Prisioneros Políticos de los Estados Unidos

¡ATENCIÓN! La lista nueva en español abajo de prisioneros políticos de los Estados Unidos éstá en  proceso de traducción.Hace un clic acá para ver una lista corriente en inglés. La lista actual (en inglés) tiene listado 99 prisioneros políticos, incluyendo 39 de ellos incarcelados en la prisión estadounidense de Guantánao en Cuba ocupado.

Leonard Peltier, a leader and activist in the American Indian Movement, has been in prison for 43 years as of 2020. Peltier participated in the AIM encampments on the Pine Ridge Reservation. In 1975 an FBI operation led to a confrontation in which two FBI agents died. In a COINTELPRO style operation, he was sentenced to life for murdering two FBI agents. Evidence exonerating Peltier was withheld by the FBI. In his appeal, the government admitted it had no evidence to show he killed the two FBI agents.

Mumia Abu Jamal was arrested in 1981. In COINTELPRO style, he was arrested and sentenced to death in an unfair trial for the murder of a Philadelphia policeman. Mumia was an organizer and campaigner against police abuses in the African-American community, and was the President of the Association of Black Journalists. During his imprisonment he has published several books and other commentaries, notably Live from Death Row. See documentaries “Mumia Abu Jamal: A Case For Reasonable Doubt?” and “Mumia: Long Distance Revolutionary” or visit the Free Mumia or Millions for Mumia websites.

Simón Trinidad, aka Ricardo Palmera, 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). 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 U.S. 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 the 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.

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

Alex Saab was arrested in Cabo Verde on June 12, 2020, and extradited to the US on October 16, 2021, even though no extradition order was provided. Alex Saab was arrested while on a diplomatic mission to buy food and nutritional supplies to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela resulting from the illegal US-enforced sanctions and blockade of the nation. As a diplomat, Saab should have immunity from such detention, and the United Nations as well as other international human rights defenders and organizations have denounced his incarceration.

 

Abdul Azeez, Malik Bey, and Hanif Shabazz Bey are from the U.S. occupied Virgin Islands, and are the three members of the Virgin Island Five who are still incarcerated. After a murder of eight American tourists to the island during a period of anti-imperial struggle against the U.S., the five men were targeted for being supporters of the struggle, falsely accused of murdering the Americans, and tortured. They were each given eight consecutive life sentences and are currently imprisoned in Arizona.

Black Panther Party (BPP), New Afrikan, and Black Liberation Army political prisoners were victims of the COINTELPRO operations in the 1960s-70s when the FBI sought to destroy the Black liberation movement. Those currently incarcerated include, but are not limited to:

  • Jalil Muntaqim
  • Mutulu Shakur 
  • Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, formerly H. Rap Brown
  • Sundiata Acoli was with Assata Shakur (who escaped and found political asylum in Cuba).
  • Veronza Bowers, imprisoned for 40 years, was convicted of murder on the word of two government informers. There were no eye-witnesses and no evidence independent of these informants. At trial, two relatives of the informants gave testimony insisting that they were lying was ignored.
  • Ed Poindexter was a target of COINTELPRO, serving life sentences on charges of killing an Omaha policeman. He was convicted on the testimony of a teenage boy who was beaten by the police and threatened with the electric chair if he did not blame the crime on Poindexter and on Mondo we Langa (who died in prison). Amnesty International defends them as prisoners of conscience.
  • Romaine “Chip” Fitzgerald, the longest held Black Panther Party prisoner,
  • Kamau Sadiki
  • Kojo Bomani Sababu (Grailing Brown) was active with the Black Liberation Army, and is a New Afrikan Prisoner of War. Sababu attempted to free Puerto Rican political prisoner Oscar Lopez Rivera while they were both incarcerated in Kansas, and was convicted of conspiracy.
  • Ruchell “Cinque” Magee was already imprisoned 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.
  • Joseph “Joe-Joe” Brown was radicalized when he was jailed as a young man for his activities in the 30th and Norris street gang. He is incarcerated today as a result of acts of armed struggle. Bowen is a member of the Black Liberation Army.

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 and the Jericho Movement.

Fred “Muhammad” Burton was jailed in 1970 during a time of massive police crackdowns on black activists in Philadelphia, and framed for the murder of a policeman.

Rev. Joy Powell was a consistent activist against police brutality, violence and oppression in her community. She was warned by the Rochester Police that she was a target because of her speaking out against corruption. Rev. Joy, a Black woman, was convicted of burglary and assault by an all-white jury; the state provided no evidence and no eyewitnesses. She was given 16 years.

The Water Protector Prisoners  were prisoners of empire incarcerated for their resistance to the Dakota Access Pipe Line and its threats to the Missouri River and the Standing Rock Sioux people.

  • Michael Rattler Markus was sentenced on September 27, 2018 to 36 months in prison.
  • JESSICA REZNICEK, “In 2016…took action to stop the construction of Dakota Access Pipeline by dismantling construction equipment and pipeline valves. In 2021 she was sentenced to 8 years in prison with a domestic terrorism enhancement. Under normal conditions Jess would have been sentenced to 37 months, but the terrorism enhancement resulted in a sentence of 96 months.

Steve Donziger is a lawyer who won a $9.5 billion judgment against Chevron because of the ecological damage they caused in Ecuador. Since that time, Chevron has removed its assets, making the judgment unenforceable, and pursued appeals and an aggressive counter lawsuit and smear campaign against Donziger. He was placed  under house arrest in 2019  awaiting trial.

Joseph Mahmoud Dibee was arrested August 10, 2018 for his participation in a series of arsons and other acts of sabotage between 1995 and 2001 for motivations of eco-defense and animal rights. Dibee was part of the Earth Liberation and Animal Liberation Fronts. Among the allegations against him are the arson of a meat packing plant in Redmond, Oregon, and a power plant in Bend, Oregon.

Byron Shane “Oso Blanco” Chubbuck is a member of the wolf clan Cherokee/Chocktaw. He expropriated money from over a dozen U.S. banks 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.

