US prisoners brutalised

Issue 

US prisoners brutalised

By Steve Painter

Prisoners in the US state of Montana were stripped naked for four days after an alleged riot at the state prison last September, says the American Civil Liberties Union. Authorities sent in a SWAT squad after an incident described as a riot, but which involved only a few inmates.

An ACLU lawyer has established that the SWAT squad forced the prisoners to lie face down on the floor, amid water and broken glass, and remove all their clothing. Their hands were cuffed behind their backs and they were tear-gassed.

After about 30 minutes, most of the prisoners suffered cut feet when they were forced to run barefoot and still naked down a hallway littered with broken glass. Later, they were forced to run a gauntlet of up to 100 officers armed with clubs and chains. Still handcuffed, the prisoners were slammed to the ground.

The prisoners were then forced to lie in a field while guards continued to brutalise them. Guards broke prisoners' spectacles and kicked and taunted them. Most suffered sunburn, and they were told to urinate and defecate where they lay.

Towards evening, the prisoners were given a blanket each and ordered to the reception unit, where they were held for 23 days. For the first four days they were naked except for their blankets, and for 12 days they were not provided with soap, toothpaste or towels. They were not permitted to shower and were given two sheets of paper towel daily for toilet paper.

In the unit, prisoners were fed two meals daily, consisting of two sandwiches and a biscuit. They had to drink from a tap with their hands. Many developed scurvy.

When the investigation into the riot began, prisoners who refused to talk were beaten and tortured with mace. Several who became rebellious as a result of this treatment were hogtied, hands cuffed behind their backs and ankle cuffs attached to the handcuffs.

The prisoners were isolated from the outside world for four days, until an ACLU-assisted lawyer obtained a court order directing the Department of Corrections to allow contact. The ACLU's National Prison Project says such "extremely brutal maximum security conditions ... breed the exact response they are meant to prevent, that is, they contribute to the problem and invite a future riot".

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