Urgent Action Alert: Stop the Campaign of Harassment and Violence by Prison Officials Targeting Shaka Shakur

IDOC Watch - April 26, 2021

Shaka Shakur is a politically active prisoner and a long-term militant of the Back liberation movement in the US. He has done courageous work over his decades of incarceration in organizing fellow prisoners, including leading one of the longest prisoner hunger strikes (37 days) in US history during the summer of 1992 from within the Maximum Control Complex in Westville, Indiana. More recently, he co-founded and developed networks,such as IDOC Watch, of prisoners, lawyers, and outside activists with the purpose of exposing human rights struggles within US prisons. He is also a co-founder of the New Afrikan Liberation Collective.

 On December 18th, 2018, Shaka was transferred from prison in Indiana to prison in Virginia, as part of a campaign by the State to neutralize the effectiveness of his activism in Indiana. Despite this form of “domestic exile”, Shaka has continued his human rights activism within Virginia’s prison system. Consequently, he is being subjected to a campaign of systematic harassment by VDOC prison officials, including those in an administrative and supervisory capacity, at the Buckingham Correctional Center (BKCC) where he is currently incarcerated. This campaign by BKCC officials includes the following elements, in full violation of VDOC policies and State Statutes, including the P.R.E.A Statutes:

    Working with collaborator and influential prisoners to spread false rumors about Shaka, namely that he is a “snitch” and “sex offender” when, in fact, he has consistently stood up against abuses of power nor has he ever been accused and convicted of any sexual related crime in his life;

    Repeatedly placing sexual offenders and predators in Shaka’s cell with him;

    Repeatedly encouraging prisoners to attack Shaka, to carry out sexual and other physical assaults against him, telling these prisoners that “Shakur needs to be fucked”, “Shakur needs to be shot [stabbed]”, etc.;  

    Releasing and distributing Shaka’s Jpay emails and transcripts of his phone calls to other prisoners;

    Releasing Shaka’s personal and family information, thereby facilitating identity theft;

The following BKCC officials have been specifically engaging in acts of sexual harassment and use of sexual language to harass, provoke and/ or incite sexual violence against Shaka--all with the full knowledge and complicity of Supervisors.

    Sgt Johnson, Day Shift

    Sgt. Rose, Day Shift

    C.O. Penn, Day Shift

    C.O. Jones, Night Shift

    C.O. McGriff, Night Shift

Take Action: Call AND email the following officials and demand the following:

     An immediate end to this life-threatening campaign of harassment against Shaka Shakur 1996207;

     A  thorough and independent investigation into the official misconduct involved in this campaign against Shaka and the total disregard for IOP’s and DOP’s, Virginia statute, and the 8th Amendment of the US Constitution.

Call/ Email:

Mr. Harold Clarke, VDOC Director

VDOC Main Office

804-674-3000

press 0 for receptionist, ask for Harold Clarke

Email: DOCmail@vadoc.virginia.gov

email for Harold Clarke: HAROLD.CLARKE@VADOC.VIRGINIA.GOV

Mr. John Woodson, BKCC Warden:

434-983-4400

press 2 for departments

press 1 for warden

John.Woodson@vadoc.virginia.gov

Central Regional Director Henry Ponton

Central Regional Office

804-674-3008

dial 1 for dial by name directory

dial 76686643679# (for Henry Ponton, regional director)

email: HENRY.PONTON@VADOC.VIRGINIA.GOV

Governor Northam

8047862211

press 1

for email: https://www.governor.virginia.gov/constituent-services/communicating-with-the-governors-office/

Script:

“Hello, I am [calling/emailing] on behalf of Mr. Shaka Shakur #1996207, who is in VDOC custody at the Buckingham Correctional Center. Mr. Shakur has been the target of a campaign of sexual, verbal, and physical harassment since he was transferred to Buckingham CC in September 2020. This campaign by BKCC officials includes the following elements, in full violation of VDOC policies, US Law, and State Statutes, including the P.R.E.A Statutes:

    Working with collaborator and influential prisoners to spread false rumors about Shaka, namely that he is a “snitch” and “sex offender” when, in fact, he has consistently stood up against abuses of power nor has he ever been accused and convicted of any sexual related crime in his life;

    Repeatedly placing sexual offenders and predators in Shaka’s cell with him;

    Repeatedly encouraging prisoners to attack Shaka, to carry out sexual and other physical assaults against him, telling these prisoners that “Shakur needs to be fucked”, “Shakur needs to be shot [stabbed]”, etc.;  

    Releasing and distributing Shaka’s Jpay emails and transcripts of his phone calls to other prisoners;

    Releasing Shaka’s personal and family information, thereby facilitating identity theft and endangering his family.