Jaan Karl Laaman was a member of the United Freedom Front, an underground leftist group that bombed government and corporate buildings in the 1970s, funding their tactics through bank expropriations. They strongly opposed South African apartheid and U.S. imperialism in Central American. Laaman writes and edits for the 4struggle magazine. Arrested with Laaman was Tom Manning who died in August, 2019.

Ana Belen Montes was a Pentagon intelligence analyst who alerted the Cuban government of plans the U.S. government had of militarized aggression against Cuba. Belen Montes told the judge who heard her case, “I engaged in the activity that brought me before you because I obeyed my conscience rather than the law…We have displayed intolerance and contempt towards Cuba for most of the last four decades. I hope my case in some way will encourage our government to abandon its hostility towards Cuba and to work with Havana in a spirit of tolerance, mutual respect, and understanding.” She was arrested in 2001, pled guilty to one count of espionage, and is being held in solitary confinement in a Fort Worth, Texas.

Daniel Hale was sentenced on July 27, 2021 to 45 months in prison for releasing classified documents on the US drone program and targeted assassinations. Hale participated in the program while with the Air Force from 2009 to 2013 and, upon leaving, became an outspoken critic and a defender of whistle blowers.

Matthew DeHart worked as an intelligence officer for the U.S. National Guard. He was involved with Wikileaks and the hacktivist group Anonymous. Prior to his arrest DeHart ran a server that housed documents bound for Wikileaks. When sensitive documents about the CIA were uploaded to the server by an anonymous third party, DeHart was targeted by the federal government, and was drugged and interrogated about the documents. The federal government brought charges of child pornography against him, allowing them to gain access to his computers.

Amina Ali were convicted of “material support for terrorism” in 2011, and given a 20 year sentences respectively. Her co-defendant Hawo Hassan received a 10 year sentence, and has been released. The two Rochester, Minnesota women had collected clothing and raised money to help destitute people in their homeland. The prosecution claims that they helped al-Shabab, an Islamist organization that fights to free Somalia from foreign domination.

Shukri Abu-Baker and Ghassan Elashi of the Holy Land Foundation, were each sentenced in 2008 to 65 years in prison. Three others of the Holy Land 5 were sentenced to 13-20 years: Mohammad El-Mezain, Abdulrahman Odeh and Mufid Abdulqader. All were imprisoned for giving more than $12 million to charitable groups in Palestine which funded hospitals, schools and fed the poor and orphans. The U.S. 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 also still receiving U.S. funding through USAID as late as 2006. Testimony was 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 American legal history that testimony has been allowed from an expert witness with no identity, and therefore immune from perjury. The defendants were acquitted in their first trial when the jury remained deadlocked.

Dr. Aafia Siddiqui is an American-educated Pakistani neuroscientist who was convicted in a U.S. court of assault with intent to murder her U.S. interrogators in Afghanistan and sentenced to 86 years in prison. Four British Parliamentarians wrote to President Obama “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.

Dr. Abdelhaleem Ashqar was found guilty in 2007 of “refusal to collaborate with federal grand juries investigating the Palestinian anti-occupation movement.” Despite being acquitted of initial charges of racketeering, he was sentenced to prison for 11 years. Dr. Ashqar, formerly a professor at Howard University, has long been a victim of government surveillance, harassment, and intimidation for his support of Hamas and the people of Palestine.

Brandon Baxter, Joshua “Skelly” Stafford, Connor Stevens, and Doug Wright are the Cleveland 4. They were Occupy Cleveland activists arrested on April 30th, 2012 for planning to blow up a bridge. However, the FBI had infiltrated Occupy Cleveland, created the scheme, and incited the group to join in on the plans. Occupy is a decentralized political protest movement against social and economic inequality, most active from 2011 and 2012. In many U.S. cities, including Cleveland, Occupy protesters formed long-term encampments in central plazas and squares.

Daniel Baker is Anarchist and anti-fascist activist, yoga teacher, and emergency medical technician trainee who was sentenced to almost four years (44 months) by a Florida judge on October 12, 2021. His alleged “crime” was sending a post calling for armed defense of the state capitol against possible attacks from the far right in the wake of the January 6, 2021 riots in Washingon DC. Baker never organized an armed contingent to go to the capitol, nor did he go himself with a weapon, and he issued no threats against any individuals. According to an article by 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 fight in Iraq.

The NATO 5 were jailed in May 2012 before the NATO summit in Chicago, based on entrapment and the accusations of undercover police informants. Jared Chase still remains in prison.

Bill Dunne is an an anti-authoritarian who was arrested in 1979 for the attempted liberation of an anarchist political prisoner. 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.

Marius Mason (formerly known as Marie Mason) is an environmental political prisoner serving a 22 year sentence. In March 2008, Marius was arrested 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. Marius pled guilty to arson charges, but the judge applied a “terrorism enhancement.” He was sentenced to 22 years, and is now serving the longest sentence of any “Green Scare” prisoner.

Alvaro Luna Hernandez (Xinachtli) is a Chicano community organizer and prison activist. He 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, who in 1996 attempted to arrest him for a spurious robbery charge that was later dismissed. The police used violence to arrest him, but after a days-long manhunt, it was ultimately Luna Hernandez who was sentenced to 50 years in prison on trumped up charges of threatening a sheriff while resisting arrest.

Ramsey Muñiz is a Chicano activist who ran for governor of Texas in 1972 and 1974 as the La Raza Unida Party candidate. La Raza Unida is a political party most active in the Southwest in the 1970s that focused on working class issues and Chicano nationalism. Members faced repression for posing a serious threat to the two-party status-quo. Muñiz faced two drug-related charges and pled guilty before the three-strikes law was implemented. In 1994, he went to prison for life for his “third-strike.” Muñiz and his supporters maintain that the charge that sent him to prison for life was a frame-up.

Stephen Kelly remains locked up in Glynn County Detention Center in Brunswick, Georgia where he is awaiting sentencing for his part in the 2018 King’s Bay Plowshares direct action for nuclear disarmament.

