We are subjected to the coercive condition of confinement which has been imposed on us and as a result we are deprived of the greatest good that freedom is. Every day we encounter a plethora of problems that remain unresolved since nobody proceeds to identify them, listen to them and provide a solution in order to stop them from perpetuating. The responsibility for the inhumane conditions of detention prevalent inside correctional facilities as a whole, lies with the Ministry of Justice which systematically refuses to listen and recognize these problems and as a result refuses to resolve them. Prison managers are called to fulfill a position without having satisfied the relevant job requirements or show complete reluctance to resolve these issues and treat prisoners with authoritarianism since they try to force their decisions upon them.
We must understand that in this life nothing is earned with begging or asking politely. Nothing will be given to us if we do not enter the process of fighting for it. All the achieved rights that benefit prisoners and we get to enjoy now, were achieved following the unity of prisoners and their persistent struggle through different forms of mobilizations (ration abstention, refusing lockdowns, riots, hunger strikes). We must now follow this direction and show the competent agencies that we will not stand by idly and that we are determined to fight for our self-evident rights. We are not going to accept any further degradation of our lives and our human decency.
From today 5th of April 2016 wings E2, C2 and A1 begin a series of mobilizations starting with the refusal to enter our cells during midday lockdown from 12:00- 15:00. This will escalate if our demands are not fulfilled.
Our demands are the following:
a. 24 hour healthcare provision with the hiring of permanent medical staff of various expertise.
b. The improvement of the quality and quantity of meals provided in prison.
c. The improvement of hygienic conditions with the provision of cleaning products to the cleaners and the frequent operations to disinsectisise the individual cells and the common areas.
d. The provision of relevant work out/sports equipment for the leisure activities of prisoners.
e. The provision of education and training and the implementation of educational programs as well as professional, cultural, sports and leisure related programs for prisoners.
f. The right to communication of prisoners with their social environment (visiting hours, letters, phonecalls and furloughs) and the relevant institutions to treat those as aspects of prisoners’ rights and not as privileges or favours.
g. The provision of necessary basic products to ensure the survival of poor/ resourceless prisoners by the social services operating in each facility.
1. The hiring of social services professionals in Trikala prison, the duties of which are now fulfilled by the psychologist.
2. The delivery of all money sent to prisoners through telephone checks within 24 hours since it often takes up to a week for the completion of this kind of transfers, which prevents prisoners from fulfilling their needs and obligations.
When solidarity and fighting spirit take the necessary living space among prisoners the way is paved for disrupting this stinky rot transpired by the orderly function of a correctional purgatory. Let all those who will attempt to deprive us of any rights and all those who won’t respect our human dignity realise that. To those who may wonder if this mobilizing will come to fruition the answer is captured in the following phrase:
THOSE WHO FIGHT MIGHT LOSE THOSE WHO DON’T HAVE LOST ALREADY
SOLIDARITY IS OUR WEAPON
PS: we send our fighting regards to all prisoners who actively participated in the mobilizations carried through between January and February in Korydallos which resulted in the majority of their demands to be satisfied.
(via Athens Indymedia, translated by BlackCat)