D0njo
Well-Known Member
*This is pretty long, but but there's some explosions*
This text was translated in English, meant to be spread internationally
to make the succeeding revolts in Belgian prisons known. It explaines in
a simplified manner the current situation, how comrades inside and
outside try to contribute to the spreading agitation,... The text goes
together with a chronologic overview.
greetings
___________________________
INSIDE, OUTSIDE, AGAINST…
This text is, in combination with a chronology, an attempt to sketch the
current situation inside and outside of the Belgian prisons.
From the prison to the street…
It has been quiet around the Belgian prisons for many years. It has been
quiet because barely anything cro ssed the walls, there were almost no
contacts and the monster seemed intangible.
The prisoners themselves changed this situation. In the beginning of
2006, contacts between individuals in the street and prisoners started
to grow. From March 2006 on, these contacts lead to a growing agitation
over the prison of Ittre, a so called modern prison. This was followed
by an insurrection in the prison of Mons at the end of April and in the
middle of May a small part of the prison in Nivelles burned down.
Different groups of comrades decided to organize a solidarity
manifestation in Brussels.
The manifestation offered to different people the possibility to join
the struggle against the prison. It facilitated the distribution of
pamphlets and posters in the streets and at the prison gates. Around 150
people demonstrated in Brussels on the second of July in solidarity with
all struggling prisoners and in support of a few demands that came out
of certain prisons.
During the months preceding the demonstration, different instruments
have been used to make the struggle against the prison public, like
pamphlets, posters and the bi-monthly magazine "Uitbraak" (jailbreak)
which is still crossing the walls. The demonstration itself was rather
unsatisfying because the mobilization didn't succeed in bringing more
people to the streets.
A summer of escapes
During the summer of 2006, the Belgian prisons were plagued by a wave of
escapes. Apart form some individual escapes, it was the collective
escape from the prison of Dendermonde that made a fool of the State. A
couple of prisoners took hostage of the guards and opened all the cells
of their wing. 28 prisoners escaped.
The demonstration had raised some questions for the comrades on the
street. They wanted to deepen the struggle against the prison and extent
it to the struggle against the society of control.
The murder of Fayçal and a wave of insurrections
Fayçal, a boy from a popular neighbourhood in Brussels, was killed in an
isolation cell in the prison of Vorst at the end of September. He was
killed by three injections of the tranquillizer Haldol. Riots burst out
in his neighourhood and other places in Brussels. During the whole month
of October, insurrections broke out in the Belgian prisons and caused
serious damages.
It's not easy to regard all of these events in connection to each other
but we can neither separate them. The insurrections in the prisons are
probably more due to local conflicts than to the murder of Fayçal. But
we cannot doubt about the fact that the insurrections opened the way for
discussions inside of the walls. The collective riot has become a means
within reach. Comrades in the streets try to make a contribution, as
limited as it may be.
It is certain as well that the State realize something is at stake. The
different measures taken to enforce the prisons don't lie to it: the
deportation of prisoners, the construction of new prisons and of two
isolation-compartments for 'dangerous' prisoners, punishments for
prisoners who make complaints against the guards, more difficult
procedures for conditional release,…
It doesn't stop…
In the middle of January 2007, the ramshackle concentration prison of
Merksplas explodes. Shocking testimonies of prisoners were circulating
in the media the week preceding the insurrection. The guards decided to
go on strike against the allegations and the prisoners answered by
occupying the yard. This escalated in an insurrection. A few weeks
later, the prisoners from Oudenaarde climb on the roof and the same
happens a few weeks later in the highly secured prison of Lantin. In
April an insurrection causing serious damages took place in the prison
of Turnhout.
Doubts, limitations and remarks
We do not wish to give the impression that the question of the prison is
alive in the streets. Moreover, the biggest obstructions to the further
development of the struggle are the lack of solidarity and the general
climate of pacification in which it seems that only prisoners manage to
question and fight their situation. Searching for links like the riots
in Brussels after the murder of Fayçal could offer some backbone.
A formal movement of prisoners against the prison does not exist in
Belgium and neither do we aim for it. But we regard the extension and
maintenance of the discussions (as well inside as outside) as an
important step forward.
We are confronted by an agitation that is spreading inside of the walls.
We search for ways to contribute to this agitation and to spread it
outside of the walls as well, even if this seems difficult. We fight
against the pacification… We've been making some steps forward, but we
still have a road to walk.
FOR ANARCHY
Les mauvais jours finiront
"I suppose the people here are against the prison. But let us imagine
that the prison is the enemy. That it is a monster with teeth, claws, a
mouth to devour you, a stomach to digest you and an arse to shit you
out. A threatening, shapeless colossus that you can curse, that you can
throw stones against without changing anything, something against which
you can't do anything. And yet, this is not true. It is a wrenched
vision, a product of the suggestion. The monster doesn't have any nails,
no teeth, it has nothing. It is a specific social machinery that
functions in a certain way, according to some mechanisms, but it has its
cracks and weaknesses that you can attack. There is a big difference
between attacking the prison in a symbolic way –verbally, a bit
desperately, some sort of light despair. There is a big difference
between this and the real attack on the prison, modest as it may be,
even if it is not decisive, even if it turns out to be a little guerilla
war that bothers an enemy that you can't really destroy. But without
always letting the initiative to be taken by the enemy, without letting
it to take control of your life; on the contrary, it is taking your life
in your own hands to ban the domination.
