Pelican Bay Prison Strikers Are About to Die

h3 span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 0);"Support striking prisoners by writing to them, a href="http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/take-action/cdcr-and-california-elected-officials-contact-informaion/"calling officials/a, a href="http://www.change.org/petitions/support-prisoners-on-hunger-strike-at-pelican-bay-state-prison"signing the petition/anbsp;/span/h3 p emstrongby Marilyn McMahon, executive director of California Prison Focus/strong/em/p p Prisoners are about to die in California prisons, possibly by the dozens or even more. Conditions are so bad they have preferred to starve themselves to death rather than live another week in such torturous conditions and let future prisoners endure the same conditions. Their actions scream to Californians to listen, to act, to prove that we do not want such torture in our names./p p Please read the urgent bulletin below and contact your elected officials to demand that the hunger strike be addressed in a humane and rational way. The span data-scayt_word="CDCR" data-scaytid="7"CDCR/span (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) has so far refused to negotiate with either the prisoners or their outside representatives and refused to end even the most egregious injustices or improve conditions. If it continues on this path, span data-scayt_word="CDCR" data-scaytid="8"CDCR/span willbr / soon have a lot of blood on its hands./p p emstrongby Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity/strong/em/p div class="img alignleft size-full wp-image-22003" style="width: 300px;" a href="http://sfbayview.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/SHU-cell-by-CDCR.jpg"img alt="" height="299" src="http://sfbayview.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/SHU-cell-by-CDCR.jpg" width="300" //a div Donrsquo;t let our brothers and sisters ndash; yes, women prisoners are striking too ndash; die alone in a hard concrete windowless dungeon like this span data-scayt_word="SHU" data-scaytid="21"SHU/span cell. Take action and spread the word NOW! ndash; Photo: span data-scayt_word="CDCR" data-scaytid="9"CDCR/span/div /div p The Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity coalition received an urgent update from medical staff at Pelican Bay State Prison that the health of at least 200 hunger strikers in the span data-scayt_word="SHU" data-scaytid="22"SHU/span is rapidly worsening. A source with access to their current medical conditions who prefers to be unnamed reported:/p p ldquo;The prisoners are progressing rapidly to the organ damaging consequences of dehydration. They are not drinking water and have span data-scayt_word="decompensated" data-scaytid="25"decompensated/span rapidly. A few have tried to sip water but are so sick that they are vomiting it back up. Some are in renal failure and have been unable to make urine for three days. Some are having measured blood sugars in the 30 range, which can be fatal if not span data-scayt_word="treated.”" data-scaytid="1"treated.rdquo;/span/p h3 style="text-align: center;" span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 0);"A few have tried to sip water but are so sick that they are vomiting it back up./span/h3 p span data-scayt_word="SHU" data-scaytid="23"SHU/span prisoners at Pelican Bay have said they are willing to risk their lives and will continue to strike until their demands are met. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (span data-scayt_word="CDCR" data-scaytid="10"CDCR/span) continues to refuse to negotiate./p p Prisoners across California continue to refuse food in solidarity with the Pelican Bay span data-scayt_word="SHU" data-scaytid="24"SHU/span hunger strikers./p p This past weekend, families and friends gave encouragement and support to their loved ones during weekend visits at prisons across the state, witnessing the toll the hunger strike is taking on their bodies. Families have said their loved ones are extremely pale, shaking and have already lost 20-30 pounds. Some families of prisoners who have only been drinking water for 12 days now witnessed their loved ones faint or go into diabetic shock in visiting rooms over the weekend./p h3 style="text-align: center;" span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 0);"Families say their loved ones are extremely pale, shaking and have already lost 20-30 pounds. Some families of prisoners who have only been drinking water for 12 days now witnessed their loved ones faint or go into diabetic shock in visiting rooms over the weekend./span/h3 p People locked up across the state have been telling their friends and families about the tactics prison officials have been using to break the strike./p p Many prisoners have said that medications are being denied to prisoners on hunger strike./p p Prisoners have reported that guards in at least Pelican Bay general population and span data-scayt_word="Calipatria" data-scaytid="26"Calipatria/span State Prison have been calling throughout blocks and units: ldquo;The hunger strike is over! The five demands have been met!rdquo; which is not true. According to family members of prisoners at span data-scayt_word="Calipatria" data-scaytid="27"Calipatria/span, participation at span data-scayt_word="Calipatria" data-scaytid="28"Calipatria/span was huge ndash; at least 1,500 prisoners throughout that prison alone joined the hunger strike ndash; until the guards spread rumors of the strike ending. Some prisoners at span data-scayt_word="Calipatria" data-scaytid="29"Calipatria/span remain on hunger strike, however./p p While the span data-scayt_word="CDCR" data-scaytid="11"CDCR/span released its estimate of 6,600 prisoners participating in the hunger strike during the Fourth of July weekend and declared the numbers dropping to over 2,100 in the following days, of course the span data-scayt_word="CDCR" data-scaytid="12"CDCR/span failed to mention how and why that happened. The decline in numbers in no way demonstrates a lack of support or dedication to this struggle from the prisoners, rather how eager the span data-scayt_word="CDCR" data-scaytid="13"CDCR/span is to make this issue go