Fran Thompson is a long-time ecological defender. She is in jail for murder since 1994 after she successfully defended herself, killing a man who had threatened to murder her and had broken into her home. What she did was an act of personal defense against the patriarchal system, and she was also targeted because of her eco-defense, including that she was not allowed to enter a plea of self-defense.

Maddesyn George is a political prisoner incarcerated 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. She has been incarcerated since July, 2020, and is serving a 6.5 year federal sentence.  We include George as a political prisoner because she is emblematic 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 in US jails related to their self-defense against perpetrators of abuse against them. The legal system treats these as individual cases, neglecting the fact that women are attacked as women, as a class within a system that neglects and even punishes rather than protects them. 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. Maddesyn is emblematic of all women, and of native women, specifically, who have defended themselves against their oppressors, and who are being systemically ignored and, indeed, punished for their self-defense. Some more links with information on both these issues: Survived and Punished; Defend Survivors; Coalition to Stop Violence against Native Women; MMIW USA.

Josh Williams was an active Black Lives Matter protester in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014.  He participated in the protests against police brutality, sparked by the shooting of an unarmed teenager by a police officer. At the age of 19, Williams was sentenced to 8 years in prison for arson, burglary, and stealing. He entered a QuickTrip convenience store, which had previously been broken into by other looters, and lit fires inside and outside the store. His shockingly long sentence by a St. Louis judge was meant to intimidate other protestors against police brutality. Williams will be released in 2021.

This is a list of people currently being detained and facing long sentences for their activities during the uprisings against racism and police brutality after George Floyd’s killing in the United States. It is very much a work in progress and subject to change, and may well contain errors. This is not a comprehensive list. This list shows people detained during the uprising and who are facing six months or more in jail.Since the uprising is ongoing, and since thousands of people have been and are being arrested, this situation is very much in flux. The repression of this movement by militarized police and federal agents is leading to a spike in politically motivated arrests and is resulting in a new wave of political prisoners and prisoners of empire. The situation is exacerbated by the leveling of felony charges against so many of those arrested for their resistance. We feel an obligation to provide a listing, even if partial, even if it lacks details, even if it contains errors, to help monitor as best as possible this part of the repression of the uprising. We very much need you and your partnership in this project. If you have information or updates that would affect our listings, if you know about people who should be listed and who are not, or if you see people who are listed who should not be, please let us know. Especially in this case, we cannot do our job accurately or adequately without your help. Please send your emails to [email protected] or to [email protected].

  • Urooj Rahman, 31, and Colinford Mattis, 32are anti-racist activists and lawyers who were arrested for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail through the broken window of a police car during a May 29, 2020 protest in Brooklyn, NY following the murder of George Floyd. Their charges amounted to a minimum sentence of 45 years and a maximum of life in prison. As of October 2021, both have accepted a plea deal  reducing their maximum prison sentence to 10 years. They are currently under home confinement awaiting trial tentatively scheduled for February 8, 2022.
  • Lore-Elisabeth Blumenthal, 33, is a Philadelphia woman accused of torching two police cars during protests outside City Hall on May 30, 2020. The FBI was able to track down Blumenthal through Instagram, Etsy, and LinkedIn. At this moment, she remains at the Federal Detention Center in downtown Philadelphia, held without bail, and faces a seven-year mandatory minimum sentence and 80-year maximum sentence if convicted. As of early May (2021), neither the prosecutors’ office nor courts have expressed any clear plans to hold a trial in the foreseeable future.
  • Brandon M. Wolfe, 23, Dylan Robinson, 22, Davon Turner, 24, and Bryce Williams, 23were indicted for the arson of the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct during a protest on May 28, 2020. Wolfe and Robinson have previously been charged in federal court for aiding and abetting arson. As of May (2021), all four have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit arson. On April 28 (2021), Robinson was sentenced to four years in federal prison with two years of supervised release, ordered to pay $12 million in restitution. On May 4 (2021), Wolfe was sentenced to 3.5 (41 months) years in prison, also with two years of supervised release and $12 million in restitution. On May 13 (2021), Turner was sentenced to three years in federal prison, also with two years of supervised release and $12 million in restitution. As of June (2021), Williams was sentenced to about two years in prison (27 months), also with two years of supervised release and $12 million in restitution.
    *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 Wolfe’s motivations other than the allegations that he was participating in the uprising in Minneapolis and, specifically, in the burning of the Third Precinct. 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.
  • Alexandria Dea, 26, was charged along with Viet Tran, 21, on July 7, 2020 with a rarely applied count of unauthorized dissemination of intelligence data. On July 1, 2020, police in Des Moines, Iowa arrested 17 protesters who were suspected of burning a police car. During the protest, Dea retrieved a Des Moines Police Department bulletin from the back pocket of a police officer with information and photos of those protesters. Tran shared the document with a local reporter, which was later aired on television and shared on social media. Dea has been charged with theft of the document, which carries a maximum sentence of ten years. As of May (2021), Dea’s charges have not been dropped, but Tran’s have been dismissed on the basis that the document they helped to disseminate did not constitute any kind of intelligence data. It is not clear if Dea remains detained, but she has drawn a different judge and continues to await trial.

