disciplinary<\/a>
\n action against the hunger strikers by for example pro-longing
\n their time in the Security Housing Units (SHU).\n<\/p>\n\n Since then key leaders of the strike had been facing
\n \u201cincreased isolation, where they face harsher conditions and
\n increased restrictions on communication with their lawyers<\/i>\u201d,
\n AI reported on Monday.\n<\/p>\n
\n Others claimed that prison authorities \u201cblasted cold air into
\n their cells, as well as confiscated fluids, hygiene products and
\n legal materials<\/i>\u201d in the Pelican Bay Security Housing Units.\n<\/p>\n
\n The inmates are protesting the state\u2019s policy of long-term
\n solitary confinement in SHU that isolates detainees who have been
\n determined to be involved with internal gangs. Those prisoners
\n are locked up in small, solitary cells until they volunteer to
\n detail gang activity to investigators. No rule exists limiting
\n how long those inmates can be held in isolation, and some have
\n lived like that for years, even decades.\n<\/p>\n
\n The human rights organization reports of at least 500 prisoners
\n who have spent more than a decade in solitary confinement \u201cin
\n conditions of environmental and social deprivation which flout
\n international standards for humane treatment.\u201d<\/i>\n<\/p>\n
\n The Department of Corrections tried to introduce reforms on how
\n inmates are assigned to the units, and how they can get out of
\n them, but human rights activists say that the reforms do not go
\n far enough.\n<\/p>\n
\n The inmates want the state to adopt a maximum isolation term of
\n five years, as well as provide education and rehabilitation
\n programs and the right to make monthly phone calls.\n<\/p>\n
\n Amnesty International argues that according to studies, \u201charsh
\n environmental conditions are detrimental to a prisoners\u2019
\n psychological and physical health\u201d<\/i>. And inmates held under
\n such conditions have a harder time reintegrating into society
\n upon their release because of the long-lasting effects of \u201clittle
\n or no social contact\u201d during their solitary confinement.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt is unsurprising that prisoners in the Security Housing
\n Unit are protesting the conditions of their detention,\u201d<\/i> said
\n Wright, adding that AI calls upon the Department of Corrections
\n to introduce significant reforms to the SHU system so it does not
\n violate international human rights law.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cRather than punishing prisoners further with the threat of
\n disciplinary action the Department of Corrections should commit
\n to meaningful reforms that will address the inhumanity of the
\n state\u2019s prison system.\u201d<\/i>\n<\/p>\n
Republished with permission from: RT<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Amnesty International has called on the US to end \u201cpunishing\u201d California prison hunger strikers who are protesting unregulated solitary confinement policies. Hundreds of inmates continue their action for a third week. \u201cPrisoners seeking an end to inhumane conditions should not be subjected to punitive measures for exercising their right to engage in peaceful protest,\u201d Amnesty […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[487],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-52282","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-breaking-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52282\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}