The principal actors in involved in this illegal harassment campaign, who are supported with the full knowledge and complicity of their supervisors, are:

Sgt Johnson, Day Shift

Sgt. Rose, Day Shift

C.O. Penn, Day Shift

C.O. Jones, Night Shift

C.O. McGriff, Night Shift

Mr. Shakur and his supporters are demanding:

     An immediate end to this life-threatening campaign of harassment against Shaka Shakur 1996207;

     A  thorough and independent investigation into the official misconduct involved in this campaign against Shaka and the total disregard for IOP’s and DOP’s, Virginia statute, and the 8th Amendment of the US Constitution.”

https://www.idocwatch.org/blog-1/2021/4/26/urgent-action-alert-stop-the-campaign-of-harassment-and-violence-by-prison-officials-targeting-shaka-shakur

Phone Zap! Life-threatening Medical Neglect of Elder at WVCF!

 

IDOC Watch - April 12, 2021

 

Terry Huspon #882533, an incarcerated elder at WVCF, reached out to us a few days ago for assistance. He has a serious medical issue and is not receiving appropriate care. He has a very bad infection in his leg that has caused his foot to be constantly swollen for the past 9 months. He has repeatedly requested a CAT scan or MRI, and has been refused. He has been placed in solitary confinement, in the SHU at WVCF, for requesting the medical attention he needs.

Please call WVCF and IDOC Central office and demand that Terry Huspon #882553 receive the outside medical attention his condition requires!

WVCF: (812) 398-5050 ext. 0

IDOC Central Office: (317) 232-5711 ext. 2, ext. 3, ext. 2

Script:

“Hello, I am calling to express my concern about the willful neglect of a very serious medical condition that Mr. Terry Huspon #882533 has been subjected to at the hands of Wabash Valley CF staff, and to demand that he receive the outside medical attention that he needs! Mr. Huspon’s leg and foot are severely infected and swollen, to a life-threatening and extremely painful degree, and he has been requesting necessary care for about 9 months. Please see to it that Mr. Huspon receives the medical care his condition requires immediately!”

https://www.idocwatch.org/blog-1/2021/4/12/phone-zap-life-threatening-medical-neglect-of-elder-at-wvcf 

 

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Mistreatment of People with Diabetes at Plainfield CF! Please Call & Email Ombudsman

 IDOC Watch - March 19, 2021

We just received this report from someone who has a loved one incarcerated at Plainfield CF:

Diabetic Inmates at Plainfield Correctional Facility (Central N Cell Block) are being accused of being intoxicated and sent to medical where the nurses have confirmed their sugar is low and they are NOT intoxicated. Yet they are still being put into segregation and then into a holding cell with just a mat and none of their personal or hygienic belongings. Several are not receiving their proper amount of insulin.. if any. This can cause severe medical emergencies and even death.

People with diabetes have been killed by medical neglect in many prisons in the US and it needs to stop! They have the right to proper medical care via each individuals 'medical care plan.' Having accusations thrown at you, all your belongings left to be taken or thrown out, just to be thrown into an individual holding cell for a false accusation and not receive medical care is neglectful and abuse.

Please call/email Charlene Burkett, DOC Ombudsman Bureau, at (317) 234-3190 or Ombud@idoa.in.gov and demand they give the diabetic inmates their full dosage of insulin and to give them the essentials in their individual holding cells!!

 

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Report on Conditions and Growing Covid Outbreak at Indiana Womens’ Prison

 IDOC Watch - January 15, 2021

 

01/06/2021

So, at IWP:

31 people from 1 unit were infected with covid about 7 days ago. No new tests have been administered to the rest of the unit to determine if other infections are present.

A maintenance worker is presently 14 days into being sick with covid and is at work in my unit's bathroom with 2 incarcerated workers masks not properly being worn. (The shower had been stuck on for 7-10 days). No cleaner is overseen who will clean the bathroom when he leaves. No cleaner cleans the units regularly and efficiently anyways-because no staff person or c/o oversees and regulates the cleaning.