There are still 39 inmates held at Guantano Prison in indefinite detention without trial, most since 2002. The Guantanamo Prison is part of the U.S. 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. 063 Mohammed Al Qahtani (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 2020, a judge ordered the government to allow him to have an independent medical review to ascertain whether he should be repatriated because of his profound mental health problems, although that review was cynically blocked in the dying days of Donald Trump’s presidency, a decision that his lawyers are still challenging in court. In February 2022, he was finally approved for release by a PRB under President Biden.
  6. 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 is currently challenging his ongoing imprisonment in the U.S. courts.
  7. 309 Muieen Abd Al Sattar (UAE) Cleared for release in 2010.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 685 Abdelrazak Ali (Saeed Bakhouche) (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. He is currently challenging his ongoing imprisonment in the U.S. courts.
  11. 694 Sufyian Barhoumi (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 approved for release in August 2016.
  12. 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.
  13. 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.
  14. 893 Tawfiq Al Bihani (Saudi Arabia) Cleared for release in 2010.
  15. 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.
  16. 1094 Saifullah Paracha (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 on March 8, 2016 and he was recommended for ongoing imprisonment in April 2016; another review took place in March 2017, but his ongoing imprisonment was again upheld in April 2017, although he has finally been approved for release by a PRB under President Biden in May 2021.
  17. 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.
  18. 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.
  19. 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.
  20. 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.
  21. 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.
  22. 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 is also currently challenging his ongoing imprisonment in the U.S. courts.
  23. 10011 Mustafa Al Hawsawi (Saudi Arabia) Recommended for prosecution, he was charged and pre-trial hearings are underway.
  24. 10013 Ramzi Bin Al Shibh (Yemen) Recommended for prosecution, he was charged and pre-trial hearings are underway.
  25. 10014 Waleed Bin Attash (Saudi Arabia) Recommended for prosecution, he was charged and pre-trial hearings are underway.
  26. 10015 Abd Al Rahim Al Nashiri (Saudi Arabia) Recommended for prosecution, he was charged and pre-trial hearings are underway.
  27. 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.
  28. 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.
  29. 10018 Ammar Al Baluchi (Ali Abd Al Aziz Ali) (Pakistan-Kuwait) Recommended for prosecution, he was charged and pre-trial hearings are underway.
  30. 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).
  31. 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.
  32. 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).
  33. 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).
  34. 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.
  35. 10024 Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (Pakistan-Kuwait) Recommended for prosecution, he was charged and pre-trial hearings are underway.
  36. 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.
  37. 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.
  38. 3148 Haroon Al Afghani (Asadullah Haroon Gul) (Afghanistan) 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, a decision that was upheld in September 2020, although he was finally approved for release under President Biden in October 2021. He was also involved in challenging his ongoing imprisonment in the U.S. courts, and shortly after his PRB decision, a U.S. District Court judge also granted his habeas corpus petition, the first time such a decision had been taken in over eleven years.
  39. 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.

Immigrant detention centers hold undocumented workers, families and students. Every year more than 400,000 immigrants are detained, and on any given day there are around 40,000 persons in immigrant detention centers. These individuals are jailed because of the U.S.’ 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 immigrant detention and deportation. Even though we are experiencing the lowest level of immigration from Mexico into the U.S. in 45 years, private immigrant detention centers are a booming and highly protected industry. The U.S. government has promised to supply enough undocumented immigrants to keep 36,000 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 increasingly criminalizes undocumented people. Rather than treating them like low-level civil offenders, our new policy is to target them arbitrarily, and once they are arrested to 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 US government killed a Black man, woman or child.

While non-hispanic Whites make up 63.7% of the U.S. population, people of African heritage and Latinos make up almost two thirds of those in U.S. jails. Persons lacking a GED or high school diploma make up 47 percent of inmates, and the annual income of the incarcerated, prior to their arrests, was 41% less than their peers among the un-incarcerated.

With under 5% of the world’s population, the U.S. jails 25% of the world prison population, with 2.3 million prisoners. The development and growth of the mass incarceration model took place at the same time crime rates have been in decline. 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 health care, 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 estimates there had been 216,000 victims of prison rape.

While we do not call all prisoners 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. We have seven million U.S. residents who are 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 Five (773-376-7521, [email protected]) for initiating this project and compiling the original list in 2013. 

 

 

***Actualizado el 24 de julio, 2020***

Un niño prisionero del imperio, encarcelado en los Estados Unidos en un centro de detención de inmigrantes.

Esta es una lista de personas que actualmente están encarceladas en los Estados Unidos, Son objetivos debido a sus acciones que amenazan el poder imperial de EE. UU. y que fueron encarcelados por sus actividades políticas. AfGJ los considera prisioneros políticos y “prisioneros del imperio”. Definimos a los presos políticos como personas encarceladas por cargos relacionados con la resistencia a la opresión y la represión. Si las circunstancias de los presuntos delitos son verdaderas o falsas, rechazamos enérgicamente el tratamiento individualizado y fuera de contexto de estos casos como simplemente “delitos comunes”. Más bien, están, todos y cada uno, relacionados con alguna lucha continua contra la represión y el Imperio. Nuestra lista de estos prisioneros no constituye aprobación de las tácticas u objetivos de cada individuo. En muchos casos, los arrestados han sido claramente víctimas de montajes, personas acusadas falsamente, o se les ha negado una defensa adecuada y los derechos humanos básicos. En todos los casos, los casos son de naturaleza política y requieren una solución política. También reconocemos que las personas tienen derecho a resistir la opresión, y el hecho de no hacerlo es en sí mismo un crimen contra el pueblo.

Por favor, miren las notas al pie de la página con respecto a Guantánamo, la detención de inmigrantes y el encarcelamiento masivo. Queremos reconocer a Stan Smith y al Comité de Chicago para Liberar a los Cinco (773-376-7521, [email protected]) por iniciar este proyecto y compilar la lista original en 2013.

Necesitamos su ayuda. Esta lista es un borrador en curso. Si ven algún error, notan de personas que deben ser listadas que no están incluidas, tienen actualizaciones sobre el estado de los presos políticos o tienes cualquier otra pregunta o comentario, por favor envíenlos a [email protected] .

Leonard Peltier es un activista del American Indian Movement (movimiento indígena americano, AIM, por sus siglas en inglés) quien ha estado privado de libertad por 43 años. Peltier participó en campamentos de AIM en la Reserva Pine Ridge. In 1975 an FBI operation led to a confrontation in which two FBI agents died.  In a COINTELPRO style operation, he was sentenced to life for murdering two FBI agents. Evidence exonerating Peltier was withheld by the FBI. In his appeal, the government admitted it had no evidence to show he killed the two FBI agents. Peltier has been imprisoned for 35 years for this crime that he did not commit. To learn more see Robert Redford’s documentary “Incident at Oglala” or visit http://whoisleonardpeltier.info.

