The biggest self-organised action initiated by prisoners inside german jails for a long time to date, is now ended since over a month.
We invested some of our time in order to gather a few thoughts about this experience, since there have been already a few written texts and actions towards a reflection during the last weeks.
From different point of views, this hungerstrike carried a big meaning: as example, the opening of a debate among solidarious people and prisoners could be one of the most important result, together with a improvement of the self-organization by prisoners and the opening also of new perspectives of struggle against the prison system.
Even though the number of solidarity actions is not always comparable to the one of other countries, it became clear that here as well such topic can find a certain support, support which is slowly extending.
But let us begin slowly, since for us is difficult to put together a readable text because of the complexity of the situation: we do not carry aims to completeness, but rather to taking part within a debate which we hope will keep on carrying on.
A "historical" hungerstrike - the beginning of a new series of struggles?
Such an action, organised by prisoners in complete autonomy, did not come to our hears since many years already.
The process of individualization, separation and break of solidarity, which is growing steadily within this society, can only reflect itself behind the prison walls to an even more extreme extent.
The politic of "re-socialization", the blackmailing of prisoners through the offer of better conditions, but only to the price of passive, conform behavior inside the walls, the scandal of the forced labour, the damocle's sword of the sicherungsverwahrung (prolonged detention after the end of your served sentenced in case your are considered still "dangerous") and finally a growing disinterest by the people here outside, no matter if "normal" ones or "from the scene", everything contributed to the decrease of the struggles behind the bars.
Surely, there are still a few examples of individual prisoners, who despite the situation kept on struggling during the years and payed always an high price for it.
However, there has never been space for speaking of a prisoner's movement. But insurrection and revolutionary breaks are unpredictable, this time a small spark has been enough in order to release a new, potential situation inside the german prisons.
The case of a prisoner, Nadine Tribian, who has been confronted with an extreme pressure by the prison system and its active reproducers, created the conditions for a solidarity among prisoners, which is rather a seldom happening.
The fact that over 500 prisoners showed solidarity with her, taking part in the hungerstrike, proved perhaps the beginning of a new time, one where words as solidarity find their place again.
On top of this comes that the protests has been done against the prison system at all, not limiting to the situation of a single prisoner.
Moreover, there have been few prisoner who tried to give a wider perspective to such a hungerstrike, like Gabriel Pombo da Silva, through making viewable their total refusal against the entire prison system.
And we are sure that beside Gabriel way more prisoners had similar thoughts, since one of the biggest possibility offered by such protest is exactly a possible radicalization of its participants - in prison as also here on the outside.
Gabriel's participation to the hungerstrike was extremely important, since he wrote few texts and he is a "known" prisoner (meaning by this that he receives a wide support by anarchists worldwide), the fact that he wrote a call to action surely moved many people to become active.
Further on we will speak again about his texts.
The reaction from outside - the word "solidarity" widens again...
As many people probably know, one can not really talk about a widespread anti-prison attitude within the "german movement". Surely, there are many who organised activities in solidarity with "political" prisoners, but definetly lesser will declare their solidarity with all prisoners in struggle and against the entire prison system.
However, the voice of the latters spread around during the last months, slowly but continously, influencing the general discourse, at least in regards to our small "scene".
And we were quite surprised that there has been such a relative high attention in regards this hungerstrike.
The support has been mainly organised by four, five groups from different cities of Germany (Red Help Dresden, Gefangenen-info from Hamburg, ABC-Orkan, Mauerfall-Gefangenen Rundbrief from Morbach, Autonomes Knast Projekt from Koln, to name some...), who, as long their energies went, tried to draw attention for the protest.
Indeed, our role here outside remains to make the protest of prisoners visible: towards this aim, there have been several different kind of actions, which contributed to make the topic known to a wider spectrum of people.
From rallies in front of the prisons, through spreading informations, sending protest-postcards to the Minister of Justice from Nord-Rhein Westfalien and the Bielefeld's prison (where Nadine is sitting) until direct actions, many things happened. You can find a list at the end of this text.
Many ones wrote us because they wanted to organise actions in solidarity in front of the prisons or wherever, asking us if there would be any prisoner taking part in the hungerstrike in their cities and what they could do to support them, many ordered our soli-postcards.
In general, we had the feeling that these protests woke up the interest of many people, despite the ongoing "summer-hole".
For many, this has been the first time at all that they reflected somehow deeper on such a theme, as example on the fact that a separation between "political" prisoners and the rest does not make any sense.
We can see a few steps towards the right direction.
