Massachusetts prisoners beaten ITAL en masse EN On 17 October a Massachusetts State tactical search team composed of 74 DOC pigs did a shakedown at MCI-Shirley.(1) About thirty inmates reported being beaten and have bruises as evidence of the abuse. As is standard procedure, no civilians were permitted to observe the shakedown, during which the outside team locked down the entire prison for three days and searched it top to bottom, cell by cell. Prisoners were removed from their cells one by one, shackled at their hands and feet, and strip searched. The prison chaplain, Paul Poyser, filed two reports with prison officials, in which he described the prisoners' stories of having their cells ransacked, their property destroyed and being beaten randomly by the tactical team while handcuffed behind their backs. Some prisoners said their heads were slammed against concrete walls or guards' shields. He brought the allegations directly to Commissioner Michael Maloney, head of the Massachusetts DOC. But the department refused to acknowledge that any of the crimes had taken place. It also declined a request from WBUR radio for an interview. Robin van Liew, a nurse practitioner on duty during the lock-down, treated some of the prisoners and said there were at least twenty victims of attacks who needed medical attention. She described one man as having "road burns" all over his body, as though he had been dragged "by the hair across the pavement naked in [. . .] October." He also had nerve damage near one thumb. Other inmates told of being choked, kicked or kneed in the groin. Poyser noted a striking similarity between reports from prisoners who had no opportunity to coordinate their stories, lending credence to their authenticity. He also pointed out that the number of complaints and injuries stemming from this search were significantly higher than normal. According to Peter Castanza, acting Director of Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services, all of the regular guards were removed from the cell block and the shakedown was carried out exclusively by the outside team.(2) They had carried out a similar operation at MCI-Walpole the previous week, which apparently also generated a large number of complaints. Castanza also pointed out that most of the victims were non-white. The chaplain described the shakedown as unusual and hopes he never hears stories of abuse like these again. The truth is that this kind of oppression is more the rule than the exception in the Amerikkkan criminal injustice system.(3) Prayer and complaints to the administration don't have a very good track record of effecting change. To avoid torture and other human rights abuses we need fundamental change to the Amerikan prison system. MIM and RAIL have been working for years to bring abuses like these to light.(4) As more and more people get angry about such brutality we may be able to win important reforms despite numerous powerful prison apologists. But as long as the Amerikan imperialists hold state power, Amerikan prisons will be an instrument of their class rule, used to keep the oppressed down. Notes: 1. NPR, "Morning Edition", 14 Dec 2000, 2. NPR, "Here and Now", 19 Dec 2000, 3. "Control Units: Technology That Tortures", MIM Theory 11, p 40; "Rebellions and Violence in Prisons", MIM Notes 139, 1 Jun 1997, p 10. 4. "Prison Awareness Week in Ann Arbor", MIM Theory 11, p 44.