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Political Prisoners- General Info

    Political prisoners are people prosecuted for their political beliefs or ideologies, activities, and affiliations with social movements. Political prisoners can be anybody from any race, culture, age, or gender. They are often associated and identified as leaders in organizations or movements opposed to the atrocities committed by the United States government. Some examples of these crimes are the infringement of privacy, police brutality, genocide of indigenous people, forced dispossession of land.        
    The objective of the incarceration of political leaders by the government is to destabilize social movements of resistance. Political prisoners are often given harsh, long term sentences in prisons where they are mistreated on a daily basis. Mistreatment includes extensive periods of time in solitary confinement, denied recreational time, and insufficient visiting time. The primary purpose of mistreatment of political prisoners is to prevent organizing behind prison walls. The government often paints a negative picture of political prisoners by calling them criminals or terrorists in an effort to justify the imprisonment of these people to the general public. Often times when Political Prisoners are being prosecuted, they are charged with other crimes to hide the fact they are being imprisoned for their political beliefs. Their commonality is that they are fighting government oppression and were unjustly prosecuted in an effort to destroy their respective movements.             

Documents

Interview with Susan Rosenberg about conditions in the women’s political prison, Lexington. Interview with Susan Rosenberg about conditions in the women’s political prison, Lexington.
Call Number: PM 438AFormat: Cass AProducers: Sally O’Brian, Terry BissonCollection: Political Prisoners- General Info
Interview with Susan Rosenberg, an American revoluntionary anti-imperialist female political prisoner, about Lexington prison. . Susan Rosenberg describes the focus of Lexington as “the psychological element of incarceration to disintigrate the personality”. She speaks about the terribly harsh and restrictive conditions of Lexington, as well as the psychological impact of the prison. Rosenberg speaks about how every prisoner is there for political reasons, as the control unit is not based on disciplinary measures, but on classificationof who and what the prisoners are associated with. Susan Rosenberg’s attorney, Michael Schubert, speaks about the isolation and solitary confinement the Lesington prisoners experience, and how such isolation is aimed at keeping the prisoners isolated from politics.
From Attica to Abu Ghraib: Reflections by Political Prisoners in the U.S. From Attica to Abu Ghraib: Reflections by Political Prisoners in the U.S.
Publisher: Jericho Amnesty MovementYear: 1995Volume Number: April-MayFormat: MonographCollection: Political Prisoners- General Info
Message from Political Prisoners Message from Political Prisoners
Date: 4/23/1992Call Number: PM 420AFormat: Cass ACollection: Political Prisoners- General Info
A compilation of statements by political prisoners speaking out against the proliferation of control units in the US.
The Role of Prisons in US Society: Political Prisoners and Prisons as Concentration Camps - It Cannot Happen Here or Can It? The Role of Prisons in US Society: Political Prisoners and Prisons as Concentration Camps - It Cannot Happen Here or Can It?
Publisher: Freedom Now!: Campaign for Amnesty and Human Rights for Political Prisoners in the United StatesFormat: MonographCollection: Political Prisoners- General Info
Reproduction