But let us wait a bit, seeing what is going to happen within the next couple of months; surely, one possibility for discussion could be represented by the anti-prison days taking place at the end of September in Kiel.
The bourgeois press - an expected (mostly) collective silence
The majority of the bourgeois press remained in silence in regards to this protest.
This does not surprise us at all, it is rather confirming what do you think about them, say nothing positive.
However, there have been a few positive exceptions within the ranks of the left-liberals/post-socialist journals, which reported widely about the protest during all the week - such as Neues Deutschland and Junge Welt.
Seven articles popped up, written mainly by political active journalists from Berlin. When they have been asking for informations, we gave them through emails or tell them to look at our own website.
We actually do not have a friendly behavior towards the bourgeois medias, not at all, however we also have to say that the articles have been written quite ok (one can read them also on our website, only in german though, you can make yourself an idea).
At the same time, we got to say that normally we get stomach-pain for what concerns the media issue, but this time we found it good the fact that engaged journalists tried to fairly write about these struggles.
One of the main problem is also represented by the fact that prisoners are not really in the position to spread these informations (surely they sended around to different journals their round-letter, of course nobody showed any reaction to this).
Therefore we believed it was important that their voice would find a place also behind our media, even if we normally carry another kind of relation with normal media.
In this sense, for us it has not represented a problem to give informations further and to look what happens afterwards.
We also should not underestimate that prisoners, besides the one who already carry anarchist positions, see a goal for their struggle in the fact that more media report this, because they want to reach the "public opinion" and show them what prison really means.
Following such a way of thinking, they also measure their results: surely, they find it cool that people from our "scene" organise actions, however they are also happy about a wider support which, they believe, is to be reached through the media-reports.
Therefore, it is also up to us to communicate them again how the media-machine works (even though many prisoners know this already, but probably still keep some hope that the former will change) and that the building up of solidarious relationships in the struggle actually represents a more concrete and trustable experience.
Through this we try to overcome an eventual usage of the media-machine and reach through our own channels more people than merely the ones in our "scene".
This remains still a big challenge and there is still a lot to do here...
As last, we experience through some journalists who were calling the prisons, that the answers of the latters remained the same:"Here there is no hungerstrike taking place!".
As we found out later on, it seems as in Germany a hungerstrike would be considered as official by authorities only after the eight day and only afterwards made known.
The difficulties of the communication - or about the difficulties to overcome the concrete walls...
As already mentioned before, many people wanted to know from us in which prisons people were taking part to the protest, in order to organise actions in solidarity.
However, our answer remained almost always the same one;"We have no clue."
For us was the same situation, we experienced only on thursdays 31st of July that also in Berlin-Moabit some prisoners would take part in the hungerstrike, therefore we fastly organised a demonstration to the prison for the following days.
Nobody of us here outside knew in which prisons the prisoners were taking part, for how long, how many of them and so on.
We believe this to have produced a negative influence for what concerns the organization of solidarity. Not that one necessarily needs a prisoner in hungerstrike in his/her city in order to organise something in solidarity.
However, since this has been the first time when many came more familiar with such a theme, more informations would have definitely making easy the creation of solid situations.
Where have been the difficulties in the communication lying?
To say it shortly, there have been several reasons for.
First, our contact with the Iv.I. came into being only one and half month before the hungerstrike began, when we received their round-letter.
Secondly, one can imagine that the prison operated a large censorship against prisoners for all the duration of the protest as also beforehand, exactly in order to reach a limitation of communication (not that under normal circumstances would be that different...).
We hope that the prisoners will communicate to us if this has been the case or which are the reasons behind the fact that not so many informations found their way to the outside - we wait for your answers.
We also should not forget that the organizational process among the prisoners is only at its beginning, surely it needs a longer time to reach a better coordination among each other.
At the end one has also to say that we all on the outside need to learn how to work better with each other.
There is a close cooperation among different groups, but it must be improved by us all, as example we need to see us more often, in order to discuss together.
As last we could add that we must recognize the fact that this has been the biggest action organised by "social" prisoners with which we have been confronted with in here.
Considering the lack of experiences, we have been a bit overwhelmed by the new situation and therefore we need still to learn a lot. However, we can see as positive that this hungerstrike perhaps (hopefully) contributed to a closer and more long-term future cooperation among different groups/individuals.
How one could overcome the limits of a hungerstrike
During the history there have always been different meanings about the hungerstrike as mean of struggle - it would be here too long to try to present a sum-up of such discussion.
Many prisoners see this mean as the most extreme and last one left them by the State.
Their bodies become their last weapon, often linked to a physical decandence or to the price of death ? during the history of the hungerstrike there have been many of the latters.
