Transcript
Political Prisoner Khalfani Malik Khaldun Puts the Indiana Department of Corrections -& Its System on Trial- [A Revolutionary Interview] "To Struggle in the United States is extremely dangerous. However, our very lives depend on an ongoing Conscious Movement for Liberation. The goal is development and brighter tomorrows for all people." This interview is being conducted by The Campaign to Free Khalfani Malik Khaldum Campaign: How long have you been in Indiana's prison plantation? KMK: I entered the Indiana Department of Corrections in 1987, when I was a senior in high school. Campaign: How old are you? KMK: I was born November 30, 1969, that makes me 43 years old. Campaign: Explain to us what your life is like on the inside? KMK: The best way to describe it is I am in prison sanctioned to Indefinite Solitary Confinement engaged in multiple fights. One fight to regain my freedom; one fight to maintain my physical health; one fight to be released into the General Population; and the last fight is to maintain my sanity- an all-day job. Campaign: How has your activism made you a target for harassment or repression? KMK: Being identified as a prison leader, political agitator, activist, or revolutionary, we get automatically singled out as threats to others, and threats to the safety and security of the prison plantations. Having been restricted from General Population for so long, my influence has been reduced to small units. The idea behind all this is to destroy our ties and relationships with comrades and new youth coming in. Campaign: Share your position on the political nature of your murder charge involving that prison guard Phillip Curry. KMK: On December 13, 1994, the night this guard was killed in the Indiana State Prison, he was killed on the tier above where I lived. D-Cell House was where the Prisoncrats housed the worst of the worst, their term not mine, I was at the time agitating, educating, and organizing the radical elements who would listen. So when this happened, having been a thorn in the Prisoncrats side already, they made me the responsible party that night; they were mad and wanted someone to pay. In 2001, they made me pay by finding me guilty and giving me a fresh [60] year hit. One of the jurors who found me guilty, Juror #12, came forward after my trial; she regretted her actions and went to the judge. Instead of calling for a new trial and reversing the charge, the judge told her to go home; the judge has since retired- they manufactured evidence to obtain their conviction against me. Campaign: Explain the corruption that exists inside Indiana's Criminal Justice System. KMK: Like any system of corrupt politicians and abuses of power, whoever can afford to pay a greedy lawyer to represent them here may stay out of prison. These lawyers have judges and prosecutors who will give one a pass as long as they receive a nice payoff. Poor people get sent to prison to fulfill the schemes of the Prisoncrats and political regime here; more bodies mean more money- as they say Power Corrupts, but Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely. Indiana legislators have slashed prison funding for educating prisoners and providing meaningful rehabilitation programs, so that money would be solely for building new prisons. So, they are perpetuating a system that leads to more recidivism by not having a viable reentry program for prisoners prior to their release ensures a return to prison; capitalism at its best and the human exploitation of prisoners. Campaign: Why are they continuing to house you in Solitary Confinement after nearly [2] decades? KMK: The executive body of the Indiana Department of Corrections launched its political war against me in (1994) the night they lost one of their own. Being the only person accused, then later charged and convicted for this murder, to them (Khalfani Malik Khaldun) is Indiana's Public Enemy Number One; so they have condemned me to a prison existence in Solitary Confinement. This goes beyond my sentence of [60] years, the courts did not say serve out this term in (Administrative Segregation). The Indiana Department of Corrections wants a payback; so in retaliation they want me suffering to the point of psychological incapacitation- they want me an old grey-haired/bearded and no longer imposing potential threat. I am currently "Conduct-Clear" for [8] years, and I have completed the following programs: Substance Abuse; Stress Management; Anger Management; Commitment to Change; Prison-Life Skills; Parenting; Cage Your Rage; Rage, Recidivism, and Recovery; Prison-Life Skills #2; House of Healing; Bridging the Gap; and Inside/Outside Dads. I have been eligible for release to General Population for years now. Their justification for not releasing me is: They say I killed their officer and nobody is comfortable with signing off on my release from Solitary Confinement. Campaign: Why is it so important to build a network support base on the outside of prison? KMK: For the Revolutionary, Political Prisoner, Jailhouse Lawyer, Prison Activist, outside resources and support is crucial. The Prisoncrats isolate (us) to control our movements, and neutralize our