Loved Ones of Indigenous Federal Prisoners: Better Response Now to COVID-19

UU Ministry for Earth is sharing the Press Release below in solidarity with Water Protector prisoners and all prisoners in unsafe conditions due to the coronavirus. This is an expression of Unitarian Universalist faith, as affirmed by the 2018 Action of Immediate Witness, “We Are All Related: Solidarity NOW with Indigenous Water Protectors“.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Loved Ones of Indigenous Federal Prisoners: Better Response Now to COVID-19
April 21, 2020

DENVER and FARGO – “None of our carceral institutions are prepared,” says Sandra Freeman, civil rights attorney in Denver. “This is clear from talking to multiple prisoners in state and federal facilities in multiple states. The current legislation and Attorney General guidance for individualized consideration will not allow people to be released quickly enough to prevent a parade of horrors inside of the prisons.”

An Indigenous person held in federal prison makes this anonymous report: “If you have someone in the federal prison system, pray for them. There are already over 500 cases of COVID-19 in the prison system and over 20 deaths. We are not being treated like we are human. They keep saying that what they are doing to us is what the CDC advised to them. But to everyone else on the outside, they are saying 6 feet of social distancing. We are not getting that in here. Instead, they are locking us down and confining us to our small, shared cells.”

An ad hoc group, including human rights advocates and loved ones of Indigenous people held in federal prisons, calls on the Bureau of Prisons to produce a comprehensive, humane Exposure Control Plan as specified in BOP Policy for Infectious Disease Management. Specifically, the group urges:

• Immediate release of prisoners with less than one year remaining on their sentences, regardless of offense or conviction.
• Immediate and transparent implementation of CDC protocols for sanitation, prevention, and outbreak response for the health of guards and remaining prisoners, including adequate access to Personal Protective Equipment and the ability to engage in social distancing.
• Immediate and transparent establishment of additional medical services, humane approaches to quarantine that do not rely on placing infected prisoners in solitary confinement, and removal of financial requirements for medical care and hygiene products.
• Additional recommendations are available at the end of this email.

“Native people are incarcerated in federal prisons at a rate 38% higher than the national average,” says ND Rep. Ruth Buffalo (Fargo-DNPL). “Unless the BOP develops a comprehensive Exposure Control Plan and enacts it immediately, this pandemic could be devastating to our Native population.”

Olive Bias, loved one of an Indigenous federal prisoner says, “Prisons notoriously engage in systemic neglect of inmates. Petitions and suits filed in court to address grievances or release take months if not years to process. COVID-19 has compounded these harsh realities.”

To speak with the ad hoc group, including those quoted here, please contact Rev. Karen Van Fossan at  karenvanfossan@gmail.com.

Ad Hoc Group Recommendations on Federal Prisons & COVID-19

We call on the Bureau of Prisons to immediately produce an Exposure Control Plan (ECP), as specified in BOP POLICY NUMBER: 6190.04 Infectious Disease Management § 549.11- §549.15 and CDC “COVID-19 Guidance for Correctional Facilities.”

The BOP should work directly in accordance with the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the National Institutes for Occupational Health.

The Warden, Health Services Administrator, Clinical Director, Infection Control Officer, and Medical Director all have a responsibility to construct and implement the ECP.

Specifically, we call for:

• Immediate release of prisoners with less than one year remaining on their sentences, regardless of offense or conviction.
• If need be, inmates could be placed on home confinement through GPS monitoring.
• Adequate protocols for screening.
• Upon entering places of detention, all individuals should be screened for fever and lower respiratory tract symptoms. Particular attention should be paid to persons with contagious diseases.
• If individuals have symptoms compatible with COVID-19, or if they have a prior COVID-19 diagnosis and are still symptomatic, they should be put into medical isolation until further medical evaluation and testing is available.
• Immediate and transparent implementation of CDC protocols for sanitation, prevention, and outbreak response for the health of guards and remaining prisoners, including adequate access to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and ability to engage in social distancing. Provisions should be made for:
• Specific PPE such as respirators, disposable gloves, soap and water, and disposable gowns for guards and inmates.
• Fit testing of both inmates and guards for their respirators to be worn properly.
• Training of both inmates and guards on how to properly use the PPE and how to re-use PPE when there are shortages.
• Proper documentation of ill inmates and of PPE use.
• Proper transportation of inmates, ill and otherwise.
• Proper disposal of medical waste, to reduce the risk of re-exposure.
• Immediate and transparent establishment of additional medical services, humane approaches to quarantine that do not rely on placing infected prisoners in solitary confinement, and removal of financial requirements for medical care and hygiene products.
• Adequate measures should be in place to protect persons in isolation from any form of ill-treatment and to facilitate human contact as appropriate and possible (e.g. by audiovisual means of communication).

The above recommendations have been presented by an ad hoc group of loved ones and leaders and approved by Virginia Hedrick, Executive Director of Urban Indian Health Consortium of California.

Rev. Karen Van Fossan
Licensed Professional Counselor
Unitarian Universalist Minister
Affiliated with the Green Sanctuary Program of the Unitarian Universalist Association
Fargo, ND