Taken from an interview with comrades of Autonomous Groups from Spain in
the seventies, Copel, tunnels and other contributions of Autonomous
Groups, 2004.
CHRONOLOGY
2006
5/03 Ittre – A Turkish guy is put in isolation and beaten up by a gang
of masked guards.
7/03 Ittre – As response to the beating two days before, about 20
prisoners occupy the yard and demand to speak with the prison board.
They demand that the guards who are responsible for the continuous
beatings are fired and that the beatings stop. The director refuses to
hear their demands and sends the police. A gang of masked guards beat up
the 5 prisoners that kept ground. One guy has to be hospitalised.
End March – April – Strikes of prison guards in Antwerp, Vorst
(Brussels), Brugge and Turnhout. The guards demand more staff, more
security and measures against the overpopulation, "the aggression of
prisoners",…
March – April – Pamphlets are distributed at the prisons of Ittre,
Sint-Gillis, Antwerp, Vorst , Ghent,… to denounce torture and isolation,
including testimonies of prisoners. All over Belgium posters against
prisons are pasted and around the prisons graffiti's appear.
20/04 – The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture confirms
practices of torture in Belgian prisons. The Committee denounces
beatings in the prisons of Namur and Andenne and the cellblock under the
Tribunal of Liège. The report also denounces the harrowing situation in
the psychiatric wings of the prisons, where there is no treatment except
drugs. The strikes of the guards are denounced as circumstances that
make torture and mistreatment possible and/or encourage it.
Mid-April Ittre – Again a small disturbance of order inside of the
prison. A few days later graffiti's and posters appear around the prison
(Tubize, Ittre and Nivelles) in solidarity with the prisoners.
23/04 Mons – Mutiny in the prison of Mons. About 45 prisoners occupy the
yard and tear off material to defend themselves against the cops. They
set fire at the entrance gate. The police are welcomed with stones and
concrete blocks. Around midnight, prisoners are driven back to their
cells.
25/04 Turnhout – Two guards are beaten up during the walk on the yard.
Two days later the guards go on strike against the aggression of the
prisoners.
End of April Ittre – Pamphlets are distributed at the entrance of the
prison. The board threatens the visitors to withdraw their permits if
they accept the pamphlets or pass them to prisoners.
This text was translated in English, meant to be spread internationally
to make the succeeding revolts in Belgian prisons known. It explaines in
a simplified manner the current situation, how comrades inside and
outside try to contribute to the spreading agitation,... The text goes
together with a chronologic overview.
greetings
___________________________
INSIDE, OUTSIDE, AGAINST…
This text is, in combination with a chronology, an attempt to sketch the
current situation inside and outside of the Belgian prisons.
From the prison to the street…
It has been quiet around the Belgian prisons for many years. It has been
quiet because barely anything cro ssed the walls, there were almost no
contacts and the monster seemed intangible.
The prisoners themselves changed this situation. In the beginning of
2006, contacts between individuals in the street and prisoners started
to grow. From March 2006 on, these contacts lead to a growing agitation
over the prison of Ittre, a so called modern prison. This was followed
by an insurrection in the prison of Mons at the end of April and in the
middle of May a small part of the prison in Nivelles burned down.
Different groups of comrades decided to organize a solidarity
manifestation in Brussels.
The manifestation offered to different people the possibility to join
the struggle against the prison. It facilitated the distribution of
pamphlets and posters in the streets and at the prison gates. Around 150
people demonstrated in Brussels on the second of July in solidarity with
all struggling prisoners and in support of a few demands that came out
of certain prisons.
During the months preceding the demonstration, different instruments
have been used to make the struggle against the prison public, like
pamphlets, posters and the bi-monthly magazine "Uitbraak" (jailbreak)
which is still crossing the walls. The demonstration itself was rather
unsatisfying because the mobilization didn't succeed in bringing more
people to the streets.
A summer of escapes
During the summer of 2006, the Belgian prisons were plagued by a wave of
escapes. Apart form some individual escapes, it was the collective
escape from the prison of Dendermonde that made a fool of the State. A
couple of prisoners took hostage of the guards and opened all the cells
of their wing. 28 prisoners escaped.
The demonstration had raised some questions for the comrades on the
street. They wanted to deepen the struggle against the prison and extent
it to the struggle against the society of control.
The murder of Fayçal and a wave of insurrections
Fayçal, a boy from a popular neighbourhood in Brussels, was killed in an
isolation cell in the prison of Vorst at the end of September. He was
killed by three injections of the tranquillizer Haldol. Riots burst out
in his neighourhood and other places in Brussels. During the whole month
of October, insurrections broke out in the Belgian prisons and caused
serious damages.
