Hunger Strike in German Prisons

German prisoners bound for hunger-strike over conditions - Solidarity welcomed!

Almost 500 prisoners in Germany have answered a call for a co-ordinated hunger-strike on August 1st - 7th by prisoner solidarity group "Iv.i" (Representation for
the Interest of the Detainees).

Gabriel Pombo da Silva, a Spanish anarchist who escaped from the brutal F.I.E.S isolation units in Spain, and who is now serving a prison term for attempting to escape a police control near Aachen, Germany, with another Spanish anarchist escapee, who is also now in a German jail, Jose Fernandez Delgado, made an extended international call for all those who wish to participate in the way that they choose in solidarity to make their actions in conjunction with the prisoners hunger-strike.

Over 28 jails will be involved in the protest, which is also specifically in solidarity with Nadine Trivian, who has been dispersed into isolation to a prison where she finds
herself in an extremely hostile environment. This is due to the fact that she made a complaint, together with other fellow female prisoners, against a prison guard, who is now condemned for rape and sexual assaults while practicing in his work place. Nadine is one of the representatives of "Iv.i" , which has for years fought against the abuses of power, the psychological-terrorism, the conditions of the detentions, forced labour, constant debt, etc, which exists in the German regime.

However the call by Gabriel goes further than the demand for a change in repressive conditions. His struggle, like other anarchists, is against the existence of "all centres of detention and punishment, against all life imprisonment, death sentence, and systems of isolation and torture." This is a struggle that can be found in the hearts and minds of abolitionists and freethinkers everywhere. Mass incarceration has lead to not only the entrenched control of the ruling class, but amassed huge profits for a small number of increasingly powerful companies, whilst the root causes of ‘anti-social behaviour’ and ‘crime’, namely : poverty and inequality, are left untreated.

The state and capitalism need prisons to protect the divisions between the classes and maintain their power and exploitation, prisons are places of abuse and alienation, not rehabilitation and justice. A fundamental libertarian change in our societies
accompanied by radical redistribution of wealth is required to solve the causes of crime and end prisons forever.

People can show their solidarity according to their criteria: sending faxes to the ministry of justice in Dusseldorf, to the German embassies & consulates, making direct
actions and awareness raising drives about the demands of the prisoners. These demands are: an end to forced labour, dispersal, isolation, abuse of power, the "life" sentence and sentences of 20+ years.

Against all cells, borders and police.

You can read Gabriel's text entitled About Forced Labour and Other Rights on the 325 Collective website at www.325collective.com

For more information on prison/er issues, go to ABC Berlin on www.abc-berlin.net