (Malaysia) Recommended for prosecution by the task force in January 2010, but determined to be eligible for a Periodic Review Board in April 2013, his review took place in August 2016 and he was recommended for ongoing imprisonment in September 2016. In June 2019, he boycotted his hearing, and his ongoing imprisonment was upheld. In January 2021, just as Joe Biden took office, the Pentagon announced its intention to file charges against him in a military commission, along with Riduan Isamuddin (ISN 10019) and Mohd Farik Bin Amin (ISN 10021).
  31. 10023 Guled Hassan Duran (Gouled Hassan Dourad) (Somalia) Recommended for continued detention and possible transfer to detention in the U.S., but determined to be eligible for a Periodic Review Board in April 2013, his review took place in August 2016 and he was recommended for ongoing imprisonment in September 2016, a decision that was upheld in November 2018. He was finally approved for release by a PRB under President Biden in November 2021.
  32. 10024 Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (Pakistan-Kuwait) Recommended for prosecution, he was charged and pre-trial hearings are underway.
  33. 10025 Mohammed Abdul Malik (Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu) (Kenya) Recommended for continued detention, but determined to be eligible for a Periodic Review Board in April 2013, his review took place in May 2016 and he was recommended for ongoing imprisonment in June 2016. In July 2019, he boycotted his hearing, and his ongoing imprisonment was upheld. He was finally approved for release by a PRB under President Biden in December 2021.
  34. 10026 Abd Al Hadi Al Iraqi (Iraq) Recommended for prosecution and charged, even though he had been determined to be eligible for a Periodic Review Board in April 2013.
  35. 10029 Muhammad Rahim (Afghanistan) Recommended for continued detention and possible transfer to detention in the U.S., but determined to be eligible for a Periodic Review Board in April 2013, his review took place in August 2016 and he was recommended for ongoing imprisonment in September 2016, a decision that was upheld in November 2019, and again in April 2022.

Other classes of political imprisonment

Immigrant detention centers hold undocumented workers, families and students. Every year hundreds of thousands of immigrants are detained, and on any given day tens of thousands are held in immigrant detention centers. These individuals are jailed because of the United States’ fervent anti-immigrant political ideology.

As recently as the 1980s, immigrants were rarely detained. They were either accused of misdemeanors and quickly deported or permitted to go about their lives pending immigration hearings. In recent years there has been a massive boom in both immigrant detention and deportation. While we’re experiencing a decline in immigration from Mexico into the United States, immigration from Central America has risen to the benefit of private immigrant detention centers that remain a booming and highly protected industry. The United States government has promised to supply enough undocumented immigrants to keep tens of thousands of beds in detention centers occupied all year round.

Racism, class repression and xenophobia are the political forces underlying the boom in immigrant detainees. The U.S. government has increasingly criminalized undocumented people. Rather than treating them like low-level civil offenders, the new policy is to target them arbitrarily and, once they’re arrested, lock them up. Being undocumented is a highly politicized crime. Those incarcerated in immigration detention centers are a class of prisoners of Empire too numerous to name.

Mass incarceration is a foundational element of racist and anti-worker oppression. Not every target of state repression makes it to jail or is given a chance to defend themselves in court or even be charged with a crime. Many of those who die as a result of state-sanctioned violence are guilty of nothing more than fitting an ethnic profile that makes one a suspect by virtue of the color of their skin. Every 28 hours in 2012 someone employed or protected by the U.S. government killed a Black man, woman or child.

Mass incarceration is inherently racist and classist. While non-Hispanic whites continue to comprise the majority of the U.S. population, Black Americans and Latinos comprise the majority of the U.S. prison population. Incarcerated people are also more likely to live in poverty, with their annual income being 41% less than un-incarcerated people their age.

The United States has less than 5% of the world’s population but 20% of the world’s incarcerated people. The development and growth of the mass incarceration model has taken place at the same time crime rates have declined. The primary purpose of the U.S. prison system appears to be about social control, intimidation of resistance and the maintenance of a massive and legal form of slave labor.

Conditions in U.S. prisons reflect a lack of basic healthcare, isolation from family and community, lack of educational opportunity, widespread incidents of torture and beatings, and generally degrading treatment. U.S. prisons hold over 80,000 persons in solitary confinement. In 2012 alone the Justice Department estimated there had been 216,000 victims of prison rape.

While we do not call all prisoners impacted by mass incarceration political prisoners, we must note that they are all subjects to a politically motivated system of oppression. The repercussions of the U.S. incarceration model are felt acutely far beyond the locked doors and bars of our jails. The politics of fear is diffused throughout U.S. society, particularly for poor people and racial minorities. In 2018 an estimated 6,410,000 people in the U.S. were in prison, on parole or on probation. When we consider the massive government monitoring of our population, we can justifiably call the United States a prison nation.

We want to acknowledge Stan Smith and the Chicago Committee to Free the Cuban Five ((773) 376-7521, [email protected]) for initiating this project and compiling the original list in 2013. 

This is part of a popular education initiative of Alliance for Global Justice

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