It's not easy to regard all of these events in connection to each other
but we can neither separate them. The insurrections in the prisons are
probably more due to local conflicts than to the murder of Fayçal. But
we cannot doubt about the fact that the insurrections opened the way for
discussions inside of the walls. The collective riot has become a means
within reach. Comrades in the streets try to make a contribution, as
limited as it may be.
It is certain as well that the State realize something is at stake. The
different measures taken to enforce the prisons don't lie to it: the
deportation of prisoners, the construction of new prisons and of two
isolation-compartments for 'dangerous' prisoners, punishments for
prisoners who make complaints against the guards, more difficult
procedures for conditional release,…
It doesn't stop…
In the middle of January 2007, the ramshackle concentration prison of
Merksplas explodes. Shocking testimonies of prisoners were circulating
in the media the week preceding the insurrection. The guards decided to
go on strike against the allegations and the prisoners answered by
occupying the yard. This escalated in an insurrection. A few weeks
later, the prisoners from Oudenaarde climb on the roof and the same
happens a few weeks later in the highly secured prison of Lantin. In
April an insurrection causing serious damages took place in the prison
of Turnhout.
Doubts, limitations and remarks
We do not wish to give the impression that the question of the prison is
alive in the streets. Moreover, the biggest obstructions to the further
development of the struggle are the lack of solidarity and the general
climate of pacification in which it seems that only prisoners manage to
question and fight their situation. Searching for links like the riots
in Brussels after the murder of Fayçal could offer some backbone.
A formal movement of prisoners against the prison does not exist in
Belgium and neither do we aim for it. But we regard the extension and
maintenance of the discussions (as well inside as outside) as an
important step forward.
We are confronted by an agitation that is spreading inside of the walls.
We search for ways to contribute to this agitation and to spread it
outside of the walls as well, even if this seems difficult. We fight
against the pacification… We've been making some steps forward, but we
still have a road to walk.
FOR ANARCHY
Les mauvais jours finiront
"I suppose the people here are against the prison. But let us imagine
that the prison is the enemy. That it is a monster with teeth, claws, a
mouth to devour you, a stomach to digest you and an arse to shit you
out. A threatening, shapeless colossus that you can curse, that you can
throw stones against without changing anything, something against which
you can't do anything. And yet, this is not true. It is a wrenched
vision, a product of the suggestion. The monster doesn't have any nails,
no teeth, it has nothing. It is a specific social machinery that
functions in a certain way, according to some mechanisms, but it has its
cracks and weaknesses that you can attack. There is a big difference
between attacking the prison in a symbolic way –verbally, a bit
desperately, some sort of light despair. There is a big difference
between this and the real attack on the prison, modest as it may be,
even if it is not decisive, even if it turns out to be a little guerilla
war that bothers an enemy that you can't really destroy. But without
always letting the initiative to be taken by the enemy, without letting
it to take control of your life; on the contrary, it is taking your life
in your own hands to ban the domination.
Taken from an interview with comrades of Autonomous Groups from Spain in
the seventies, Copel, tunnels and other contributions of Autonomous
Groups, 2004.
CHRONOLOGY
2006
5/03 Ittre – A Turkish guy is put in isolation and beaten up by a gang
of masked guards.
7/03 Ittre – As response to the beating two days before, about 20
prisoners occupy the yard and demand to speak with the prison board.
They demand that the guards who are responsible for the continuous
beatings are fired and that the beatings stop. The director refuses to
hear their demands and sends the police. A gang of masked guards beat up
the 5 prisoners that kept ground. One guy has to be hospitalised.
End March – April – Strikes of prison guards in Antwerp, Vorst
(Brussels), Brugge and Turnhout. The guards demand more staff, more
security and measures against the overpopulation, "the aggression of
prisoners",…
March – April – Pamphlets are distributed at the prisons of Ittre,
Sint-Gillis, Antwerp, Vorst , Ghent,… to denounce torture and isolation,
including testimonies of prisoners. All over Belgium posters against
prisons are pasted and around the prisons graffiti's appear.
20/04 – The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture confirms
practices of torture in Belgian prisons. The Committee denounces
beatings in the prisons of Namur and Andenne and the cellblock under the
Tribunal of Liège. The report also denounces the harrowing situation in
the psychiatric wings of the prisons, where there is no treatment except
drugs. The strikes of the guards are denounced as circumstances that
make torture and mistreatment possible and/or encourage it.
Mid-April Ittre – Again a small disturbance of order inside of the
prison. A few days later graffiti's and posters appear around the prison
(Tubize, Ittre and Nivelles) in solidarity with the prisoners.
23/04 Mons – Mutiny in the prison of Mons. About 45 prisoners occupy the
yard and tear off material to defend themselves against the cops. They
set fire at the entrance gate. The police are welcomed with stones and
concrete blocks. Around midnight, prisoners are driven back to their
cells.
25/04 Turnhout – Two guards are beaten up during the walk on the yard.
Two days later the guards go on strike against the aggression of the
prisoners.
End of April Ittre – Pamphlets are distributed at the entrance of the
prison. The board threatens the visitors to withdraw their permits if
they accept the pamphlets or pass them to prisoners.
