Statement of Solidarity with Red Onion Prisoners on Hunger Strike

Statement of solidarity from the Blue Ridge Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) with ongoing hunger strike in so-called Virginia at the Red Onion State Prison.

Since December 26th, 2023, political prisoner Rashid Johnson and 14 other prisoners at Red Onion State Prison located in the southwest Virginia town of Pound have been sustaining a hunger strike over the human rights violation of long term solitary confinement.

Under the United Nations’ Mandela Rules, solitary confinement amounts to torture. Torture was prohibited under the 1984 UN Convention Against Torture. Despite the recent passage of House Bill 2487 — which was meant to restrict the use of solitary confinement — the Virginia Department of Corrections has continued on with the practice unabated, renaming it “restorative housing.”

The hunger strikers have sought legal recourse prior to the strike to address these issues with no resolution. Having exhausted all options, they have been forced to engage in the hunger strike as a last resort. Their demands are as follows:

• Release prisoners from “restorative housing”
• Restore visitation rights of prisoners so families may check on them
• Access for families to inspect conditions of prisoners
• The transfer of Rashid Johnson back to Sussex I prison for proper medical treatment for cancer and congestive heart failure

The Blue Ridge IWW stands in solidarity with the Red Onion prisoners on hunger strike. We call on the Virginia Department of Corrections and the Youngkin administration to meet their demands and to stop the use of torture as defined by the United Nations.

We call on all supporting organizations and individuals to endorse this statement and sign this petition asking for the Red Onion hunger strikers’ demands to be met by the state of Virginia.

Supporters are also encouraged to contact the following officials to meet the strikers’ demands:

–  David Robinson, VADOC Central Administration, 804-887-8078, [email protected]

–  Virginia DOC Director Chadwick S Dotson, 804-674-3081, [email protected]

–  Rose L. Durbin, VADOC Central Administration, 804-887-7921, [email protected]

–  Beth Cabell, Division of Institutions, 804-834-9967, beth.cabell@vadoc

–  Gov. Glenn Youngkin, 804-786-2211, [email protected]

Photo by Milad Fakurian on Unsplash