Mumia Abu Jamal fue arrestado en 1981. Según el estilo COINTELPRO, fue arrestado y condenado a muerte en un juicio injusto por el asesinato de un policía de Filadelfia. En libertad, Mumia fue un organizador y activista contra los abusos policiales en la comunidad afro-americana, y fue presidente de la Asociación de Periodistas Negros. Durante su encarcelamiento, ha publicado varios libros y otros comentarios, especialmente Live from Death Row (en vivo desde el corredor de la muerte) . Ver los documentales “Mumia Abu Jamal: A Case For Reasonable Doubt?” y “Mumia: Long Distance Revolutionary” o visite http://freemumia.com/ o http://millions4mumia.org.

Simón Trinidad, también conocido como Ricardo Palmera, es un líder de muchos años de movimientos de masas para el cambio social, y fue uno de los principales negociadores de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejército Popular (FARC-EP). Fue detenido en 2004 en Ecuador en el proceso de negociación con la ONU por su liberación de prisioneros de las FARC. Luego fue extraditado a los Estados Unidos por cargos de narcotráfico y secuestro y sometido a cuatro juicios separados debido a la dificultad que tenía la acusación para obtener una condena. Un portavoz del gobierno colombiano dijo a la Alianza por la Justicia Global en abril de 2015 que la repatriación de Trinidad a Colombia es clave para el éxito de las conversaciones de paz entre las FARC-EP y el Gobierno colombiano. Hasta ahora, el gobierno de Estados Unidos se ha negado. Obtenga más información en http://freericardopalmera.org.

Ivan Vargas es ciudadano de Colombia y fue integrante de las FARC. Fue capturado por las Fuerzas Colombianas y luego extraditado a los Estados Unidos en violación de la autodeterminación de Colombia. Está encarcelado en EE.UU. por cargos falsos de narcotráfico. Su repatriación a Colombia es importante para crear las condiciones para una paz estable entre las FARC y el gobierno colombiano.

Los presos políticos del Black Panther Party (Partido Panteras Negras), New Afrikan (Nuevo Afrikano) y del Black Liberation Army, (Ejército Negro de Liberación) fueron víctimas de las operaciones de COINTELPRO en los años 60 y 70, cuando el FBI trató de destruir el movimiento de liberación negro. Los actualmente encarcelados incluyen, pero no se limitan a:

Para obtener más información sobre los presos políticos del Partido Pantera Negra , el Nuevo Afrikano y el Ejército Negro de Liberación, vea los documentales: The FBI’s War on Black America: COINTELPRO, Cointelpro 101, o visite el Centro de Recursos para Activistas de Prisiones y el Movimiento Jericho.

Los Water Protector Prisoners (Defensores del Agua) son Prisioneros del Imperio que han sido encarcelados para sus resistencia al oleoducto Dakota Access Pipeline y a sus amenazas al Rio Missouri y a pueblo Standing Rock Sioux. Actualmente hay dos personas todavia encarceladas. Para averiguar más acerca de sus casos: https://waterprotectorlegal.org/water-protector-prisoners/

Los Prisioneros Water Protectors encarcelados son:

Fred “Muhammad” Burton fue encarcelado en 1970 durante una época de medidas policiales masivas contra activistas negros en Filadelfia, y enmarcado por el asesinato de un policía. http://www.advocateforjustice.net/SupportFreedomForFrederickBurton.html

Richard Mafundi Lake fue un activista en Birmingham, Alabama durante el movimiento por los derechos civiles. Lake participó en el trabajo de defensa de la comunidad, convirtiéndolo en un objetivo continuo de la policía. Fue condenado a cadena perpetua bajo la regla de Habitual Offender (delincuente habitual) de Alabama en 1983. Lake ha continuado su activismo tras las rejas, enseñado una clase de historia negra y ayudado a fundar el fondo de defensa, Inmates for Action (reclusos por la acción). http://beforeitsnews.com/african-american-news/2017/01/attorney-general-loretta-lynch-grant-compassionate-release-to-richard-mafundi-lake-2458616.html

David Gilbert es un activista radical de izquierda y fue miembro del Weather Underground, un grupo izquierdista militante activo en los años setenta. Ayudó a fundar la sección del grupo Students for a Democratic Society (Estudiantes para una Sociedad Democrática) en la Universidad de Columbia. Gilbert participó en 1981 en un asalto a un banco junto con miembros del Black Liberation Army (Ejército Negro de Liberación), y fue condenado a 75 años de prisión. http://abcf.net/prisoners/gilbert.htm

Jaan Karl Laaman era miembro del United Freedom Front (frente unido libertad), un grupo izquierdista clandestino que bombardeaba edificios gubernamentales y empresariales en la década de los 70, financiando sus tácticas mediante expropiaciones bancarias. Se opusieron fuertemente al apartheid sudafricano y al imperialismo estadounidense en Centroamérica. Laaman escribe y edita para la revista 4struggle. Capturado con Laaman, Tom Manning se murió en agosto 2019.

La reverenda Joy Powell era una constante activista contra la brutalidad policial, la violencia y la opresión en su comunidad. La policía de Rochester le advirtió que ella era un blanco debido a su discurso contra la corrupción. Rev. Joy, una mujer negra, fue condenada por robo y asalto por un jurado totalmente blanco; El Estado no proporcionó pruebas ni testigos oculares. Le dieron 16 años. http://freejoypowell.org

Ana Belén Montes era una analista de inteligencia del Pentágono que alertó al gobierno cubano de los planes que tenía el gobierno de Estados Unidos de agredir a Cuba militarmente. Belen Montes le dijo al juez que escuchó su caso: “Me involucré en la actividad que me llevó ante usted porque obedecí a mi conciencia más que a la ley … Hemos mostrado intolerancia y desprecio hacia Cuba durante la mayor parte de las últimas cuatro décadas. Espero que mi caso de alguna manera aliente a nuestro gobierno a abandonar su hostilidad hacia Cuba ya trabajar con La Habana en un espíritu de tolerancia, respeto mutuo y entendimiento “. Fue arrestada en 2001, se declaró culpable de un cargo de espionaje y se encuentra recluida en régimen de aislamiento en una prision Fort Worth, Texas. http://www.prolibertad.org/ana-belen-montes

