First of all, as usual, I greet everybody.
I’m writing to call your attention on a few problems
that concern myself and, consequently, all the
prisoners.
I was moved to the prison in Terni on November 10.
This is not the first time that I’m located in this
prison, as requested by the Italian Ministry of
Justice in order for me to be able to attend the
hearings in the Viterbo court, which has condemned me.
The same Ministry decides, without any possibility of
appeal, about the prisoners who, like me, are EIV
prisoners (Elevato Indice di Vigilanza or prisoners
under strict surveillance), AS prisoners (Alta
Sorveglianza or high surveillance prisoners), and
those who were convicted of mafia crimes.
The restrictions that the EIV category prisoners are
inflicted are : single cell, no chance of communicating
with other prisoners unless they are also EIV
prisoners, and no right to any benefits apart from the
possibility of parole. The reason for these
restrictions is due to security measures inflicted not
only to those who are considered members of subversive
associations, but also to those who were arrested for
‘common crimes’ but are considered particularly
dangerous, and those who were arrested for Mafia
crimes (article 41bis). This section is also used as
an observatory to study the behaviour of the
prisoners.
I wrote this preamble as I cannot explain why I was
moved in this prison, where there exists the 41bis
section but not the EIV section. As a result, I’m
compelled to stay in total isolation in a punishment
section (where prisoners in punishment are temporary
collocated). Such aberration normally lasts a few days
(the last time I was here I stayed 16 days), and one
manages to resist only for having the chance of being
visited by relatives. This time, however, my stay here
will be much longer (the trial for the operation
‘Cervantes’ will be held on November 30 and the
hearings in Viterbo will take place in December) ; that
is why I decided that something must be done. As I’m
considered a dangerous individual, I should be
collocated in an EIV section. No logistical problem
can be used as an excuse : in the prison in Spoleto, in
fact, which is only 20 kilometres from Terni, there
exists an EIV section.
I’m officially destined to the prison in Turin, and I
start thinking that they put me here because of the
hearings in Viterbo. So a fundamental right as the one
to be present to the hearings is being swapped for an
almost unbearable collocation.
Here is the real face of prison : a place where people
are locked up and are inflicted the most humiliating
oppression by the jailers and the prison authorities.
In this section you can’t talk about life, it is just
surviving. There are 2 separated rows made by 7 cells
each, all of them collocated on the same side. Social
and human relationships are inexistent, and you can
only see guards. I go out of the cell for two hours a
day in a tiny space 2 meters per 5. Furthermore, the
heating is still off even if it’s very damp and cold.
As a consequence, there exits quite a desperate living
situation. Last time I was here, on October, I
witnessed a few prisoners self-injuring quite
seriously and two jailers beating a prisoner. Here you
feel like being totally harmless ; the guards are
arrogant and rude when answering the prisoners’
requests (when they decide to answer). It also
happened that a guard approached the cell of a
detainee who had seriously cut himself, just to make
sure of what had occurred and to reassure the detainee
that his requests will be satisfied if he wouldn’t cut
himself any more. It might sound surrealistic, yet
it’s normality here. As soon as I arrived yesterday, I
noticed that a cell was completely burnt, certainly
because a mattress had been set to fire.
If you need anything, even a broom or a bucket to
clean, you have to be lucky enough that the guard on
duty is in a good mood. This is the isolation regime
in Terni.
I would therefore like to put forward a proposal : that
initiatives of counter-information about living
conditions in prison are organised, with the final
goal of making people aware of what a big disgrace
prison is and of the necessity to put an end to its
existence.
Stop the torture of isolation. Stop the EIV, AS and
41bis regimes. Stop sending prisoners so far away from
their families. Stop prison. Let’s spread the struggle
against this aberrant institution.
From the concentration camp in Terni,
Titto.