>From: "mart" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: Fw: VIEQUES, PR: In prison for peacemaking
>
>
>Forward from mart.
>
>CPTnet
>October 26, 2000
>VIEQUES, PR: In prison for peacemaking
>
>by Cliff Kindy
>
>The people of the small island of Vieques,
>Puerto Rico are nonviolently resisting the
>bombing and military maneuvers that have been
>carried out there for 60 years. In 1999 a
>civil disobedience presence in the bombing
>zone stopped all bombs for over one year.
>That victory has been the impetus for
>additional forays into the land controlled by
>the Navy each time there is an announcement of
>military exercises starting again on the
>island.
>
>I was privileged to be part of a group that
>entered the restricted area on the west end of
>Vieques October 1, 2000. I spent six days in
>prison as a consequence of that action. After
>the initial arrest it was eight hours before
>the Navy passed us to the federal marshals for
>transport to the Metropolitan Detention Center
>in Guaynabo.
>
>>From Roosevelt Roads Naval Station we traveled
>in a corrections bus with two escort vehicles.
>We obeyed no traffic lights or speed limits,
>honking and riding the bumper of any vehicle
>in our way. The escorts even pulled over and
>thrust a shotgun in the window of a car that
>was slowing us down to show support for the
>Vieques struggle.
>
>In the prison we were stripped, had our body
>cavities searched for contraband, given prison
>clothes, fingerprinted twice, photographed
>twice, given TB and tetanus shots as part of a
>medical intake, questioned about our
>psychological history and given bedding and
>toiletries. It was an eight hour process for
>37 of us, so we spent some waiting time with
>all of us packed in a holding cell 7' x 18'.
>
>We were housed in Unit 1-B, primarily for
>inmates charged with immigration or Vieques
>resistance violations. There were two people
>in each cell with a double tier of cells
>surrounding the central mess hall that
>measured 30' x 120'. Additional rooms housed
>a library (2 short rows of books), barber
>chair, laundry, and typewriter, a chapel, and
>a large gymnasium which doubled as a smoking
>area. Each cell had a bunk bed, toilet, sink,
>2 chairs, a desk, and two storage cabinets.
>
>Fellow inmates were very supportive and
>interested in the Vieques arrestees. When I
>was by myself for five days, individuals were
>regularly coming up to offer toiletries I
>didn't have, support, and willingness to help.
>Interestingly, even prison officials voiced
>their strong support for the Vieques struggle.
>I had invited one of the federal marshals to
>consider disobeying orders to prosecute the
>good people of Vieques. As I was shuffling
>up the courthouse stairs in chains the next
>day he said, "Cliff, I struggled through the
>night with your invitation. I can't do
>it right now."
>
>I have three observations: 1) The fewer
>physical and psychological needs/expectations
>with which one enters prison, the freer one is
>in a setting that is intended to dehumanize
>inmates. 2) The Navy and judicial system are
>acting as though they are backed against a
>wall. Clearly they are losing the battle for
>the hearts and minds of the people of Vieques.
> 3) The people within the system who are
>changing their allegiance are a clear sign of
>the imminent loss of control by the Navy.
>
>Our ability to maintain the humanity of each
>person we meet in the process of being in
>prison for peacemaking is another step for the
>redemption of the island of Vieques and of
>each human being.
>__________________________
>
>Christian Peacemaker Teams is a program of
>Brethren, Quaker and Mennonite Churches. CPT
>P. O. Box 6508 Chicago, IL 60680 tel. 312-455-
>1199 FAX 312-432-1213, E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] WEB
>www.prairienet.org/cpt
>
>
>
>
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