Michigan Prison Abuse Incidents

This petition is to bring aware the abuses going on at Huron Valley Facility, Michigan USA. We demand an investigation at the facility, and investigation of the staff. These men are not at this facility to be neglected, abused, beaten, degraded, humiliated, and medicly neglected. The following are quotes from an inmate who was at HVF, at written in a personal letter:


"I was sent to Huron Valley Facility, HVM. As you may know the D.O.C. has now turned this prison into a mental health facility, meaning there is no general population prisoners there.

I did not get to see much of the facility, I was in unit 3, which is an admittance unit. But, there are things going on there that I really believe should be brought to the attention of someone that can do something before prisoners are seriously hurt, or even worse. There is much abuse going on at this facility by staff, officers and even nurses (which are male nurses).

To start, on unit 3, and I am told that it is the same way in all of the units, there is 12 officers that work each shift in the unit. When HVM was a regular prison, I was there. there was 4 to 5 officers that work each unit. All these officers, but yet the prisoners are only let out of their cells just one hour a day to go to the dayroom. Some days the prisoners don't even get the one hour.

As I said, an officer that I knew years ago gave me a job, so I was out of my cell for the biggest part of the day, I seen a lot of things that went on.

I seen officers, on first and second shifts rush prisoners in their cells several times, the prisoners were beat down and then a nurse would come in and give the prisoner a shot of some kind and the prisoner would be knocked out for the rest of the day.

One prisoner said they did this to several times I was there is named Harvel. I watched as 4-5 officers rushed into Harvel's cell, I could hear them hitting him and slamming him around, I listened as Harvel screamed for help, the nurse would stand outside the door. When the officers had had enough, the nurse went in and gave Harvel a shot. All was quiet.

The last time the officer's did this, the next day I went up to Harvel's cell, acting like I was working around there, and Harvel came to the door, barely able to move. He told me that the officers had beat him in his lower back. Harvel is a dark skin black guy, he showed me his back and I could see bruises. He told me that if felt like his kidneys were about to explode. He wanted to see a doctor and to my knowledge he never did.

Another prisoner, whose name I forgot, but I remember he was locked in cell C-108. I watched as several officers beat him down in the hallway in front of his door. This beating left him with his head and eye swelled and bruised. As well as breaking his eyeglasses.

Another prisoner, again I can't remember his name, but he is well know there because he set himself on fire more than once, he told me the officers use to beat him down many times. I believe he was locked in C-303.

With this physical abuse in unit 3, prisoners are not allowed to have any of their property, not books, nothing. I went 2 weeks without washing my hair for the lack of shampoo. Prisoners are given state soap, a tooth brush and toothpaste. Prisoners cannot even get their state issued clothing. Prisoners are given clothing that was issued to other prisoners. Socks are very rare.

On one wing of the unit they have these older prisoners that are, I don't know how to say it, but to say the least these prisoners have no idea where they are. They are totally in another world.

The treatment consists of medicating them and keeping them in their cells except for meals, which they eat in the unit.

That means these prisoners are in their cells for 23 hours a day looking at a wall. This is not treatment this is abuse.

There is a black guy there that is blind, you have to see him to know what I am talking about. He is led around so medicated that he can barely walk. And he spends his days in darkness locked in his cell.

Many of these older prisoners wear diapers. They cannot care for themselves and the officers have other prisoners take these men in the showers to shower them. But the prisoners that are showering them are less than able to function themselves. I have seen them take a spray bottle of liquid soap and stand back and just spray it on these old men. The old guys stood there not knowing what was going on, unable to even rinse this soap off their bodies. And these showers, if you can call them that, do not occur daily. The stench from these prisoners defecating on themselves, even if it is in a diaper, and then wearing it for days, is unbearable.

If something is not done to control things, to control the staff at HVM, I have no doubt that we will begin to see prisoners being severely beaten and even killed."
We the undersigned will be watching what happens at this facility and will demand explainations if anyone is seriously injured.