On the other side, other people are not keen to make the State the favour to further destroy themselves, even more than they have been already made by the imprisonment, but they still remain solid with the hungerstrikes, like Thomas Meyer-Falk.
We respect the decision by prisoners to choose such a mean of struggle, in fact it has also showed a few times that it can lead to partial victories, such like the case of the Thessaloniki 7 (inprisoned following the protest against the EU-Summit in Thessanoliki, 2003) or the recent case of the anarchist comrade Amadeu Casellas.
At the same time, a hungerstrike can reach partial victories only through a wide support organised on the outside: in fact, we on the outside dispose way more possiblities to act as the ones who are hold as hostages by the State.
Only through a variegate support it is possible that the requests of the prisoner might obtain an higher attention: this we see as the role of all the solidal people who choose to act their support.
The pressure has to be builded on different levels, in order to widen the limited mean of struggle of the hungerstrike.
Critical solidarity is the salt of any revolutionary struggle
There have been different critics on the form of this very hungerstrike, above all on the "organization" which is called - the Iv.I.
One text signed by anarchists in solidarity tries to critically reflect on this shortly before the beginning of the hungerstrike (this text is to be found in the current Entfesselt, in english on the web).
Therein, one mainly criticises that the protest has been called on by an "organization" (since an official representation is against any idea of an autonomous/anarchist way of organizing), which explicitly limited itself to call for legal form of action and asked mainly for better conditions in prison, losing the general picture from their eyes -the entire prison system.
Afterwards it came a letter signed by Gabriel, who already beforehand declared his solidarity as well as partecipation within the hungerstrike, which can be seen as an answer to the former letter as to several critics he received by some supporters.
Moreover, we received in the last days a letter signed by Pit Scherzl, the "official responsible" of the Iv.I., who also responds to a few critics.
We see many interesting critics and points for a discussion, we are happy about this, about the fact that such a debate happens, since solidal critics are the salt of any revolutionary struggle.
These critics have to remain solidarious though, sometime their tones can be misunderstood, producing a rather negative than positive atmosphere which reflects on both sides.
We would like to mention that such debate between anarchists supporters and prisoners is not something new.
A similar example can be traced within the last hungerstrike against life-sentence, organised by italian prisoner last year.
It had been called on by an "official" organization and called off by the same one, a thing which has been criticised by anarchists.
"Anarchists are not born thus, but rather become such"
We share some of the critics explained within the one text signed by solidarious anarchists as much as some contained within Gabriel's text.
We are also against any formal organization, since they are hierarchical in their own roots, therefore to be refused from our side.
Why Pit and the others decided to choose such a form of organization, we do not know, therefore this remains an open question for the debate: also here we would be happy to have a solidal discussion on this problematic.
However, we can assent to Gabriel's statement and confirm that anarchists are not born thus, but they rather become such...
Outside as much and inside we can not expect that people which did not went through our same ?politicization" path will recognize some phenomena from the very first moment or put them in question: as much as we have to, they also have to gather their experiences in order to eventually come to other conclusions and embrace wider critics on the present conditions.
Again, as anarchists we should keep on critiquing some decisions and look if and how our critics will be received.
Moreover, to build up a discussion with the ones in struggle, who often do not have anything to do with anarchist principles.
This is made more difficult by the fact that we can not have a direct communication with imprisoned people as we would wish to, because of their imprisonment.
Therefore we have to pay attention on how we lead such a critical discussion, way more than the ones we lead daily with our comrades outside.
Through the lack of such direct communication among the partecipants, such critics can be very fast understood as unsolidarious or evenas attacks.
And this can happen even though we can imagine how people mean them, but only because we are often in the privileged situation to either directly know the people who formulated such critics or to have already read some of their texts.
A privilege, which most of the prisoners do not have.
If we are interested in carrying further a debate and cooperation with the prisoners in struggle, we must open communication's channels, ignite such processes, as it has been the case within the last months.
Sparing in this the arrogance to pretend that they would immediately spring on our anarchy train and make our critics theirs.
Perhaps this will happen, perhaps not, nobody can foresee it.
But the attempt to keep such channels open is extremely important for us, in order to communicate people new ideas and dreams: what they will do with them, remains their decision.
Moreover, we should not forget that many people might be unfamiliar with our way of arguing, be confronted with it perhaps for the first time: things which for us might be clear since long time, has to be reflected upon by many, our style of writing can therefore results to be rather alien...
On legality and peaceful protests
One critices as well that the Iv.I. called only to legal actions and explicilty took distance from revolts.
