Oscar Lopez Rivera


Oscar López-Rivera was born in San Sebastian, Puerto Rico on January 6, 1943. At the age of 12, he moved to Chicago with his family. He was a well-respected community activist and a prominent independence leader for many years prior to his arrest.

Oscar was one of the founders of the Rafael Cancel Miranda High School, now known as the Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School and the Juan Antonio Corretjer Puerto Rican Cultural Center. He was a community organizer for the Northwest Community Organization (NCO), ASSPA, ASPIRA and the 1st Congregational Church of Chicago. He helped to found FREE, (a half-way house for convicted drug addicts) and ALAS (an educational program for Latino prisoners at Stateville Prison in Illinois).

He was active in various community struggles, mainly in the area of health care, employment and police brutality. He also participated in the development of the Committee to Free the Five Puerto Rican Nationalists. In 1975, he was forced underground, along with other comrades. He was captured on May 29, 1981, after 5 years of being persecuted by the FBI as one of the most feared fugitives from US "justice".

Oscar, who has a 17-year old daughter named Clarissa, is currently serving a 55-year sentence for seditious conspiracy and other charges. He was recently convicted of conspiracy to escape along with Jaime Delgado, (a veteran independence leader), Dora Garcia, (a prominent community activist) and Kojo Bomani-Sababu, a New Afrikan political prisoner.

During his incarceration, he has written many short stories and articles for Libertad. He also writes for the proindependence publication Patria Libre. Oscar is considered one of the most brilliant political thinkers in Puerto Rico.

HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

Since his capture in May of 1981, Oscar has been subject to terrible abuse. He has been put in segregation without any explanation. Prison officials insult and provoke him; even the death of his father was used to manipulate and humiliate him. When he asked for permission to attend his father's funeral, his request became a joke among the prison guards.

Upon arriving at Leavenworth federal prison in Kansas in 1981, he was forced to undergo urine sample testing more than twice a month. In view of the fact that these tests are usually administered to drug addicts or prisoners who have drug-related charges, it is clear that the test was imposed on him as a means of harassment and degradation.

All of his correspondence is censored. Even his prison mail is read, a clear violation of the Bureau of Prison's own rules. He was not allowed to write to his compañera, POW Ida Luz Rodríguez, until February of 1984. Oscar has also not been allowed to communicate with any of his other comrades who have taken the POW position. Despite this, according to the Bureau of Prison's policies, such communication is guaranteed.

In order to present his case before an impartial international court, there needs to be dialogue between the prisoners and groups, organizations and individuals that support them. It is precisely for that reason that such communication is denied.



Carlos Alberto Torres



Carlos Alberto Torres was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico on September 19, 1952. His parents moved to New York, finally settling in Chicago. He studied in the University of Illinois in Carbondale and Chicago. Carlos was one of the founders of the Rafael Can cel Miranda Puerto Rican High School now known as the Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos Puerto Rican High School and participated in the Committee to Free the 5 Nationalists.

In 1976, Carlos was forced to go underground and was on the FBI's 10 most wanted list. He was captured along with other comrades and sentenced to 88 years on charges of seditious conspiracy, among other charges. Carlos Alberto is a regular writer for L ibertad and his short stories have been published in Cuentos Sara la Libertad.

HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

In 1980, Carlos was placed in a cell at Cook County Prison that measured only 6 x 4 feet and on a 23 hour lockdown. He was denied any exercise or recreation and family visits were limited to 1 hour a week. In addition, the cell was infested with rats, cockroaches and his food was of inferior quality and consistently cold.

Within a four year period, Carlos Alberto was moved six times to different prisons and on many of these occasions was placed in solitary confinement. The FBI encouraged the prison guards to mistreat Carlos (this was admitted by one of the guards). He was denied medical attention on a regular basis.

While under federal detention, he was kept in isolated cells inside the courtroom building and kept under lock and key 23 hours a day. He could not receive family visits, write or receive letters or exercise. He was not allowed reading materials or any communication with prisoners of war. He participated in a hunger strike, demanding his transfer to general population, the right to correspond and re creation.

When he arrived in Talladega, he was put in segregation for three weeks. He was informed that all of his correspondence must be in english or it would be returned to sender. The same arbitrary rule applied to his telephone conversations, they had to be in English or risk being cut off. Later he was put on restricted correspondence, which limited him to corresponding with only his mother, father, wife and brothers. All other correspondence was prohibited. Again, the same rule applied to his visits. At the same time, it was obvious that Carlos Alberto was singled out for mistreatment.

This mistreatment was carried out with the intention of making him "disappear" spiritually and intellectually. All of these violations are carried out to break the spirit and will of Carlos and the other prisoners of war. Carlos Alberto to this day has continued to resist with the spirit of all the prisoners of war.

Carlos Alberto Torres #88976-024 902 Renfroe Road, Talladega, Alabama 35160

from www.prisonactivist.org

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