Prisoner Listing

There are a variety of lists of prisoners seeking support. A few lists of note:

• Earth Liberation Prisoners
• Prison Activist Resource Center
• ProLibertad Campaign
• The Jericho Movement
• The November Coalition

Please note those seeking further case information, clarifications, etc. on particular prisoners and cases should feel free to get in touch first with the prisoners and, when available, their support committees.

In general, many of these prisoners fall into one or more of several categories:

• they were jailed for acts they made clear before and/or during their trials were expressly political actions carried out against the state, its policies, capitalism and/or oppression. An example of such a prisoner would be Sundiata Acoli (former Black Panther Party organizer arrested with Assata Shakur); Jeff "Free" Luers (convicted for eco-sabotage), or Mumia Abu-Jamal.

• they were jailed for acts that mainline movement groups may not regard as "political action," but which should be regarded as notable. An example of such a prisoner would be Ali Khalid Abdullah (anarchist prisoner serving time for action against community drug trafficking) or Fran Thompson (an activist imprisoned for killing a stalker).

• they may have gone to prison for a "social crime" and became politicized to the conditions of society via their incarceration and are seeking to organize and educate themselves and/or their fellow prisoners. Many of these prisoners face repression for their efforts. An example of such a prisoner would be Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox of the Angola Three; George Jackson, author of Blood In My Eye, or Sanyika Shakur, author of Monster.

• they are innocent victims of unjust convictions and are fighting for freedom. Many countries have seen prisoners released as evidence of official misconduct surfaced. Many more are still behind bars.

Many of the defense committees connected with various prisoners or prisoners themselves can provide latest updates, detailed information about their cases. In addition, supporters should always work diligently as well to ask questions about charges, cases and the specifics of convictions, so to help articulate clear information.

Some organizations, such as Jericho, favor focusing on prisoners defined as political by various accords (United Nations, "movement" tribunals, etc.). Other groups offer support to all prisoners engaged in class war and do not adhere to standard definitions, maintaining that law and the "movement" have failed to adequately address political changes and repression in the last 10-15 years. Many ABC groups do, in fact, support freedom for prisoners recognized as political prisoners. Many of those same ABC groups fight actively against unjust convictions, police brutality and repression of activists, and campaign passionately for freedom of all radicals locked down, from veteran revolutionaries like Leonard Peltier to those prisoners whom certain groups shy away from -- such as prison organizers, earth liberation, self-defense and anti-fascist prisoners -- but whose resistance is no less legitimate. We further raise the idea, as stated in the New Draft Proposal for an Anarchist Black Cross Network: "Are we, as revolutionaries, little more than collaborators in genocide if we do not stand up?"

top of page