Guantanamo Is Less Abusive Than U.S. Prisons and Jails

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How bad are American prisons and jails?  A Washington Independent reporter suggests our prison conditions are so bad that Guantanamo detainees are better off in War on Terror camps than if they were incarcerated within the United States.

The Washington Independent article below reminds us that if Guantanamo prisoners were interned within the U.S.A., they would be held in solitary prison torture and subjected to other cruelty that American inmates endure. For now, the suspected terrorists are being spared such torture as you can see on the video at the link below. It shows the horrible conditions of some U.S. correctional facilities. Keep in mind that many children are tried and sentenced as adults and that 1/2 of those in prison in this country are mentally ill - people who should be treated, not punished, for mental illness. Also, be cognizant of the fact that 2/3 of prisoners were arrested for non-violent offenses. Too bad the inmates' incarceration is not non-violent like them.
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(Beware - violence, profanity, nudity, and death):
Torture in American Prisons - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWxpQ87C4t4 

See more about the abuses in American correctional facilities INSIDE America at this link - but only the comments.  The actual article is MISSING.

Human Rights for Prisoners March, by Mary Neal
http://www.nowpublic.com/world/human-rights-prisoners-march-was-postponed-weather

The article that was at the link above is now missing at NowPublic.com, AGAIN.  See the HUMAN RIGHTS FOR PRISONERS article at the link below.  When you read it, you might understand why there is so much censorship attached thereto.   http://www.care2.com/c2c/share/detail/1282678
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U.S. Prison Conditions Far Worse Than Guantanamo’s
By DAPHNE EVIATAR 10/5/09

By refusing to allow Guantanamo detainees to be transferred anywhere in the United States, including its supermax prisons, those representatives in Congress eagerly fighting to keep the prison in Cuba open may unintentionally be easing the lives of terror suspects.

Last Thursday, the House of Representatives voted 258-163 to refuse to allow detainees now held at the Guantanamo Bay prison to enter the United States. Even a supermax prison facility isn’t safe enough to contain them, they decided, in a nonbinding resolution.

But Peter Finn at the Washington Post noted on Sunday that conditions at the United States’ most secure federal prisons are actually far more draconian than they are at Guantanamo Bay.

“For up to four hours a day, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, can sit outside in the Caribbean sun and chat through a chain-link fence with the detainee in the neighboring exercise yard at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,” writes Finn. By contrast, terror suspects in U.S. prisons are usually kept in complete isolation, allowed only one hour a day outside, and never get to speak to anyone.

The federal supermax prison in Florence, Colorado is home to such notorious convicted terrorists as 1993 World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef; Teodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber; and Terry Nichols, convicted of the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City.

The conditions at Florence are supposedly so bad that terror suspects in Britain appealed to the European Court of Human Rights to prevent their extradition to the United States, arguing that the prison conditions constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. In fact, studies have found that such extreme isolation can cause or exacerbate mental illness.

At Gitmo, meanwhile, KSM gets to work out on the gym’s elliptical machines and stationery bikes, choose his own movies to watch in the media room, read newspapers and books, and play handheld electronic games, reports Finn.

Washington Independent link:
http://washingtonindependent.com/62313/u-s-prison-conditions-far-worse-than-guantanamos

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Guantanamo Bay prisoners sit outside four hours per day, whereas U.S. acute mental patients, who should be in hospitals or treated in their communities rot in solitary confinement, are frequently deprived of exercise and doctors' visits. If they cry out in their distress, they are gassed, placed in deadly restraint devices, Tasered, and some are advised by guards to commit suicide. http://www.care2.com/c2c/share/detail/1124844

At least if they kill prisoners in Guantanamo, The (Johnnie) Cochran Firm won't be on hand to defraud their grieving mothers, plus the Red Cross might actually investigate the prisoners' demise.  If the prisoners in Guantanamo go "missing," I believe the Red Cross or another organization would investigate that.  This never happened for my brother, Larry Neal, a lifelong mentally ill heart patient.  He was reported "missing" in mid-July 2003 when he failed to return to his Memphis, Tennessee care home.  Police lied about having Larry incarcerated for weeks, but Larry was returned to his family in a body bag without any explanation, records, or investigation.  Thanks to The (Johnnie) Cochran Firm Fraud, six years later, Larry's family is still without any information about his arrest and demise.    http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com/

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE COCHRAN FIRM FRAUD? (See COCHRAN FIRM FRAUD videos 1 and 2 at YouTube). Take a poll at the link below, please:

http://www.votingcentral.com/VotingCentral/displayPoll.do?pollId=123e0a31-e544-163d-b520-055afffffff0
The Neals have sued The Cochran Firm twice for defrauding my 80-yr-old mom after the secret arrest and wrongful death of her handicapped son, Larry. The Cochran Firm worked for jail behind our backs by holding the lawsuit inactive while the statute of limitations ran. Strange rulings by judges followed. Sue again?

WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ON U.S. JAILS AND PRISONS?  ARE THEY WORSE THAN GUANTANAMO?  WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ON CRIMINALIZING MENTAL ILLNESS, CAPITAL PUNISHMENT, EXCESSIVE SENTENCING, WITHHOLDING DNA TESTS FOR INMATES WHO ARE DENIED THE TEST TO PROVE THEIR INNOCENCE? 
Give your opinion Sundays on the Rev. Pinkney Blogtalk Radio Show.

I was a guest on Rev. Pinkney's show on Sunday, Oct. 11 at 5:00 p.m. EST and again on Oct. 18.  You and I are invited to listen and call in with comments regarding prisoner concerns and other human rights issues.  The program can be accessed online by using this link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Rev-Pinkney  or the CALL-IN NUMBER 347-994-3644.

Rev. Pinkney understands how important it is to have a forum to speak out about injustices.  He is the only minister in the history of the United States to be imprisoned for quoting the Bible. 

Censorship is really strong around prisoner issues.  The criminal justice system would probably prefer not to have media coverage on such problems as the secret arrest and wrongful death of Larry Neal and the abusive incarceration of Frank Horton.  Horton's story is at the link below:

TORTURE OF MENTALLY ILL MAN - 9 MO. SOLITARY CONFINEMENT IN FILTH NAKED
http://www.nowpublic.com/health/torture-mentally-ill-9-mo-solitary-confinement-filth-naked

Fred Horton, a mentally ill inmate, nearly died while interned in a Nashville prison.  Horton was held in dark solitary confinement for 9 months while deprived of baths, exercise, or doctor's care.  Luckily, a guard at the correctional facility was a Good Samaritan.  He reported his employer, CCA Prison Corp., to Health and Human Services in time to spare Horton's life. 

Use the handy ADD THIS icon at your upper left-hand side to share this article on Facebook, Twitter, and other sites.  This link to the article is for your reference, also: http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/guantanamo-is-less-abusive-than-us.html  

Mary Neal
Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill
http://www.Care2.com/c2c/group/AIMI
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