[Ppnews] Tsutomu Shirosaki

[Political Prisoner News]

From: "Maitiú" "Ó" hAirt <la_blackcross at yahoo.com>




Since Tsutomu Shirosaki’s transfer to USP Terre Haute,
he has been placed in the Communication Management
Unit (CMU). In December of 2006, the Department of
Justice quietly implemented the CMU, a secretive new
prison program segregating "high-security-risk"
prisoners accused of terrorist activity and tightly
restricting their communications with the outside
world. Most of those held in the CMU are prisoners of
Muslim and Middle Eastern descent.

For those unaware of Tsutomu Shirosaki, he is a
political prisoner accused of membership in the
Anti-Imperialist International Brigades (AIIB). He was
accused of the 1986 attack on a US and British Embassy
in Jakarta. Arrested in 1996, he was brought to the US
and sentenced to 30 years in federal prison. He has
continued to declare his innocence.

While Shirosaki is not of Arab or Palestinian
background, the AIIB supposedly consisted of members
of the Japanese Red Army and the Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Although Shirosaki
denies having membership with the Japanese Red Army or
the Anti-Imperialist International Brigade, he did
become a volunteer fight for the PFLP before his
arrest.

The restrictions listed below have been described by
Shirosaki in a recent letter to supporters. Other
supporters have had money order sent back from the
Department of Justice, so we believe that these
restrictions are being fully implemented.

Phone use: Phone use has been restricted to 8:30 ­
2:00 pm. In order to use the phones, prisoners in the
CMU have to register and get a permit, disclosing
date, time and to whom you wish phone. Permits must be
requested two weeks in advance.

Mail: Copies of all mail are emailed to Washington DC,
where mail is either rejected or approved. It is only
after the mail is approved in Washington DC is the
mail delivered to the prisoner in the CMU.
Communication in other languages (such as in
Shirosaki’s case) is greatly hampered by this process.
The CMU has recently limited mail delivery and posting
hour from between Noon to 1:00 pm.

Visitation: Visitation is non-contact and monitored by
an officer. Visitation time is no longer determined by
prisoner or by visitor. Prisoners have to request
date, time, who they wish to have visit and what their
relationship is to the prisoner. The CMU determines
the exact time a visit may take place. The prisoner
then has to contact the potential visitor with the
date and time.

Shirosaki also informed supporters that each CMU
prisoners, as well as ADX inmates of Florence,
Colorado, have an FBI agent assigned to them. The
agent may visit without notice. Shirosaki is unaware
as to why the FBI agents have been assigned to them or
why they are visiting. Prisoners have used their
Miranda rights so the agents get nothing on the
federal dime.

In all, Shirosaki has stated that the prison is
allowed to have about 90 inmates classified as CMU
prisoners. Currently there are 32 prisoners held under
CMU classification. All but two of the prisoners held
in the CMU are of Arab or Palestinian background.

There are only 45 cells, including several that are
simply unlivable. Repairs such as broken windows and
water leaks have been left un-repaired.

The prison is intending to place prisoners two in a
cell that is small, old, dirty and dark.



Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/ppnews_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20070508/60de42a4/attachment.htm>