From Anti-Carceral Group
For more information on the hunger strike and the situation at Bordeaux Prison, read an earlier post.
A group of prisoners at Bordeaux, who aim to create a prisoners committee, communicated the following demands to their lawyer on May 11, 2020.
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We demand the release of more prisoners, because what was announced last week [an announcement by Quebec Minister of Public Security Geneviève Guilbault on May 6] affects only a tiny fraction of the detainees. In Bordeaux, very few prisoners meet the categories specified by the decree. We should not be playing with people’s lives – COVID-19 is a fatal disease. We are not reassured by the measures taken to date;
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We demand that each day spent in Bordeaux count for three days of prisoners’ sentence, since the conditions in the prison are radically diminished and unacceptable: there are no more visits, no activities, no TV, nothing to do all day;
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We demand that prisoners with one year or less remaining on their sentence receive early release;
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We demand prisoners receive personal protective equipment. At the moment, prisoners have access to gloves, but they are gloves for serving food – this isn’t adequate. Prisoners do not have any access to masks, and we demand access to masks;
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Prisoners in some sectors have been granted X-Boxes, while others have not. We demand access to more activities;
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We demand the creation of a prisoners committee and the recognition of this committee by the prison, in order to constitute a common front;
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We demand to know how the Bordeaux prisoners’ fund is used – where does the money from this fund go?