influence on other convicts. Having a network of loyal people, who have your best interests in mind help to keep the public informed. These supporters can be family members, friends or anyone doing prisoner support work. They can help us expose whatever ill treatment we go through when the Prisoncrats know you have people that genuinely love and care about you; they're less likely to openly mess you around. Campaign: Explain how the Indiana Department of Corrections utilizes Control Units and why? KMK: In the early 1980s, Indiana experienced several prison riots as a result of racism and brutality by guards on militant aspiring revolutionaries and lumpen proletariat prisoners, forcing prisoners to take a stand to defend themselves; Indiana Prisoncrats learned some lessons from these insurrections- and one lesson was that there was a threat to the Indiana Department of Corrections posed by politically-unified convicts. Indiana Prisoncrats lobbies for funds to build [2] Solitary Confinement Units here in response to the rebellion of militancy from convicts willing to sacrifice for change. In (1991) the Indiana Supermax was build, a control unit meant to be a tool of social control of the state's most violent prisoners. In (1993) the Prisoncrats built the Secured Housing Unit (S.H.U.), a unit styled after the (S.H.U.) at Pelican Bay State Prison. Both units were meant to cut the prisoners off from normal prison relations, while helping to keep the prisoners in the General Population sorta' in check; no one wants to spend unlimited years in Administrative Segregation/Solitary Confinement. The fear of being held in these units creates snitches who will tell Prisoncrats whatever to stay in population; you may read about these units by going to (www.hrw.org)- look for Cold Storage. Amnesty International just released a [68] page report called: The Go to: (http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ame51/060/2012/en) Campaign: How important is it to stay in touch with your loved ones? KMK: Doing time is like having cannibals eat away at your flesh day by day. Family love and their help to assist us in maintaining are paramount. I am conscious self-educated New Afrikan (Black) man who love myself and those who love me, that connection helps to keep me determined, motivated, and hopeful in times of sadness and loss of loved ones. Since (1997), I have lost my mother, [2] brothers, and uncle, and [2] cousins. I am fighting for my life, unable to cry, mourn, or be a comfort to my family. Since (1994) my loved ones have been harassed, intimidated, threatened, and discouraged by Prisoncrats to not visit or write me at times. I have not had a "contact-visit" since 2000; we continue to persevere through it all because it is necessary. Campaign: How do you work to maintain your health both mentally and physically? KMK: For years I have maintained a consistent physical exercise routine and a healthy study habit of reading quality books and magazines. I don't eat pork, and that's been since 1987. I stopped eating (red meat) for [15] years; I recently started back eating it- exercise and study has kept me active and healthy for many years. One realistic fact that I want to share is no one leaves these experiences the same as they were when they came in; I am scarred by anxiety; depression; paranoia; and hypertension; as a result of being in Long Term Isolation for so many years. I have made a conscious effort to humble myself and be less reactionary in emotional situations, this way these Prisoncrats won't have any ammunition to use to justify keeping me in Solitary Confinement; as long as I am living I'm going to keep on fighting. Campaign: How long did they keep you on the (S.C.U.) Special Confinement Unit? KMK: Prisoncrats sent me to the (S.C.U.) Unit way in January 2003, and I spend (10) years in the windowless torture chamber. For the most part, this is one of Indiana's most racist prisons, and the staff are 98% all-white with this philosophy of southern racism. That was the worst [10] years of my [26] years in prison; altogether now I have [18] years straight in units of Solitary Confinement.They have tried to break my will to be defiant, and destroy my mental faculties; Allah has guided me out of each storm. (Allah-u-Akbar). Campaign: In your opinion what do you think prompted the Prisoncrats to finally transfer you out in April 18, 2012? KMK: A variety of reasons, but one in particular, is my is my constant pursuits in civil court. On April 4, 2012, I filed with the court a motion for an immediate/Permanent Injunctive Relief Judgement and a Memorandum of Law requesting the court to order the Indiana Department of Corrections to release me to General Population; these Prisoncrats moved me [14] days later to Pendleton Correctional Facility. This in my opinion was done to get me out of their custody so I wouldn't be a problem any longer; I had been challenging my Department-Wide Solitary Confinement Status for years. The Classification Supervisor and Superintendent also refused to release me in 2010, when I had completed a program serving as a re-entry back to population; that ACT Program is an incentive for release; they