away quickly and quietly./p p One prisoner writes to a supporter: ldquo;Irsquo;m sincerely sick with end stage liver disease (span data-scayt_word="ESLD" data-scaytid="30"ESLD/span) and a severe case of related diabetes. Irsquo;m going to end up in the hospital almost immediately and will be effectively isolated. Due to my dedication to the struggle, I will continue with my strike. I wonrsquo;t know when to stop. If the demands have been met in whole, negotiated part, etc., I will not take the copsrsquo; word, for the pigs have proven their word to be hollow. I will need the word of you or your outside span data-scayt_word="support.”" data-scaytid="2"support.rdquo;/span/p p Families and community organizations like Prison Moratorium Project continue to rally support outside of Corcoran and other striking prisons, sharing information and trying to visit their loved ones as regularly as possible. a href="http://julie-tackett.blogspot.com/"Families and community members are also supporting the strike outside Pelican Bay./a/p h3 Take action TODAY! Call NOW!/h3 p Support for this hunger strike is at a crucial point, where we need to pressure the span data-scayt_word="CDCR" data-scaytid="14"CDCR/span to negotiate with the prisoners immediately./p p Call span data-scayt_word="Gov" data-scaytid="31"Gov/span. Jerry Brown, (916) 445-2841, and say something like this: ldquo;Hi, my name is _________. Irsquo;m calling about the statewide prisoner hunger strike that began at Pelican Bay. I support the prisoners and their reasonable five core demands. I am alarmed by the rapidly deteriorating medical conditions of the hunger strikers and the inaction of the span data-scayt_word="CDCR" data-scaytid="15"CDCR/span. I urge you to make sure the span data-scayt_word="CDCR" data-scaytid="16"CDCR/span negotiates with the prisoners immediately and in good faith before prisoners are force-fed or even die. Thank span data-scayt_word="you.”" data-scaytid="3"you.rdquo;/span/p p Also a href="http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials"call your legislators/a and urge them to make sure the span data-scayt_word="CDCR" data-scaytid="17"CDCR/span negotiates with the prisoners in good faith./p p Call span data-scayt_word="CDCR" data-scaytid="18"CDCR/span Secretary Matthew span data-scayt_word="Cate" data-scaytid="32"Cate/span, (916) 323-6001, and say something like this: ldquo;Hi, my name is __________. Irsquo;m calling about the statewide prisoner hunger strike that began at Pelican Bay. I support the prisoners and their reasonable five core demands. I am alarmed by the rapidly deteriorating medical conditions of the hunger strikers and the inaction of the span data-scayt_word="CDCR" data-scaytid="19"CDCR/span. I urge the span data-scayt_word="CDCR" data-scaytid="20"CDCR/span to negotiate with the prisoners immediately and in good faith before prisoners are force-fed or even die. Thank span data-scayt_word="you.”" data-scaytid="4"you.rdquo;/span/p h3 Other ways to support the hunger strike/h3 p The prisoners need international support! No matter where you are geographically, you can help amplify the prisonersrsquo; voices and demands:/p ul li Check thenbsp;a href="http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/"Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity blog/a daily./li li Attend a href="http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/take-action/demonstrations-actions-events-in-the-us-canada/"solidarity events and demonstrations/a! Rallies are scheduled over the next few days in Oakland, Chicago, span data-scayt_word="Tuscon" data-scaytid="33"Tuscon/span and Montreal./li li a href="http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/take-action/call-for-action/"Organize/a a solidarity event or action in your city or town!/li li a href="http://www.change.org/petitions/support-prisoners-on-hunger-strike-at-pelican-bay-state-prison"Sign the online petition/a!/li li Share this information with everyone you know through phone calls, emails, Facebook, Twitter and more!/li li Use grassroots and mainstream media to raise awareness and amplify the prisonerrsquo;s demands!/li /ul p If you have a loved one locked up and want support contacting him or her about the hunger strike, reach out to the coalition by sending an email to a href="mailto:prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity@gmail.com"span data-scayt_word="prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity@gmail.com" data-scaytid="5"prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity@gmail.com/span/a. It is important that they have updates on the status of the hunger strike both at Pelican Bay and across California, including how people are showing solidarity and support for the hunger strike outside./p p The coalition also needs help getting updates and information to prisoners throughout California. If you know people who are locked up in California, please either send us their information or send them updates of the strike, including how people are supporting outside. The hunger strikers need our support and need to know how much support is growing for them outside prison./p p span data-scayt_word="Lucasville" data-scaytid="34"Lucasville/span Uprising prisoners, who held a victorious hunger strike in January, are chanting: ldquo;From span data-scayt_word="Lucasville" data-scaytid="35"Lucasville/span to Pelican Bay, fighting back is the only way!rdquo;/p h3 style="text-align: center;" span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 0);"ldquo;From span data-scayt_word="Lucasville" data-scaytid="36"Lucasville/span to Pelican Bay, fighting back is the only way!rdquo;/span/h3 p An emergency press conference will be held tomorrow, Wednesday, July 13, 11 span data-scayt_word="a.m" data-scaytid="6"a.m/span., outside the California State Building in San Francisco, at Van Ness and McAllister./p p emThis story, to which Bay View staff contributed, first appeared on a href="http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/2011/07/12/urgent-hunger-strikers-health-rapidly-deteriorates/"span data-scayt_word="PrisonerHungerStrikeSolidarity" data-scaytid="37"PrisonerHungerStrikeSolidarity/span/a.nbsp;/em/p