Freedom for all political prisoners!

This section of our website aims to provide links to information about political prisoners held by the United States. Although Prairie Fire Organizing Committee supports the liberation of political prisoners all over the world, we feel we have a special responsibility to those political prisoners held by the United States.

Many of the political prisoners held by the United States are among the longest held political prisoners in the world. Many of them are victims of the U.S. government's illegal programs (known as COINTELPRO) to destroy the social movements of the mid twentieth century. For more information about COINTELPRO see: COINTELPRO: The Untold American Story , a report presented at the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa by Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, September 1, 2001.

• We can free our Political Prisoners! (two page flyer)
• For more information on political prisoners held by the U.S. visit the Jericho Movement's website.
• Crossroad, online issues of the newsletter from Spear and Shield Publications
• 4 Struggle Mag: Views, Thoughts, and Analysis from the Hearts and Minds of North American Political Prisoners and Friends
• New Afrikan political prisoner : Zolo Agona Azania
• National Boricua Human Rights Network :
  includes information about the Puerto Rican Political Prisoners,
  and other info regarding issues of justice, peace and human rights.
  Libertad!
• An update from the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee: Free Leonard!
• Advocates for Justice:The Peltier Case: The Official Home of Leonard Peltier's Legal Team
• Prison Activist Resource Center: information on U.S. held political prisoners
• An update from the Nuclear Resister:
  : a list of imprisoned civil resistance activists

return to top

The Prison Activist Resource Center maintains a list of addresses for political prisoners which is probably the most up to date available on the web.

If you would like to write to our comrades who are behind bars, see the Prison Activist Resource Center list of addresses for political prisoners.

You can always double check addresses by looking up the federal or state prison on the web and using their websites to look up our political prisoners.

For finding prisoners in state prisons use: VINELink

For finding prisoners in federal prisons use: Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator

Prairie Fire Organizing Committee has created a two page flyer on U.S. held political prisoners

Immediately following September 11, 2001, several political prisoners were put in isolation, even though there was no evidence of any kind linking them to the attacks. Richard Williams was the last political prisoner to be released back to the general population on February 11, 2002. He spent 5 months in isolation, in freezing cold conditions. He was put in shackles and had a video camera fixed on him every time he left his cell, even to take a shower. He had virtually no contact with any one, not even his family, as his phone calls were restricted to one 15-minute call per week.

Anne-Marie Cusac has written a good summary of the measures taken against political prisoners in the Progressive magazine. It's online at: http://www.progressive.org/0901/amc1201.html

There was also a good article in the Santa Barbara News Press. Here's a copy

Jericho Movement Statement on Political Prisoners and Others Locked Down Following September 11th
(from Jericho Movt. Thu, 18 Oct 2001)

return to top

For more information
on political prisoners in the U.S.
visit the Jericho Movement's website.

denotes files in Portable Document Format. To view them you need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.