Genova, Italy - The uprising continues in Marassi prison

from informa-azione
10/06/2010

In recent weeks, protests are intensifying in several Italian prisons. In some structures, as in Milan and Trento (all we can tell due to news censorship), the protest is bitter, from simple beating on the bars and strikes, to the launching of flaming gas canisters and burning sheets and blankets soaked in cooking oil. The guards' unions speak of an "outside direction", referring in particular to the alleged discovery of a bottle thrown into the Marassi prison in Genoa with the message "Turin, Rome, Milan, Naples, Genoa from 21.30 to 23". In the Ligurian prison protests have gone on for days now, with the beating of pots and furnishings against the gratings, even at night. The causes are obvious: overcrowding becomes torture and the heat is beginning to be felt. In the main prison in Genoa 757 bodies are crammed into cages that may contain 435, in some cells for 3 people 9 are locked up 23 hours a day with people forced to take turns to get up. The social program of mass incarceration implemented by the Italian government (more than one inhabitant in 1000 is held) is manifesting itself as a condemnation of torture for tens of thousands of individuals. Coordination between the protests is probably the most effective tool the prisoners can acquire.