Used PPE was put in my area. Signs are posted in two places that state, "No PPE". The PPE was exposed to me while I was working alone without a mask.

The substance abuse issues that are played out are not addressed at all. Substances are still available with no preventative measures being employed by staff. No substance abuse or mental health counseling is provided regularly, or at all.

True to the nature of a female facility, the prospect that females are homosexual companions is running the safety and security declarations of the prison's most available female sergeant. The prospect determines all processes in the facility including chow hall rotation of units, volunteer labor, and non requested unit moves. However, requested bed moves are denied, and discrimination is high in the application of staff interpretation of the nature of ppl's relationships. Fighting is permitted and in fact, making someone's face bleed does not result in lock. However, "girlfriend" status will get you harassed and involuntarily moved, denied opportunities because of the companionship. Mentally ill women and two women caught in the same shower take up the 22 disc. segregation beds here. Also, covid cases. Only 1 person is assigned to clean the lock rooms after it is emptied, and no one guarantees covid was removed.

The conduct adjustment board will not hold the hearings of two women caught hugging simultaneously, but will hold hearings of two women fighting simultaneously. "Girlfriends" are not to live together, but not all are denied the companionship. Only those who reach high levels of observation such as:gender non conformist, certain race, certain hair style, overly pretty? All women seem to dual-up with another...just an observable fact. Major conduct reports are written and being heard today for being in the common areas for more than two or four hours a day, for cursing at staff over the common area need, for tattered or torn state clothing although none has been issued almost the entire year, or for placing pockets in purchased clothes. The captain wrote that one up. Yet, serious issues: cleaners, fairness of process and procedure, staff responsibilities, true safety and security needs, none of this matters. The new rules being overly and wrongly applied to this population is the new "interfering with staff duties" or "alteration to property". Probably written to address the male populations such as altering devices for chargers or weapons, or preventing intervention by staff in stopping fights, etc.

Rec staff are here, collecting paychecks offering no rec. No rec, no movies rotated all year, no use of the rec fund for any items needed by the incarcerated. I was told rec money bought a broiler.

It is all wild. No single staff person is held accountable for violating their duties, no accountability on work performance... money is not even accounted for.

It is all bad and irritating among an already scary pandemic.

Night

At 11:30pm the fire alarm started going off. We stood in the cold during a pandemic outside with 250 people for the past 30 minutes. The fire alarm is still going off at 12:15am. They knew from the beginning it was a fluke because we haven't had a fire alarm all year. We have ice cold water for showers and I would bet maintenance hasn't even been notified by bracket supervisors. Now, the fire alarm is still screeching and the brackett has no idea how to turn it off. We haven't had fire alarms for the entire year. We don't even have a fire inspector. We will all still be expected to work: no sleep and cold water. How many hours will it continue to sound the alarm?

Morning

The fire alarm stayed on until 1 am. 3 ppl had seizures caused by the alarm. We could barely get staff attention because of the tint on the windows and the alarm. Two people hit their heads during seizures and were not given medical care.

Still ice cold water with the response, "it happens."

Yesterday brought another positive covid case. With staff being made to work before having successfully overcome covid it is probably spreading rapidly through the prison.

-Natalie Medley #122409.

You can support Natalie by setting up an account at web.connectnetwork.com and, with which you can send her messages and money. Or you can write to her at 727 Moon Rd. Plainfield, In. 46168

1/4/21 Call to Action: Stop Illegal, Inhumane Restrictions on Secure Housing Unit (SHU) at WVCF

 IDOC Watch - December 11, 2020

by Kwame “Beans” Shakur

Illegal Denial of Video Visits

Due to the Covid-19 virus Wabash Valley Correctional Facility closed the visitation room in March. Those of us held captive in the SHU have not been able to see our loved ones in 9 months, however, population has still been allowed to maintain contact with the outside world during this pandemic thru the use of video visits on kiosk machines located in every cell house.

The refusal to place kiosk on the SHU even prior to the pandemic is another form of sensory deprivation used to break the minds & spirits of those held in solitary confinement. To my knowledge this is the only lock up unit in the state that does not have video visitation as an option, an option that exist in order to make visits more convenient due to the fact most of us are shipped across the state hours away from home and a lot of our loved ones work during visitation hours. Under normal circumstances 9 months in captivity with no interaction from a loved one is enough to cause an individual to experience a number of issues, not to mention the uncertain times We find ourselves in now. With family members and loved ones dying and testing positive for covid-19, the refusal to place a kiosk machine on the SHU is causing extreme mental & emotional distress for both captives and those on the outside.

