free all political prisoners

the lucasville five
                convict unity     convict race

siddique abdullah hasan (carlos sanders) update
namir abdul mateen (james were)
keith lamar
jason robb
george skatzes

five inmates on death row in ohio were convicted of participating in the murder of other prisoners and a guard during the lucasville prison riot of april 1993, ohio; staughton lynd believes these men were charged for being negotiators for the prisoners, and as spokespeople, assigned status of ringleaders by authorities; the main evidence against them is testimony of accused prisoners who received early release; plea bargains were offered and not taken - these refused and received death sentences; the lucasville riot became famous for its inter-racial solidarity in a prison known for racial unease; lynd speaks of the grafitti on the walls after the riot saying 'black and white together" and "convict race;" these death row inmates who hold are muslims and blacks and aryan brotherhood whites, political prisoners because the evidence used to convict and sentence them to death is not adequate while there is strong evidence of abuse by the guards, prison system and courts; the prisoners are persecuted for their inter-racial solidarity and loyalty to the prison population and eachother, refusing to support false charges; on death row with nothing to lose they continued to be punished by the system, were denied norms of privilege, physically damaged / blamed for a death-row action at mansfield prison; it looks like the lucasville five are on death row for human solidarity, for finding a slogan like "convict race".

("black and white and dead all over: the lucasville insurrection," staughton lynd [oct. 20, 2006, access:http://racetraitor.org/lucasville3.html]; "staughton lynd tells the hidden story of... the lucasville prison revolt," patrick dyer and staughton lynd, oct. 20, 2006, socialist worker; "aclu says state convicted wrong man in lucasville riot murder: state presented perjured testimony at trial," oct. 12, 2006, ~ brief [22 oct. 2006 access: http://www.acluohio.org/docket/HasanBriefAmicusCuriae.pdf]; "legendary historian, attorney & peace activist staughton lynd on war resisters, the peace movement and the 1993 lucasville prison uprising," amy goodman & staughton lynd, oct. 20, 2006, democracy now!; "freedom sought for lucasville five," sharon danann, oct. 19, 2006, workers world; staughton lynd's book is called lucasville - the untold story of a prison uprising published by temple university).

 

 

update of feb. 5, 2008: in an article at socialist worker.org ("is being muslim a capital crime in ohio ?" feb 1, 2008) siddique abdullah hasan believes the uprising blamed on him with false witness was due to his identification with islam; within a broader context the government fear and hatred for islam is amply revealed in subsequent u.s. wars / genocides of muslims; the religious point is particularly at issue since the initial prison protest was against tb tests which carried a religiously forbidden substance (alcohol); strong irregularities in witness testimony and the authority's need to maintain fear/control of the prison, under common sense suggest that death row shouldn't exist at all and particularly in this instance; support group: http://www.freehasan.org/

united nations protocol aiming at the abolition of the death penalty
canada acceded to the treaty on november 25, 2005, and mexico on september 26, 2007; it is currently not signed by the u.s.

 

updates
prisoners archive

 


gerald and maas night's lantern
text by j.b.gerald, drawing by j.maas
posted oct. 22, 2006
updated february 5, 2008