Jeremy Hammond fue arrestado en 2012 por la piratería de Strategic Forecasting, Inc. (Stratfor), filtrando información a Wikileaks mostrando que Stratfor espía a activistas de derechos humanos a instancias de corporaciones y del gobierno de Estados Unidos. Se le ha negado la libertad bajo fianza y se le ha mantenido en régimen de aislamiento, con una pena máxima de diez años. http://freejeremy.net

Matthew DeHart trabajó como oficial de inteligencia para la Guardia Nacional de los Estados Unidos. Estaba involucrado con Wikileaks y el grupo hacktivista Anonymous. Antes de su detención DeHart dirigió un servidor que albergaba documentos destinados a Wikileaks. Cuando documentos confidenciales sobre la CIA fueron subidos al servidor por un tercero anónimo, DeHart fue blanco del gobierno federal, y fue drogado e interrogado sobre los documentos. El gobierno federal presentó cargos contra él por pornografía infantil, lo que les permitió acceder a sus computadoras. https://mattdehart.com/

Amina Ali y Hawo Hassan fueron condenados por “apoyo material al terrorismo” en 2011 y condenados a 20 y 10 años respectivamente. Las dos mujeres de Rochester, Minnesota, habían recolectado ropa y recaudado dinero para ayudar a la gente indigente en su tierra natal. La fiscalía afirma que ayudó a al-Shabab, una organización islámica que lucha por liberar a Somalia de la dominación extranjera.

Shukri Abu-Baker y Ghassan Elashi, de la Holy Land Foundation (fundación tierra santa), fueron sentenciados en 2008 a 65 años de prisión. Otros tres de misma fundación fueron condenados a 13-20 años: Mohammad El-Mezain, Abdulrahman Odeh y Mufid Abdulqader. Todos fueron encarcelados por dar más de 12 millones de dolares a grupos de beneficencia en Palestina que financiaron hospitales, escuelas y alimentaron a pobres y huérfanos. El gobierno de Estados Unidos dijo que estos grupos estaban controlados por Hamas, un grupo que cataloga como una organización terrorista. Hamas es el gobierno elegido de Gaza. Algunos de estos mismos comités caritativos recibían financiamiento de los Estados Unidos, a través de USAID, hasta 2006. Testimonio fue dado en el caso por un agente del gobierno israelí cuya identidad y evidencia fue mantenida en secreto de la defensa. Esta fue la primera vez en la historia legal estadounidense que el testimonio se ha permitido de un testigo experto sin identidad, y por lo tanto inmune al perjurio. Los acusados ​​fueron absueltos en su primer juicio cuando el jurado no llego a una decisión unánime. http://freedomtogive.com

La Dra. Aafia Siddiqui es una neurocientífica paquistaní educada en Estados Unidos que fue condenada en un tribunal estadounidense por asalto con la intención de asesinar a sus interrogadores estadounidenses en Afganistán y sentenciada a 86 años de prisión. Cuatro parlamentarios británicos escribieron al presidente Obama “había una absoluta falta de evidencia concreta atando a la doctora Siddiqui al arma que supuestamente disparó contra un oficial estadounidense”, pidiendo su liberación inmediata. El arma que supuestamente disparó en la pequeña sala de interrogatorio no tenía sus huellas dactilares, ni había pruebas de que el arma fuera disparada. http://freeaafia.org

El Dr. Abdelhaleem Ashqar fue encontrado culpable en 2007 de “negarse a colaborar con el gran jurado federal investigando al movimiento palestino anti-ocupación”. A pesar de haber sido absuelto de acusaciones iniciales de extorsión, fue condenado a 11 años de cárcel. El doctor Ashqar, antiguo profesor de la Universidad de Howard, ha sido víctima de la vigilancia, el hostigamiento y la intimidación del gobierno por su apoyo a Hamas y al pueblo de Palestina. http://www.muslimlinkpaper.com/community-news/community-news/3834-jailed-and-abandoned-abdelhaleem-ashqar-continues-to-live-by-his-principles.html

Brandon Baxter, Joshua “Skelly” Stafford, Connor Stevens y Doug Wright son los “Cleveland 4”. Fueron los activistas del movimiento Occupy (ocupar) de Cleveland, y detenidos el 30 de abril de 2012 por la planificación de volar un puente. Sin embargo, el FBI se había infiltrado en Occupy-Cleveland, creó el mismo plan, e incitó al grupo a participar en el tal. Occupy fué un movimiento descentralizado de protesta política contra la desigualdad social y económica, activo desde y entre 2011 y 2012. En muchas ciudades de Estados Unidos, incluyendo Cleveland, los manifestantes de Occupy formaron campamentos a largo plazo en plazas y localidades centrales. http://www.cleveland4solidarity.org/

Los “OTAN 5” fueron encarcelados en mayo de 2012 antes de la cumbre de la OTAN en Chicago, en base de atrapamiento y acusaciones de informantes de la policía encubierta. Jared Chase sigue en la cárcel. https://www.prisonersolidarity.com/prisoner/jared-jay-chase

Bill Dunne es un anti-autoritario que fue arrestado en 1979 por el intento de liberación de un prisionero político anarquista. Dunne es políticamente activo en la prisión. Organiza la carrera de solidaridad, 5k junto con la Anarchist Black Cross (cruz negra anarquista), ayuda a educar a sus compañeros encarcelados, y escribe y edita para la revista 4struggle. http://www.thejerichomovement.com/profile/dunne-bill