We as anarchists clearly see such a thing as problematic, or let us say it more openly: would happen here on the outside, we would react very differently.
We would have understood if the Iv.I. would have called for peaceful protests without explicitly taking distance from other means.
In fact, there are different means of protest and everybody should choose the ones he/she feels closer.
In his new letter, Pit writes where his problem lies: in prison, one suffers a different pressure by the State. The margins of action are limited and eventually the price one has to pay for is much higher than here outside.
We ought to never forget this or play it down. Further on, he declares another truth, that the situation inside german prisons looks very different than in Spain or in Belgium. We believe him when he says that 95% of the prisoners behave like sheeps and a revolt would be a thing of merely few individuals...
Moreover, Pit writes also that everyone on the outside should act in the way he/she believes to be appropriate and he shows his private solidarity with them.
And this is an important declaration for us, because leave many doors open. The point is that people in prison, confronted with a complete arbitrariness, want to defend themselves from usual harassments, which we know well enough through their reports.
There are always ?responsibles" for any protest, however, in prison one does not have the possibility to remain anonymous. Therefore one will not call to revolt, also in order to not let the State cut the legs of a freshly newborn movement of protest ? during history many ones began with legal means and after and after decided to choose others or to choose both - the possibilities are still there.
We believe that many ones are happy when here on the outside one chooses to not put a limit to means of protest: if they as well will come to the same conclusions, we will see, since this is a decision which they have to take by themselves ? surely, they will get our support in any case.
A struggle for "Rights"? - "Legal, Illegal, Scheissegal!"
We understand Gabriel and the other prisoners when they refuse to behave "stoically" or as "martyrs".Indeed, we are not religious people and such way of sacrificing does not have anything to do with our ideals and anarchism.
We also can see why prisoners decide to struggle for their "Rights", since here outside is often not much different: "Rights" are being used everyday by all of us, as example in the moment we choose to defend us during a process.
Moreover, one asks for the enforcement of different "Rights", might be the one to have a phonecall after the arrest or the one to get a lawyer. Surely, we fight towards the destruction of the present conditions and we do not like to beg the State for any "Rights" or to use them, but, as Gabriel writes, "legal, illegal, scheissegal". Rights are there, already given, partly also hardly enough struggled for during history.
We as anarchists see our struggle not as one which beg any bourgeois rights from the State or makes reforms a primary goal within a struggle. Our goals will not let themselves be reduced in this way, where through this we create a legitimation for the State as our partner from which we want something.
However we must say that Rights are there and can be used during a struggle: this remains anyway one of the biggest contradictions, even among us.
No one possess the answer about the "right" way to deal with these things, no matter if anarchist or not.
The main thing remains the fact that this would be only one of our means of struggle, neither the only one nor the main goal, because otherwise nothing would make us different from other reformist movements.
Exactly different goals and a larger choice of means, not dictated by the penal code, through which we try to overthrow the actual conditions, remain the biggest differences with other movements.
Even during a uncompromising struggle it is possible to ask for the application of "rights" or "reforms", one does not really come out of this circle (in fact we all try to put our counterparts under pressure, might be against an eviction of a squat or the enforcement of new laws...).
The important thing remains that such things will not be considered as our main goal, since the latter is freedom and the diffusion of possible insurrectionaries struggles and situations.
We see as unproblematic that prisoners fight for the application of their "Rights", but only as long as they have clear in their minds that the goal of their struggle is the destruction of the prison system, as example, which is necessarily linked with the destruction of this society.
This appears at least within the letter signed by Pit (sadly we did not heard anything by other prisoners) and this let us hope that more prisoners will develop such analysis and ideas, in order to fight together against the system.
The end of a struggle can only represents the beginning of a new one...
We see in this struggle a beginning of a self-organization among prisoners, a potential towards a break with the present conditions, passivity in prison and isolation. As a possibility towards the radicalization of their beings, through the building of communication with each other, during which nobody of us pretends to sit on the throne of truth and wants to spread holy recipes to the others, where we have an influence on each other, despite the strenght of the walls.
Moreover, we see also the possibility here on the outside to further build and reinforce consciousness and solidarity for this struggle - and for new ones.
Many questions stay open, there is still a lot to be done.
We would be interested in hearing from other prisoners their impression on the hungerstrike as much as on further moments of struggles.
Since we do not like any organization with the big ?O", we would also like to have a direct contact with them, not mediated only through the representants of the Iv.I.
But perhaps the prisoners have no will to begin such contacts and rather like to delegate this to the Iv.I.: we do not know this and therefore put such a question.
