In an article published on Friday by the Michigan Advance, a spokesperson for the GEO Group, which operates the North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin under a contract with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, went on record to “strongly reject [the] unfounded allegations” of a hunger strike in North Lake’s secure housing unit. We also heard from many supporters who had called the prison on Thursday, and who were told emphatically by prison staff that there was not and had never been a hunger strike.

So we wanted to share this recording from Wednesday night, in which a participant speaks directly about the appalling conditions that gave rise to the strike, the continuation of the strike throughout the week, and the warden’s efforts to negotiate with strikers. The recording has been edited for length. Because communication is so limited, we’re unable to confirm at this time that a hunger strike is still ongoing, but we can confirm that the statements from GEO were false.

Again: the strikers’ immediate demands for better food, adequate medical care, and religious freedom need to be met; and, in light of unmistakable evidence of the GEO Group’s cruelty, mismanagement and deception, the North Lake Correctional Facility needs to be closed down.

#FreeThemAll

TRANSCRIPT:

“Oh man, it’s havoc in here, man. We going through it in here, man. I don’t know if you heard what’s going on, man? But you know, we’ve been on hunger strike … they ain’t been giving us no food, and then when they served us the food they served us little portions. Man, they’ve been giving us the same thing. They been lying to us about the transfers. You know what I’m saying? It’s going crazy.”

[“Is that strike still going on right now?”]

“Certain guys—I forgot the name, what’s his name, he’s still on hunger strike. It’s just a lot of things, boy, you know. All of us are the ones that—they just threw us in here. The guys that’s been on hunger strike because they doing us wrong. We have not done nothing. And we still in here, you know what I’m saying? They violated our rights. They’re not giving us our commissary, they’re not giving us most of our phone time. The warden has been lying to us, telling us all kind of stories. And then he decided he’s not giving us nothing. So we are basically—we’ve fallen to nothing. And we haven’t done anything. They don’t know what they’re doing. This place is unbelievable to humankind.”

[“I’m actually recording this call on my computer. So if you would want to say anything that we could send to the media, we could possibly do that without using your name. It’s up to you if you would want to say that or not.”]

“I don’t care, you can use my name. This place needs to be closed down. They’re not feeding us. The warden does not know what he’s doing. He’s putting people in situations, he’s breaking BOP and GEO policies by not giving us the things that we need. The showers—even if you in the general population, if you in the showers, people could see you taking a shower, like they could count the bubbles, the soap on your body. The rooms are the smallest rooms, they have no locker, you can’t put your stuff nowhere in these places. There’s nowhere to put your things. It’s basically a one-man cell but they have two guys in there. If one person stand up it’s like I’m touching him. There’s no way somebody’s supposed to be living like this. No way.

There’s no rehabilitation. There’s no computer, there’s no email for you to call your family if your minutes ran out. Our prisoners’ rights have just been violated to the highest ability. The warden do not come straightforward and tell you what’s going on. The policy is, when you come here, they’re supposed to give you a paper on why you’re in here. None of us got any of the papers. Nothing. This is how terrible it is. And he’s coming again every day, because he knew we was on hunger strike, and trying his best.”