Marius Mason (antes conocido como Marie Mason) es un preso político ambiental que cumple una condena de 22 años. En marzo de 2008, Marius fue arrestado por vandalismo de un laboratorio que creaba organismos genéticamente modificados para Monsanto. Fue acusado de incendio provocado por este y por dañar el equipo de tala de bosques en 1999 y 2000. Nadie resultó perjudicado por estas acciones. Marius se declaró culpable de cargos de incendio provocado, pero el juez aplicó un cargo de “mejora al terrorismo”. Fue sentenciado a 22 años, y ahora está cumpliendo la sentencia más larga de cualquier preso del “Green Scare” (temor verde). http://supportmariemason.org

Abdul Azeez, Malik Smith y Hanif Shabazz Bey son de las Islas Vírgenes, ocupadas por los Estados Unidos, y son los tres miembros de los llamados Virgin Island Five ( los cinco de la Islas Virgenes) que aún están encarcelados. Después de un asesinato de ocho turistas estadounidenses en la isla durante un período de lucha anti-imperial contra los EE.UU., los cinco hombres fueron blancos de ataque contra la lucha anti-imperialista, falsamente acusados de asesinar y torturar a los estadounidenses. Se les dio ocho cadenas perpetuas consecutivas y actualmente están encarcelados en Arizona.

Byron Shane “Oso Blanco” Chubbuck es un miembro del clan lobo indígena Cherokee / Chocktaw. Expropió el dinero de más de una docena de bancos estadounidenses para ayudar a los zapatistas de Chiapas, México. Se le conoció como “Robin the Hood” (como referencia al personaje Robin Hood), porque les dejaba saber que estaba tomando el dinero para dar a los pobres. http://freeosoblanco.blogspot.com/

Álvaro Luna Hernández es un organizador comunitario chicano y activista de prisiones. Fue Coordinador Nacional del Comité de Defensa Ricardo Aldape Guerra y participó en el activismo contra la brutalidad policial en Houston. Fue continuamente atacado por la policía, que en 1996 intentó arrestarlo por un cargo de robo que luego fue retirado. La policía utilizó la violencia para arrestarlo, pero después de una persecución de un día, fue en última instancia Luna Hernández el que fue condenado a 50 años de prisión por acusaciones falsas de amenazar a un sheriff mientras se resistía a la detención. http://www.freealvaro.net/

Ramsey Muñiz
es un activista chicano que se postuló como gobernador de Texas en 1972 y 1974 como candidato del Partido Raza Unida. Raza Unida es un partido político activo en los años setenta en el suroeste estadounidense, centrado en las cuestiones de la clase obrera y el nacionalismo chicano. Los miembros se enfrentaron a la represión por plantear una seria amenaza al statu quo de los dos partidos dominantes. Muñiz enfrentó dos cargos criminales relacionados con drogas y se declaró culpable antes de que se implementara la ley de “three strikes” (tres transgresiones). En 1994, fue a prisión de por vida por su “tercera transgresión”. Muñiz y sus partidarios sostienen que la acusación que lo envió a la cárcel de por vida fue un fabricación del estado. http://www.freeramsey.com/

Josh Williams fue un manifestante activo con el movimiento Black Lives Matter (las vidas negras importan) en Ferguson, Missouri. Participó en las protestas contra la brutalidad policial, provocada por el disparo mortal a un adolescente desarmado por un policía. A la edad de 19 años, Williams fue sentenciado a 8 años de prisión por incendio provocado y dos cargos de robo. Entró en una tienda QuickTrip, que había sido previamente dañada por otros saqueadores, y encendió fuegos dentro y fuera de la tienda. Su sorprendentemente larga sentencia por un juez de la ciudad de St Louis tenía por objeto intimidar a otros activistas contra la brutalidad policial. Williams será liberado en 2021. http://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2015/12/11/ferguson-protesters-express-shock-at-eight-year-sentence-for-joshua-williams

Stephen Kelly permanece encerrado en el centro de detención del condado de Glynn en Brunswick, Georgia, donde está esperando sentencia por su parte en la acción directa de King’s Bay Ploughshares por desarme nuclear. http://www.nukeresister.org/inside-out/

Fran Thompson es un defensor ecológico desde hace mucho tiempo. Está en la cárcel por asesinato después de defenderse con éxito, matando a un hombre que había amenazado con asesinarla y había entrado en su casa. Lo que hizo fue un acto de defensa personal contra el sistema patriarcal, y también fue atacada por su defensa ecológica, incluido el hecho de que no se le permitía declararse en defensa propia. https://freefran.noblogs.org/

Steve Donziger es un abogado que ganó un juicio de $ 9.5 mil millones contra Chevron debido al daño ecológico que causaron en Ecuador. Desde ese momento, Chevron ha eliminado sus activos, haciendo que la sentencia sea inaplicable, y ha llevado a cabo apelaciones y una demanda judicial agresiva una campaña de desprestigio contra Donziger. Actualmente se encuentra bajo arresto domiciliario en espera de juicio.

Joseph Mahmoud Dibee fue arrestado el 10 de agosto de 2018 por su participación en una serie de incendios provocados y otros actos de sabotaje entre 1995 y 2001 por motivos de defensa ecológica y derechos de los animales. Dibee era parte de los Earth and Animal Liberation Fronts (Frentes de Liberación de la Tierra y Liberación Animal). Entre las acusaciones en su contra están el incendio provocado de una planta empacadora de carne en Redmond, Oregón, y una planta eléctrica en Bend, Oregón.

Los reclusos de Guantánamo son prisioneros detenidos indefinidamente sin juicio, la mayoría desde 2002. La Prisión de Guantánamo, parte de la base estadounidense que ocupa ilegalmente tierras cubanas, es notoria por sus condiciones inhumanas y degradantes y el uso sistémico de la tortura. Según la organización, Witness Against Torture (testigo contra la tortura) hay todavía 55 presos en la prisión, a pesar de que 16 de ellos ya fueron declarados prontos para ser liberados. Http://closeguantanamo.org, http://www.witnesstorture.org

Los centros de detención de inmigrantes encarcelan a trabajadores indocumentados, familias y estudiantes. Cada año se detienen a más de 400.000 inmigrantes, y en cualquier día dado, hay alrededor de 40.000 personas en centros de detención para inmigrantes. Estos individuos son encarcelados debido a la ferviente ideología política anti-inmigrante de los Estados Unidos.

