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Who are Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War?
There are over 150 political prisoners and prisoners of war in the United States at this time as well as countless politicized individuals and social prisoners resisting their captors. Jeff Luers is a political prisoner and has been granted this status because of his excessive sentence, politically motivated actions and his resistance on the inside.
Support for Jeff does not exist within a vacuum. We encourage people to work on political prisoner support and against the growing incarceration of people across this nation. You can find many groups that work with political prisoners, prisoners of war, detainees as well as prison abolitonists on our links page.
The most up to date listing of political prisoners and prisoners of war in the United States is on the Prison Activist Resource Center's site at http://www.prisonactivist.org/pps%2Bpows/pplist-alpha.shtml
This definition of political prisoner and prisoner of war is adapted from a statement from the Jericho Movement
Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War are men and women who, as a consequence of their political work and/or organizational affiliations were given criminal charges, arrested or captured, tried in criminal courts and sent to prison.
While trying them as criminals, the government maintained files on them referencing their political activities, designed to insure they remain in prison. These are women and men who, while on the streets, made a conscious decision to organize for our freedom and liberation. Then, after making this decision, joined or became affiliated with organizations, parties, etc. that advocated and organized for these aims. Then, as a consequence of their work on the streets, and/or involvement in military actions, they were targeted, captured or framed and tried in criminal courts and sentenced to prison.
While we recognize that there are many people who have become political after their incarceration, George Jackson (murdered in San Quentin) and Ruchell Magee (Angela Davis' co-defendant) for example, we believe that this campaign has to focus on those political prisoners and prisoners of war whose incarceration was political from inception. We can no longer continue to be liberal in our approach to our struggle. We must do what is demanded of us to move our struggle forward, strengthen our movement, internationalize our struggle and gain freedom and independence.
While we continue to dither around these issues, we can be of no real help for those people inside the prisons and outside who have become political as a result of our work and struggle for freedom and liberation. We are pushing for the admission on the part of the United States government that our political prisoners and prisoners of war do exist inside the prison of the United States, we are pushing for recognition in the international arena and therefore changing how the world views our liberation struggles inside the belly of the beast. We can wait no longer, the time is now.
Who are Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War as defined by the Anarchist Black Cross Federation?
Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War are not in prison for committing social “crimes,” nor are they criminals. Different PP/POWs participated in progressive and revolutionary movements in varying levels, some in educational and community organizing, others in clandestine armed and offensive people's armies. All are in prison as a result of conscious political action, for building resistance, building and leading movements and revolution... for making change.
Many of us in some way or another are part of these very movements, part of the resistance that PP/POWs helped to build. As people continuing to struggle for change, we are obligated and it is our duty to support those people who are in prison as a result of struggling to make change.
Though some have a wider definition of Political Prisoners, we maintain that even if the definition of a Political Prisoner was expanded and widely accepted to include social prisoners of conscience, it needs to be clear that those prisoners who went to prison as a result of political action taken on the street would still demand our priority support.
Jeffrey 'Free' Luers is considered a Political Prisoner according to the guidelines of the Anarchist Black Cross Federation, Anarchist Black Cross Network, Break the Chains and the Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network
