It’s been 40 years since that day on April 17, 1972, or 14,600 days ago, when Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox were placed in solitary confinement in a 6ft x 9ft x12ft cell for 23 hours every day, in America.
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| Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace |
The state says Woodfox and Wallace were guilty of murdering a 23 year old guard at Angola Prison. Wallace, Woodfox, and their network of supporters say they were framed for their political activism as members of the Black Panthers. Woodfox and Wallace founded the Angola chapter of the Black Panther Party in 1971. A third prisoner, Robert King, joined them a year later. The three campaigned for better working conditions and racial solidarity between inmates, as well as an end to rape and sexual slavery.
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| Robert King |
Robert (Wilkerson) King is the only freed member of the Angola 3. He spent 29 years in solitary confinement for a murder he did not commit. He was released in 2001 after his conviction was overturned.
Today, to mark the 40th anniversary of their placement in solitary confinement, Amnesty USA says it will deliver a petition to Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal that bears the signatures of tens of thousands of people from 125 countries. "We want the state of Louisiana and we want the world to know that we are still focusing on this case. This is a total violation of human rights and civil rights," King says. "And it is ongoing."
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| LA Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) |
Amnesty International is calling on the Louisiana authorities to end the cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of Woodfox and Wallace, and to remove them immediately from solitary confinement. The Angola 3 has a pending civil suit 'Wilkerson, Wallace and Woodfox' vs. the State of Louisiana which the United States Supreme Court ruled has merit to proceed to trial based on the fact that their 30+ years in solitary confinement is "inhumane and unconstitutional". The outcome of this landmark civil case could eliminate long term solitary confinement in U.S. prisons.
In America, in 2012...God have mercy on us.
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