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Nationwide Protests Support CA Prisoners' Hunger Strike Demands

Today, protesters will demonstrate in cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Seattle supporting demands raised by a dramatic 20-day prison hunger strike in July.

The hunger strike protested cruel and inhumane conditions in California's prisons. Prison officials acknowledge the strike involved thousands of prisoners in multiple prisons.

Prisoners in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) at Pelican Bay State Prison began the hunger strike on July 1, 2011 The protest was an unusual show of racial unity and was joined by at least 6600 prisoners in 13 California prisons. The prisoners issued five demands all revolving around basic human rights and legal rights violations by the California prison system, such as the policy of long-term solitary confinement, widely denounced by legal experts as a form of torture.

The hunger strike ended only when the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) met with strike leaders and agreed to a few smaller requests, promising to "give real attention" to all the demands. The hunger strike leaders have declared their strike "successful in exposing CDCR's illegal policies and practices to the world."

Monday's protests are sponsored by a variety of organizations insisting that CDCR must fully meet the five demands. They also insist that prisoners should suffer no retaliation for the strike.

Contact event sponsors listed below for more details:

SAN FRANCISCO Rally Noon - 1 PM at California State Building, Van Ness and McAllister and 1 PM March to Governor and Attorney General's offices, 455 Golden Gate Ave Contact: World Can't Wait 415-424-7358 or 415-864-5153

LOS ANGELES Convergence 11am-2pm at State Building, 300 S. Spring St. Contact: Keith James (213) 840-5348

NEW YORK CITY (Manhattan) Rally & Speak Out 4-6 pm at Union Square (south side of Union Square, 14th street, Manhattan). Contact: World Can't Wait NYC (866) 973-4463

SEATTLE Rally 5 pm at Seattle Federal Bldg, 915 2nd Ave (b/w Marion & Madison) AND second rally 6:15 pm at Westlake Park, 4th Ave & Pine Contact: Revolution Books rbsea@yahoo.com

CHICAGO Rally 4:30 pm at the State of Illinois building, Randolph and Clark in the Loop Contact: chicago@worldcantwait.net