Prisoners’Justice Day (PJD) emerged as a prisoner-initiated day of non-violent strike
action to commemorate the death of Eddie Nalon in the segregation unit of
Millhaven maximum-security penitentiary on August 10th 1974. It was first observed in 1975, and in 1976
the prisoners of Millhaven issued a communication calling for one-day hunger
strikes in opposition to the use of solitary confinement and in support of
prisoners’ rights, in memory of Eddie Nalon and Robert Landers, who also died
alone in solitary confinement. Since then,
PJD has become an internationally-recognized day of solidarityand action, both inside and outside prison walls, to commemorate deaths in
custody and to demand justice for the human rights atrocities that states and
their officials authorize and engage in.
Today, on August 10th
2016, we will observe PJD for the 40th
time outside prison walls as preventable deaths in custody, like that of Ashley Smith who died alone in
a segregation cell at Grand Valley Institution in 2007, still occur. To make matters worse, as noted in a recent report bythe Office of the Correctional Investigator of Canada and media stories the Correctional
Service of Canada (CSC) fails to treat the families and loved ones of prisoners
with the dignity and respect they deserve, leaving them in the dark about the
circumstances of their partners, siblings, children and beloved friends behind
bars. “Despite occasional public outcries, countless recommendations concerning
solitary confinement and mental health, and government promises for other much
needed reforms to save and improve lives, little has changed”, notes Farhat Rehman of Mothers Offering Mutual
Support based in Ottawa. While many Canadians were in tears at the images of
Ashley’s treatment in prison, at least 321 prisoners died in federal
penitentiaries from 2008 to 2014, according to CorrectionalService of Canada and Public Safety Canada figures compiled by the Criminalization and Punishment Education Project. The recent deaths
of Edward Snowshoe and Kinew James behind bars are a
solemn and tragic reminder that Canada’s prisons disproportionatelytarget, warehouse and harm Indigenous people, part of the
colonial legacy highlighted by the Truth andReconciliation Commission. “As
they did on August 10th 1974 when Eddie Nalon died, prisons still
kill and maim, still traumatize captives and captors alike during their time
behind bars, and still greatly diminish the common humanity we all share”,
observes university student and former Indigenous prisoner Dan Parlow.
It is not enough
to shed tears and ask for change – we must demand it. A PJD march is taking
place today August 10th 2016 from 3:00pm to 6:00pm on unceded and
unsurrendered Algonquin Territory / in Ottawa. It begins at 251 Bank Street
with stops and speeches at CSC national headquarters (340 Laurier Avenue West) and
on Parliament Hill by current and former prisoners, their families and loved
ones, and supporters. Together, deaths in custody and other state injustices
that are intertwined with Canada’s colonial past and present that continues to
wreak havoc on the lives of Indigenous and racialized peoples will be denounced. Those gathered will also demand real change, since it is 2016 after all as Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau recently reminded Canadians.
Concerned members
of the community are encouraged to participate in this non-violent action. Journalists are also welcome to attend.
OUR DEMANDS FOR #PJD2016
End the mass incarceration of Indigenous
and racialized peoples
End the use of solitary confinement
End the use of force in prison
End pre-trial, immigration and foreign
worker detention
Stop criminalizing political dissidents,
sex workers, LGBTQ2, and those with mental health and substance (mis)-use
issues
To arrange for
media interviews with former prisoners, relatives of current prisoners and
their supporters contact:
Justin Piché
Criminalization and Punishment Education Project
613-793-1093 or
justin.piche@uottawa.ca
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