Free James Kimball

This link is designed to keep you updated with the torture and death going on in the Federal prisons.

Ashcroft’s Bureau of Prisons (BOP) continues illegal torture of US prisoners.

Citizens Liberty Coalition (CLC) a non-profit organization first reported the illegalities condoned by Ashcroft in April of 2004. Ashcroft’s BOP subordinate involved was Raymond E. Holt, BOP Southeast Regional Director. Informed sources advised CLC that Raymond E. Holt was the man directly involved in the unlawful lockdown, and inhumane treatment, of US prisoners along with unlawful retaliation.

After over 1 year of acquiring continual food poisoning from the horrible outdated food served prisoners at Yazoo City which contained maggots and rat droppings, 500 prisoners employed by the Government’s sweatshop, UNICOR, earning 15 cents an hour, decided one day to eat their own food for lunch instead of the poisonous food served from the cafeteria.

The vast majority of the UNICOR employees who were earning pennies an hour spent the majority of their slave labor wages purchasing food rather than acquiring food poisoning.

The BOP had been advised of the horrible food poisoning and of the epidemic antibiotic-resistant strain of staph infections that were present at Yazoo for over a year.

The BOP was advised weeks in advanced of April 9, 2004 that the majority of prisoners working in UNICOR were going to eat their own food purchased with their own money from the commissary on April 9, 2004 if the food poisoning in food at Yazoo did not improve, which it did not. There’s no BOP policy or law which states any prisoner must eat BOP food if they have their own. It’s the prisoners choice.

On April 9, 2004 the BOP was ready for the UNICOR employees not to eat in the cafeteria.

The BOP immediately retaliated against all 2,000 prisoners at Yazoo. Retaliation is illegal by law. First the BOP locked all UNICOR employees about 500 out of their units so they could not get their food. They locked all 2,000 prisoners in their housing units for twelve days and fed them worst food.

The BOP illegally confiscated all the slave-labor prisoners’ food they purchased from the commissary, fired many of the UNICOR employees, cut pay of the slave wages that were already paid some UNICOR employees.

It appears the BOP picked over a hundred UNICOR prisoners at random and placed them in the hole for more torture. Many were sent to another higher security prison in Talladega, Alabama and placed in the hole for even a higher degree of torture. They are still in the hole at Talladega as of 10-26-04 receiving their torture for over six months after the incident. All of this was unlawful and inhumane.

CLC contacted three prisoners from Yazoo in the hole at Talladega on June 4, 2004. These three prisoners sent CLC signed letters depicting their horrible experiences.

CLC immediately contacted selected senators, the Government Office of the Inspector General (OIG), and the General Accounting Office (GAO), to investigate this inhumane treatment of US prisoners.

It appears everyone dropped the ball or was told to by the hierarchy.

After receiving the letters from the inmates shipped from Yazoo City, CLC attempted to re-contact these inmates still in the hole at Talladega in July of 2004. CLC never received a response until yesterday and it was from Willie Russell, one of the inmates they had heard from and responded to before. The inmate did not acknowledge receiving any mail sent by CLC. Which is very troubling. Did the inmates receive their mail, or was the mail being illegally withheld by the BOP officials at Talladega?

CLC again responded to Mr. Russell’s plea for help on Oct. 28th 2004. However, the response this time was sent to Talladega by Priority mail with a confirmation of delivery requested. The priority letter for Mr. Russell was delivered to Talladega on the 29th of October 2004, at which time the BOP in Talladega refused to receive delivery of the mail for Mr. Russell from CLC. The BOP instructed the U.S. Postal Service to RETURN the MAIL TO SENDER. That action alone affirms our suspicions that the BOP withheld all previous mailings sent to the Yazoo City food strike inmates that were transferred to Talladega. All the inmates did, was plea for help. CLC will be responding to the all of the BOP’s illegal actions of refusing to deliver CLC correspondence to these inmates.

It appears the BOP blocked their mail which again is illegal.

It clearly appears that Mr. Ashcroft’s BOP under his direction and that of Cooksey and Holt are untouchable with their illegal and inhumane treatment of US prisoners – total lawless authority.

The entire story, start to 10-26-04, is posted on The Second Needless Torture Lockdown. Also the June letters from the prisoners are located on the link of News Updates June 28, 2004 as is the latest letter received October 28, 2004 on the news update link.

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