The SHU is also the only lockup unit in the state that does not allow individuals on disciplinary segregation to purchase "picture tickets/tokens" on commissary. i have been housed on the SHU since July 31 ,2018 and in that time i have not been allowed to have a picture taken to send to my family.

Following the visitation room closure in March, GTL began giving out 2 free 5 min calls every week for everybody locked up using their services. They followed that by also giving out free video visits each week. So, even a super exploiter- parasite company like GTL understands the hard times We are all experiencing as a people and the need for ones to have contact and support from the outside world. With that being said i am demanding that my captors place kiosk machines for video visits on the SHU as soon as possible and allow ones to have their pictures taken on disciplinary segregation.

Update 12/25/20

As a result of this demand at least 20 prisoners filed grievances. In an attempt to censor those standing up for Our rights, the facility Grievance Specialist returned everybody's grievance without officially attaching a grievance number or allowing it to pass through the proper chain of command. Therefore no higher authorities know that this issue has been raised and there is no documented paper trail showing that i exhausted all administrative remedies. These are the types of prison politics and corruption that We must expose and challenge. The grievance process is the first step a prisoner must take in order to take his/her case to court or even challenge on a facility level to seek relief. Without it you cannot move forward within the facility or pursue legal action.

Our oppressors/captors waste no time in showing us that We have no human or civil rights in their eyes, and that Our lives DON’T MATTER. This is exactly why N.A.L.C and IDOC Watch are working expediently to develop the regional & national infrastructure and network to Unify the voices of those behind enemy lines. Without the organizational and legal support from the outside We will continue to be silenced and dehumanized inside these modern day slave camps.

In addition to the illegal denial of video visits, people being held in the solitary confinement cages of the SHU are not receiving the diets or access to commissary they are entitled to per IDOC Policy & Procedure.

Please listen to the statements below from Kwame ‘Beans’ Shakur and Kevin ‘Rashid’ Johnson, who are both being caged on the SHU, and respond to their calls for outside support!

*LINK* 

On January 4, we are asking everyone to call Wabash Valley CF warden Frank Vanihel and the IDOC Central Office to demand:

1) That video visit kiosks be installed on the SHU and that the people caged there be allowed video visits in accordance with IDOC Policy & Procedure

2) That people caged on the SHU be allowed the diets and commissary they are entitled to under IDOC Policy and Procedure

Warden Frank Vanihel: (812) 398-5050 (follow extensions to reach the Warden)

IDOC Central Office: (317) 232-5711 ext. 2, ext. 2

#prisonlivesmatter

 

Urgent action! Contact Governor Holcomb about the COVID-19 crisis in Rockville women's prison

 

 IDOC Watch - December 18, 2020

 

"I’ve never been so sick in all my life. Everyone on this dorm is deathly ill … It all went downhill when they started putting positive cases back in the room with negative cases … I was just told I was positive and left in my room. With negative people. They are putting us all in danger at this point, including their officers."

 

"We get no medical attention whatsoever! They do not check on us, do not do temp checks, stopped giving Tylenol ... An older lady covered from head to toe with rash, her ears are swollen bad. They won’t get her help."

 

“In the beginning, I used to flippantly say that when the COVID finally comes here, the prison will just let us all get sick and die. I thought that I was just being dramatic, but it might have been more prescient than I know.... Why don't OUR lives matter?”

Each of these alarming messages are from women incarcerated in Rockville prison, Indiana’s largest women’s prison. There is a crisis in the prison as women are going undernourished, without treatment or isolation, and with hundreds sick. Despite eight months to prepare, Rockville did not do so, and is woefully underprepared for this crisis. They have now essentially abandoned these women to the virus.

Please call, tweet, or email the governor before his staff go on leave for the holidays.

phone: 317-232-4567

tweet: @GovHolcomb

email: https://www.in.gov/gov/governor-holcombask-eric/ 

Demand they must:

1. Test everyone in the prison

2. Isolate those who are sick and quarantine those who have contacted an infectious person

3. If they don’t have they space to isolate/quarantine individuals, they must release the over 200 women who would be released in the next six month, and transfer other women, until they do have the room

4. Provide appropriate treatment and nourishment to those who are sick