Across the nation people are speaking out against the police brutality epidemic and the inherently violent jail system. Party for Socialism and Liberation presidential candidate, Gloria La Riva has made police brutality a focal point in her campaign and condemned the brutal torture of Susie Chavez in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Bernalillo County, New Mexico. On August 15, activists and community members in Albuquerque demanded justice for Susie Chavez at the Bernalillo County Detention Facility oversight board meeting.
Jail officials, when questioned about the incident, used legal jargon to avoid speaking about Chavez’ torture in the jail. Their reluctance pushed activists and community members to demand that the jail officials be honest and admit that the treatment of Susie Chavez was torture.
Chris Banks, state party chairman for New Mexico PSL and representative of the Gloria la Riva campaign, opened his statement saying “This is torture. If this had been done to a dog, or a gorilla, there would have been an immediate outcry,” which was met with a round of applause from many in the room who were fed up with the representatives of the detention center.
The jail officials made the excuse that changes to their policy “take time” and it was revealed that changes were supposed to have been made 20 years ago as the result of the 1995 McClendon class action lawsuit dealing with abusive handling within the MDC.
The feeling at the meeting was that there was no resolution in sight. It was obvious to the people of the community that the oversight advisory board is by design an impotent entity. The only significant power that the oversight board has is the ability to appoint an independent investigator. Other than that, they have no power to enforce any disciplinary action or implement any policy changes. Their role is simply to make suggestions that are not legally binding.
The jail officials made ineffectual promises that they would be working hard to make changes but this did not ease anyone’s mind. Shockingly a jail official reluctantly admitted that there was a backlog of incident reports which caused an almost yearlong delay in reporting the Susie Chavez incident.
Activist and student Shakir Abdullah, who was an inmate for 12 years, recounted the abusive and inhumane treatment he received while imprisoned. He described how he was scarred on his waist, ankles, and wrist from shackles. He also delineated the sadistic punishment of the solitary confinement he endured for years as an inmate. Shakir’s story was just one many about abusive treatment at prisons at the meeting that evening.
Prison guards present at the meeting showed no remorse for the suffering of others. Two arrogant prison guards were called out for their juvenile snickering while listening to the horror stories that were being presented to the committee.
Finally, Susie Chavez bravely spoke out against her treatment at the prison and expressed her profound gratitude to the many people demanding justice on her behalf. One “union” representative for prison guards had the gall to try and garner sympathy for the guards who abused Susie Chavez. He resorted to victim blaming and the excuse that being a prison guard is a “hard job,” but there was immediate outcry from the audience causing the union representative to leave the podium.
The prison guards in the audience remained impervious to criticism and their tortuous treatment was excused as a result of a myriad of issues like being “too tired and over worked,” “needing better training” and that a certain “culture” existed which could take years to change.
However, activist and community members assert that the prison guards responsible for Susie Chavez’s torture should be fired, prosecuted and thrown in prison. One of the guards involved in the incident is currently on paid leave not only for what happened to Chavez but also for the abuse of another unidentified inmate.
The Albuquerque branch of the PSL and Susie Chavez will be holding a potluck this Friday in support of Susie and are inviting the community to attend.
The power of united people was demonstrated at the meeting and it is only through solidarity in the Albuquerque community that we can accomplish justice for Susie Chavez!
