HUNGER STRIKE
IN SPANISH PRISONS
From March 12 through March 18 there was a hunger strike in several Spanish prisons. The prisoners’ demands were:
* The suppression of FIES(1) regime and all isolation units.
* The end of penitentiary dispersal(2).
* The release of all prisoners with incurable illnesses (like AIDS, cancer, etc).
* The release of all prisoners who have spent more than twenty years in prison (the maximum time allowed by law).
This mobilization was part of a collective struggle inside the prisons against the FIES units and for the dignity of the prisoners. This is a revolutionary struggle because it is not only aimed at a mere reform, but ultimately its goal is the disappearance of prisons, which involves a radical social change. It’s a self-organized struggle, in which there aren’t any leaders or representatives, neither inside the prisons nor outside, but only solidarity that grows between exploited people both from inside and outside the walls.
A hunger strike is an important moment of the struggle, but the repression is constant, so our struggle should be also.
FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF ALL PRISONS AND THE SYSTEM WHICH HAS BUILT THEM
(1) FIES (Ficheros de Internos de Especial Seguimiento – Inmates Files for Special Monitoring) units are very hard isolation units in the Spanish prisons in which prisoners are subjected to total control all day. Their mail and phone calls are monitored, they have few opportunities to stay with other prisoners, their belongings are constantly inspected, and torture is customary. The prisoners who are included in these Files are the rebellious ones, those who don’t submit to the prison authority.
(2) Penitentiary dispersal means that prisoners are sent to prisons far away from their homelands and their families and friends. This means mainly an additional punishment for the family and close friends who have to travel many miles (sometimes hundreds or more) in order to spend a few minutes with their loved ones in a visit.
Back to the Venomous Butterfly page