Human Rights Coalition

Juneteenth Parade – On June 18th the Human Rights Coalition (HRC) and the Coalition to Abolish Life Without Parole (CADBI) will host a Juneteenth Parade to celebrate the end of slavery and bring awareness to “modern day slavery” in the form of mass incarceration and prisoner abuse.

Join us in front of Eastern State Penitentiary at 2027 Fairmount Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19130 at noon for a parade that is fun, celebratory and, at the same time, eye opening. 

Fact: 

Individuals in solitary are not just confined in isolation, they are prevented from accessing medical care, basic amenities, and face brutal abuse from prison guards. Below, an individual currently incarcerated in the Restricted Housing Unit (RHU) at SCI Mahanoy describes how their health problems, which they got as a 9/11 rescue worker, were ignored and worsened once they were confined in the RHU.

“I am a 50 year old inmate at Mahanoy prison. My rights, if you want to call them rights, do not exist. I was placed in RHU and given no blankets, sheets, soap, pillow, towel, mattress, nothing, not even clean clothing or showers for the month of Feb and March of this year. A CO [Correctional Officer] assaulted me. On this day I was seen by medical in the AM for breathing difficulty due to my C.O.P.D. which is a direct result of being at ground zero in New York on 9/11 as a rescue worker. On this day a CO refused to let me go and to get my 4:30 treatment. He entered my cell for no reason and assaulted me over this treatment. On the video it shows him choking my neck with his hands. This has to stop.”