released my entire class but not me. Campaign: What are the conditions like at Pendleton Correctional Facility? KMK: The transfer on April 18, 2012, out of the (S.C.U.) to Pendleton did not land me in General Population, right now the General Population is run like a concentration cap with fences and cameras everywhere; the whole prison is "controlled movement" - the Prisoncrats placed me on (D.W.A.S.) Department-Wide Administrative Segregation. Inside G-Cell House, where all the potential threats and alleged trouble-makers are housed, D-Block is where (all) Disciplinary Segregation prisoners are housed, also, C-Black where I am held houses prisoners on Facility Administrative Segregation, and prisoners on (D.W.A.S.) Department-Wide Administrative Segregation is the status I am on. (D.W.A.S.) are all single-man cells, with recreation (1) hour a day and (23) hours locked in a cell, we get recreation on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, showering (only) on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, the only interaction we get is during recreation outside when we're in the (dog-run) individual cages. Campaign: Since your arrival at Pendleton, have any officials discussed with you your possible release from that status? KMK: The Prisoncrats are seriously playing games. The Superintendent Keith Butts, who recently retired, sent me a letter claiming he would set up a plan to consider my release from (D.W.A.S.) status, but it was all a smoke screen to get me to ease up on my demands to be treated like the rest of those prisoners who are being released; they are picking and choosing and playing prison politics with our lives. The current regime in the Commissioner's Office at the Indiana Department of Corrections, are not willing to give me a chance to prove them wrong. That is if they released me and I transitioned without incident, they will not be able to say "That's the bad guy" No more; there is no legitimate justification for my still being held captive in these units. Campaign: How can people outside that are interested in helping you, and to join the campaign to help free you? Can you benefit from their support? KMK: Having been in prison since 1987, I have had the unfortunate pleasure to lose family, friends, and my ties to relationships I've had with my female companions I have had to rebuild, which hasn't been easy; then establish an extended family. Right now, I need someone who is computer-savvy, who can network with organizations to encourage them to take to take on my case. I need a website on Facebook that solely covers my entire case, and we need a law firm that assists "Political Prisoners" that is activist conscious; we also need someone qualified and good with fund-raising. My success with Indiana lawyers haven't been great, they seem to be afraid to go up against the Indiana Department of Corrections and the lawyers from the Indiana Attorney General's Office. We must find a lawyer out of state that can practice in the State of Indiana. Those wanting to join this campaign to assist me in my freedom, please write me directly and we'll go from there; honestly- we need all the willing/working bodies we can get on this campaign. Campaign: How is your Civil and Criminal fight coming along in the politics of the Indiana Court System? KMK: ON January 11, 2013, I have a hearing on my Civil Law Suit challenging my continued confinement by the Indiana Department of Corrections. I filed several motions (Pro Se) that will be covering primarily my request for the court to order my release to General Population. My criminal (murder) case is currently at a standstill, and my initial Post-Conviction Appeal was denied, because the Public Defender's Office gave me an attorney who felt I was guilty and I should do my time; he messed my case up- I am preparing a successive Post-Conviction Relief Petition. My rights are being violated civilly and criminally, and I will never relent, not lose my self-determination to fight. Campaign: Any final words you want to share with the pulic and the Revolutionary Community? KMK: I can honestly say that Indiana as far as prisoners abandoning their criminal mentalities and transforming to political consciousness goes, our "think tanks", we're very aggressive in producing politically-active prisoners; but we seem to have lost our momentum somewhere. Prisoners are still studying and having individual dialogues, and I think prisoners in an attempt to avoid being captured/held for [10-20] years in Solitary Confinement, are becoming more and more less vocal and active; my having been held for the past [18] years is their prime example of where they don't want to be. To me, life is not easy, never has been, and to struggle means to reject being the victim. One who struggles is a rejuvenated fighter life-long, we are organized, prepared, and multi-talented; to struggle is to understand complexity and to pick one's own battles. There cannot be futile progress without a real struggle, I am not broken by my adversity; but I am experiencing psychological fatigue. Aluta Continua- You may communicate with Khalfani at the address below: Bro. Khalfani Malik Khaldun,
