The United Nations’ International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is annually observed to remind people that human torture is unacceptable – and in many cases it is also a crime. On this day attention mostly goes to victims of war, prison and violent crimes, in countries of unrest predominately known for human rights violations. Youth for Human Rights Florida President Dustin McGahee points out that bullying is a form of torture here in the United States and across the globe, and a violation of Human Right #5, No Torture.
In England, a child is a victim of a violent attack every 20 seconds, with official statistics showing 1,719,000 under-16s were assaulted last year. Youth are three times more likely to be victims of violence than adults - and most of the attacks are perpetrated by other youth. Statistics exposed the fact that nearly one in four youth were a victim last year, and total offences against children topped the two million mark.
Focusing on the prison abolitionist movement, we interview two co-editors of an exciting new series at Daily Kos, called Criminal InJustice Kos, a weekly series "devoted to exploring the myths of 'crime', 'criminals', and criminal justice and the intersection of race/ethnicity/class/gender/sexuality/age/disability in policing and punishment. Criminal Injustice Kos is committed to furthering action towards reducing inequity in the US criminal justice system." Look for Criminal InJustice Kos every Wednesday at 6 pm CST.
Stay tuned for part 2, where we focus on the practicality of prison abolition and take a close look at alternatives to the US prison system.
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James Ridgeway and Jean Casella, Solitary Watch | 06.22.2010
A federal appeals court just delivered a crushing blow to prisoners' rights. Yesterday, a ruling by a federal appeals court ensured that for the forseeable future, Albert Woodfox will remain right where he has been for the last three decades: in a 6 x 9 cell in the heart of America’s largest and most notorious prison.
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Kiilu Nyasha, Freedom is a Constant Struggle | 06.18.2010
Our first guest is Georgia Schreiber, Board Chair of California Prison Focus (CPF). CPF staff work with prisoners and their family members to expose human rights abuses with a larger vision of closing the SHU and ultimately abolishing California's racist, genocidal prison system (see www.prisons.org).