Political prisoner Imam Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, formerly known as H. Rap Brown, over

Political prisoner Imam Jamil, formerly H. Rap Brown, one of the most effective advocates for human rights in U.S. history, was recently transferred from a Georgia state prison to the federal supermax in Florence, Colo. Photo: crmvet.org/images/imgband2.htm

Back in the turbulent ‘60s, Congress passed the "H. Rap Brown laws" to prevent him from making speeches that addressed the conditions that Black people were living in across state lines, out of fear that his fiery oratory would unite and ignite the ghetto population, which it did a number of times.

After being a victim of constant government repression over the years and a political prisoner a number of different times, in 2002 Imam Jamil was convicted on some trumped up charges of killing a sheriff's deputy and wounding another, although the real shooter admitted to the situation, in much the same way that Arnold Beverly did in the case of fellow political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal.

In August of ‘07, Imam Jamil was transferred without cause and without federal charges from a state institution in Reidsville, Georgia, to a federal institution by the name of Florence Supermax in Colorado, which many call the Abu Ghraib and Guantanimo Bay on the mainland. His wife, who is also one of his lawyers, Karima Al-Amin, recently went to visit him, and we recorded this Block Report interview as her report-back.

MOI JR: I understand that you just went and visited political prisoner Imam Jamil Al-Amin, who was recently transported from state prison in Reidsville, Georgia, to Florence Supermax in Colorado. Can you talk a little bit about the experience?

Karima: The experience was interesting, and I am happy that I did go out there this past weekend, because he was able to fill me in on the actual transfer from Reidsville, as a state prisoner being turned over to the federal government without any federal charges.

The institution was all of what I read. I wanted to be able to understand the concept of a supermax institution. The facility has a medium security part of it. The Imam is held in the admax, which is the administrative maximum part. There are other political prisoners that are held there, and there are what they call high profile inmates.

The Imam is doing well. He looks well. He did explain that he did not know where he was being transported to. The state of Georgia in March of 1990 entered into a contract, an agreement, with the federal government that the Bureau of Prisons, the BOP, would hold state prisoners if the state acknowledged that it was unable to house the particular inmate. The state of Georgia is claiming that it had legitimate security concerns to transfer him to the government to house for them.

But my husband is doing well. It is a no-contact institution, so not even the attorneys are able to sit with the inmate. So we have to see and visit the inmate behind a glass. Regular or social visits are done over the phone, behind a glass. The inmates do not have any contact with each other if they are held in particular units, such as the unit that my husband is being held.

MOI JR: I know that you have a court hearing coming up. Can you tell us what the hearing is about?

Karima: Right. Sept. 20th, here in Georgia before the 11th Circuit of Appeals at 8:30 a.m., we appear there. His pro bono attorney from the law firm of Kilpatrick Stockton will represent him.

This is a lawsuit that the Imam put in because Reidsville, where he was being held in Georgia, continued to open up my legal mail to him, outside of his presence. There are case studies and case history throughout the country that if an attorney writes an inmate, just by the fact that the stationary states that that person is an attorney, the mail is not supposed to be opened, read or censored outside of the inmate's presence.

Georgia put Reidsville on notice that they were violating their own standards, and it is also a violation of First Amendment rights that an inmate has over the institution. So even though they continued to do it, they finally acknowledged - I guess they acknowledged - that they were in violation. But the Imam actually did it pro se, and he won part of the lawsuit.

The state of Georgia appealed before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and they will have an argument on Sept. 20th. We're excited about that part of it, that the Imam was able to do this on his own without having to pay the attorneys to do it. And he prevailed for part of that. So we're happy about that.

In addition to that particular lawsuit, he does have a retaliation lawsuit that is still pending over in Savannah, because that was the jurisdiction in which he was being held. And that lawsuit challenges or challenged Reidsville for continually harassing him, and we see this move, this transfer, as a punitive action on the part of Georgia.

The federal government states that an inmate is not supposed to be moved more than a 500 mile radius from his family, and clearly his move to Florence, Colorado, exceeds the 500 miles. So we see this as an (unwarranted) action on the part of the state of Georgia and the Bureau of Prisons, for removing him and isolating him, removing him from his legal team and also from family.

MOI JR: Did the Imam talk about any sensory deprivation that was going on at the prison? I know that they have sensory deprivation going on at max prisons, with this being a supermax, I was wondering if he spoke of any of the tactics that are being used against him and some of the other prisoners in the prison.

Karima: Well, he told me that here in Florence he is dealing with altitude and attitude, meaning that the guards have been specifically trained not to even communicate with the inmates. So any communication can be seen as being hostile or indifferent - not warm at all, and not encouraging.

SNCC freedom fighters: from left, Taylor, Don Jelinek, Stu House, Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin (H. Rap Brown), Kwame Ture (Stokeley Carmichael) and Jimmy Lytle during a trial in Selma in 1967. Photo: crmvet.org/images/imgband2.htm

I think in his cell - it is very small - he has a shower and a black and white tv screen. There is no sound coming out of the screen, but they put the headphones in.

They have him now on "education track." He had a course in jazz. Then they give you a quiz; then, once you pass that, you are given a certificate, and then you move on.

So after you complete all of this - and this is what people consider behavior modification - you have to get all of these rewards and awards in order to move up.
You know, he still does not have access to religious services, with people. He can look on his screen and see programs perhaps about Islam and programs about other religions, but he cannot make prayer in congregation, which is a very important aspect of Islam, especially for males.

So just (based on) the no-contact alone, several organizations are beginning to challenge the whole supermax concept, that removing people from people - that psychologically it is so damaging. And I think that we could see this in the case of Jose Padilla, that he has been psychologically and mentally damaged. And I think that we will begin to see more people emerging - if they emerge - from supermax prisons in that condition.

MOI JR: Is there anywhere where people can get more information?

Karima: In fact there was a website, free Imam Jamil - on myspace there is one; facebook had one. But we are also encouraging people to write him, so not only will he see that he has not been forgotten, and he hasn't been. And he knows that just from the response that he gets when he travels from one prison to another. But we are encouraging people to write him. The letters are opened, they're read and they are censored, but even a card would help.

MOI JR: Thank you, Mrs. Al-Amin.

Karima: And we thank you, always, for being the vehicle to get the information out for Imam Jamil.

MOI JR: No problem. Please send him our love and our respect, and we also want to extend that to your family.

Write to the Imam at Jamil Al-Amin, Reg. #99974-555, USP Admax, P.O. Box 8500, Florence, CO 81226.

Email POCC Minister of Information JR at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and visit www.blockreportradio.com, hiphopwarreport.com and myspace.com/blockreportfilm.

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