En los años ochenta, los inmigrantes rara vez eran detenidos. Estos eran acusados ​​de delitos menores y rápidamente deportados, o permitidos seguir con sus vidas pendientes de audiencias por el departamento de inmigración. En los últimos años ha habido un boom masivo en la detención de inmigrantes y su deportación. A pesar de que estamos experimentando el nivel más bajo de inmigración desde México hacia  los Estados Unidos en 45 años, los centros de detención de inmigrantes privados son una industria en auge y altamente protegida. El gobierno de Estados Unidos prometió suministrar suficientes inmigrantes indocumentados para mantener 36.000 camas en centros de detención ocupados durante todo el año.

El racismo, la represión de clase y la xenofobia son las fuerzas políticas que subyacen al aumento de la detención de inmigrantes. El gobierno estadounidense criminaliza cada vez más a los indocumentados. En lugar de tratarlos como delincuentes civiles de bajo nivel, nuestra nueva política es de una persecución arbitraria, y una vez que son arrestados, encarcelarlos. Estar indocumentado es un crimen altamente politizado. Los encarcelados en los centros de detención de inmigrantes son una clase de prisioneros del Imperio demasiado numerosos para nombrarlos individualmente.

La sublevación popular contra el racismo, la brutalidad policial y la marcha constante hacia el fascismo han resultado en el arresto de miles de personas, y ese número continúa aumentando a medida que la resistencia persiste y crece. Tras el asesinato de George Floyd por la policía el 25 de mayo de 2020, el profundo dolor y la ira provocaron una explosión de resistencia a nivel nacional. El lema central de este levantamiento es que Black Lives Matter (Vidas Negras Importan), y el enfoque continúa dirigido contra la violencia racista generalizada que es tan característica del sistema de (no) justicia de los Estados Unidos. Desafortunadamente, los gobiernos federales, estatales y locales han ignorado abrumadoramente las demandas de cambio y han respondido con represión masiva y cargos severos contra aquellos que han sido arrestados. El despliegue de mercenarios privados y la patrulla fronteriza y otras tropas federales ha intensificado la situación. Esto se ve incrementado por los ataques de paramilitares de extrema derecha contra las poblaciones objetivo, especialmente las personas afros, así como a todos los que protestan. Estas agresiones incluyen los ahorcamientos de jóvenes negros que las autoridades han tratado ridículamente de descartar como “suicidios”. Las invasiones y ocupaciones policiales, militares y paramilitares de nuestras ciudades han significado que en algunos lugares la resistencia se ha caracterizado por su denuncia de la creciente represión en general, mientras continúa elevando la demanda específica para poner fin a los fundamentos racistas de nuestra sociedad. Consideramos a todos los resistentes que han sido encarcelados por su participación en el levantamiento como presos políticos y prisioneros del Imperio. Mantener una lista y un recuento de los que han sido encarcelados es muy difícil porque el recuento cambia a diario, y es casi imposible en este momento mantenerse al día adecuadamente sobre quién está detenido, mientras que otros son citados y liberados, y mientras muchos los que enfrentan un tiempo de cárcel grave están fuera de la cárcel en espera de juicio. Por ahora, estamos incluyendo a los encarcelados debido al levantamiento colectivo, como una “clase” de presos políticos. Esperamos comenzar pronto a agregar nombres y enlaces sobre tantos casos específicos como podamos. Continúe revisando mientras construimos la lista. Contáctenos si tiene información pertinente enviando un correo electrónico a [email protected].

El encarcelamiento en masa es un elemento fundamental de la opresión racista y anti-obrera. No todos los objetivos de la represión estatal llegan a la cárcel o se les da la oportunidad de defenderse en corte, o incluso de ser acusados de un crimen. Muchos de los que mueren como resultado de la violencia del Estado son culpables de nada más que ajustarse a un perfil étnico que hace de uno un sospechoso en virtud solo del color de su piel. Cada 28 horas en 2012 alguien empleado o protegido por el gobierno de los EE.UU. mató a un hombre , mujer o niño negro.

Mientras que los blancos no hispanos constituyen el 63.7% de la población estadounidense, la gente de origen africano y los latinos representan casi dos tercios de los encarcelados en Estados Unidos. Las personas que carecen de un diploma de GED o de educación secundaria representan el 47 por ciento de los reclusos, y el ingreso anual de los encarcelados, antes de su detención, era un 41% menos que sus pares entre los no encarcelados.

Con menos del 5% de la población mundial, los EE.UU. tienen al 25% de la población encarcelada a nivel mundial, con 2,3 millones de presos. El desarrollo y el crecimiento del modelo de encarcelamiento masivo tuvo a lugar al mismo tiempo que las tasas de delincuencia han estado en declive. El propósito principal del sistema penitenciario estadounidense parece ser el control social, la intimidación de la resistencia y el mantenimiento de una forma masiva y legal de esclavitud.

Las condiciones en las cárceles estadounidenses reflejan la falta de atención médica básica, el aislamiento de la familia y de la comunidad, la falta de oportunidades educativas, los incidentes generalizados de tortura y palizas, y un trato generalmente degradante. Las cárceles estadounidenses retienen a más de 80.000 personas en régimen de aislamiento. Sólo en 2012, el Departamento de Justicia calcula que hubo 216.000 víctimas de violación sexual en las prisiones.

Aunque no llamamos a todos los prisioneros presos políticos, debemos señalar que todos ellos son sujetos de un sistema de opresión políticamente motivado. Las repercusiones del modelo de encarcelamiento estadounidense se sienten mucho más allá de las puertas cerradas y las barras de nuestras cárceles. La “política del miedo” se difunde en toda la sociedad estadounidense, particularmente para los pobres y las minorías raciales. Tenemos siete millones de residentes estadounidenses que están en prisión o en libertad condicional. Cuando consideramos el monitoreo gubernamental masivo de nuestra población, podemos justificadamente llamar a los Estados Unidos a una “nación prisión”.

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