Partisan Defense Committee Letter

22 May 2012

Partisan Defense Committee P.O. Box 99, Canal Street Station, New York, NY 10013

email: partisandefense@earthlink.net   www.partisandefense.org

Contact: Kevin Gilroy (212) 406-4252

Free Russell Maroon Shoatz!

The following letter was sent on 22 May to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections:

Dear Sir:

The Partisan Defense Committee once again joins with those protesting the prison conditions of political prisoner Russell Maroon Shoatz. A former Black Panther and defender of black rights, Mr. Shoatz is now over 70 years old and has survived 40 years of incarceration in various penitentiaries across the United States. He has had no disciplinary reports for more than two decades.

Mr. Shoatz is currently in SCI Greene where he is locked in his cell for 23-24 hours a day, deprived of social interaction or environmental stimulation. He has now been held in solitary confinement for 30 years. Mr. Shoatz' condition is essentially the same as the one we described in a protest letter 15 years ago as "modern-day torture."

By any measure, this is cruel and inhumane. His continued incarceration is criminal. We call for the release of Russell Maroon Shoatz.