Pit and all the other at the Iv.I.: you do not have to feel under attack, we respect your work and we are solidarious with you, despite our differences.
But the latter are there and therefore you also have to see clearly that as anarchists we criticise certain things and we will keep in doing so.
As much as you would also do: as long as this takes place in a solidarious way, such a critic remains necessary, in order to learn new things from each other.
In fact, we on the outside we do not sit "with dry asses", although in freedom and with better position to act.
Many people take risks and will be confronted with prison and repression: for sure, we also wish that these ones would become more, since there is always enough of the ones, who stay sitting...
One will surely find new occasions for the future.
One might be the hungerstrike against life-senteces called by italian prisoners for the 1.12.
Already a year ago there has been one, during which a similar debates erupted among anarchists and the prisoners association which called for the hungerstrike.
In one way or the other, it remains important that we keep alive the opened communication channels, in order to not loose such a contact and discuss, organise, support and widen together further moments of struggle.
Also the ones here outside will keep on reflecting how they can support future struggles by prisoners.
In fact, what happened during the last months is not little, but we are sure, that it can just become better...
ABC Berlin
3/08/2008 Dresden, Germany - In Alaun park, an infotable is set up and pamphlets are distributed to passers-by about the hunger strike.
4/08/2008 Berlin, Germany - Manifestation of ovr 60 solidarious people from Plotzensee prison,where the anti-fascist Christian S. is locked up, to Moabit prison where different prisoners are in hunger strike. Moreover, 500 protest postcards will be printed with the adresses of the Justice Minister of NRW and Bielefeld's prison. A few banners ansd poster calling for solidarity will be hanged in some public spaces and houseprojects.
5.8.08 Berlin: two heavy-good vehicles belonging to the company C+C Shaper are torched, as several newspapers report. The action is put in the context of solidarity with the prisoners in hungerstrike: "We criticise that horrible food is getting sold for extremely high price to the prisoners and want to show our protest against a system where private companies make profit through the imprisonment of people."
5/08/2008 Hamburg, Germany - There is a gathering of some 80 people in front of the prison of Holstenglacis. Texts are read out in different languages and there is communication with several prisoners. The solidarity contribution of Gabriel Pombo da Silva was also read out.
6/08/2008 Koln, Germany - There is a gathering at the probation office. Information about Nadine Tribian, the situation in the German prisons and the hunger strike is distributed. Different posters express solidarity with the protesting prisoners and for the destruction of the prisons.
6/08/2008 Vancouver, Canada - A sheriff van and a police car are set on fire in the daytime. The first one was parked in front of the court house, the second was an police cruiser that was empty since the cops that were busy arresting someone.
"We hope this act will spark communication and create new relationships of collaboration in struggle. Our choices move beyond run, hide and prison. There are endless possibilities to be found in the conspiracy of attack. We chose to act between the days of August 1st-7th because of the call for solidarity by 500+ prisoners in German prisons and around Europe who are on hunger strike. Our love is sent to the comrades who continue to refuse the life of passivity and silence, inside and outside the walls of prison. For the freedom of Amadeu Casellas Ramon, Gabriel Pombo Da Silva, Marcos Comenish, Jose Fernandez Delgado! Freedom for all Prisoners! May our willingness to revolt spread our crimes of passion through their quiet cities and into the solitude of prison! We are bound to annihilate their prison-world! Solidarity [Read the entire communique on confrontation.wordpress.com]
6/08/2008 Vancouver, Canada - The windows of a probation office are smashed. The action is claimed in solidarity with the hunger strikers in Europe and more specifically with Gabriel Pombo da Silva, Jose Fernandez Delgado and Amadeu Casellas.
7/08/2008 Amsterdam, The Netherlands - The windows of the Goethe Institute are smashed in solidarity with the hunger strikers in Germany.
8/08/2008 Madrid and Canarias, Spain - Around 50 ATMs are temporarily disabled. Messages are left behind: more than 470 prisoners on hunger strike in Germany against isolation. Active solidarity. Prisoners in struggle.
13/08/2008 Santiago, Chile - The "internationalist insurrectionalist forces" bomb an Itua bank. The action is claimed as a reaction to oppression, prison, the State and Capital, and more specifically in solidarity with Gabriel Pombo da Silva and for the release of Axel Osorio, who has been imprisoned since December 2007 in relation to a bank robbery in Chile.
14/08/2008 Aachen, Germany - Demonstration in solidarity with the hunger strikers. Gabriel Pombo was in hunger strike in this prison.
More Information and background: Letter from Pit Sherzel (Iv.I) to ABC Berlin