DJHJ Media By Kari Donovan
Suzanne Monk, the founder of Re-Open America and a well-known Washington DC Activist for human rights updated her story about the Democrat Mayor of Washington DC, Muriel Bowser who continues to hold detainees in DC prisons, including those held since Jan 6th in inhuman conditions.
The following is Monk’s press release in full:
DC Detention Center Inhumane Conditions Overview
The situation in the DC Detention Center has reached truly torturous conditions. This write-up is to inform you about the dire situation going on for many detainees, both local Washington detainees awaiting trial and dozens (possibly hundreds) of detainees from January 6th, many held for unconstitutionally long periods on minor charges.
The situation is unacceptable. Human rights are being violated as a policy, daily, right here in the nation’s capitol. THIS MUST END.
Here are the facts:
As reported by the Washington Post on April 19th, 2021, the DC Detention Center was holding inmates in 23 hours a day lockdown for over 400 DAYS thru the Covid shutdowns.
-No outside time.
-Inmates were not allowed to shave, trim toenails, or get haircuts, as all of these activities must be performed by a barber (sharp objects are prohibited to inmates). A chemical hair remover was provided as an alternative, but many were unable or unwilling to use it.
-No visitations, including with family OR attorneys. Only video calls/phone calls permitted. -No access to library services.
-Locked in their cell alone, or with a single cellmate for 23 hours a day, with only 1 hour allowed for showers or other out-of-cell functions, staggered over 24 hours. Inmates were awakened at literally all hours of the night to take their hour of “out of cell time”.
-All court processes have been slowed to a crawl, extending the wait for those inmates awaiting trial weeks and even months.
The District of Columbia claims that these inhumane conditions were necessary to prevent the spread of COVID19 in the detention center. I have not found reliable data on whether or not these measures prevented COVID in the detention center population, though that would be a very good question to ask.
In response to the April 19th article, Congressman James Comer (KY), the ranking Republican member of the House Oversight Committee wrote a letter to DC Mayor Muriel Bowser demanding she answer to her inhumane policies at the DC Detention Center. As was reported by the Gateway Pundit on June
8th, Mayor Bowser has completely ignored Congress’s letter, in direct violation of the DC Home Rule Act which gives Congress oversight in the District.
Here is Congressman Comer’s letter:
https://republicans-oversight.house.gov/release/comer-mayor-bowsers-solitary-confinement-of-all-d-c inmates-is-severe-dereliction-of-duty/
Though the DC Mayor did not respond to Congress, a change was made in the DC Detention Center policy after the Washington Post article.
SOME freedoms were restored, but only for VACCINATED individuals. This was reported by the Washington Post on May 13, 2021.
From the article (emphasis mine)
“D.C. corrections officials will ease an array of coronavirus restrictions in the coming weeks and relax the nearly 24-hour confinement that inmates endured for more than a year, according to plans released Thursday. Beginning May 15 and through July, vaccinated inmates will see a resumption of activities that are in line with the city’s return to pre-pandemic openings, and the rolling back of some of the restrictions that jail officials said were needed to contain the spread of the coronavirus but that drew sharp criticism from lawmakers and allegations of human rights abuses.”
This means that inmates who are not vaccinated are being held in ongoing inhumane lockdown conditions. This is a clear violation of the Nuremberg code, which prohibits testing medications on inmates, and prohibits the use of force or coercion in the use of medical experiments.
To make matters worse, hundreds of individuals are being held in this facility under these inhumane and unconstitutional conditions because of minor changes in relation to January 6th. In fact, as was also reported by The Gateway Pundit, these individuals are being subjected to even more egregious treatment. Mental and verbal abuse, threats, and even violent beatings resulting in permanent injury have been reported by the attorneys of these detainees.
The brutal treatment of January 6th detainees has been reported widely on news sites.
Insurrection Cases Raise Profile and Concerns About DC Jail
Capitol riot suspects held in D.C. are in ‘restrictive housing,’ District says
EXCLUSIVE: ‘It’s like Guantanamo Bay’: Inside the Washington D.C. jail where Capitol rioters are ‘treated like domestic terrorists,’ assaulted, taunted and locked up in ‘closet-sized’ cells up to 24hours a day
These abuses have been made more possible by the already utter disdain for human rights that have been in place in the DC Detention Center for now over 450 days, human rights violations that continue to this day, and are made even more disturbing in their criminal abuse of medical protocol.
WHAT CAN WE DO?
- We need members of Congress to support, encourage, (cajole even) Congressman Comer in his Constitutional efforts to perform Congress’s duty of oversight in the District of Columbia. These efforts must increase, including (but not limited to) additional demands for a response, Congressional hearings, bills to censure and/or alter DC policy in the detention center.
- We need more media to continue and increase pressure on DC mayor Muriel Bowser to rectify these wrongs. The more political figures and media influencers shine a light on these issues, the more likely we can change them.
- We need legal action taken against the District, on behalf of the political prisoners, and the COVID policy abused inmates. The DOJ must be held accountable for it’s violation of the rights of the January 6th detainees, and Mayor Muriel Bowser must also be held accountable for the physical abuses that these individuals endured under DC correctional officers who serve under Mayor Bowser’s orders.
Additionally, Mayor Bowser must not be allowed to continue her “freedom if vaxxed” policy, which is an egregious violation of human rights, nor should the other draconian COVID measures be allowed, or forgotten.
- In both local and federal cases, the legal process MUST return to the Constitutionally required pace of a speedy trial, and the prohibition of extended, cruel, and/or unusual punishment.
WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE DC DETENTION CENTER IS A VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS, THE CONSTITUTION, AND OF ALL WE STAND FOR AS AMERICANS.
