Update on Plowshares Prisoner Greg Boertje-Obed and Other Anti-War Resistance!

international | anti-war / imperialism | news report Thursday March 01, 2007 06:40 by Michelle

They're in Jail for Us, We're on the Streets for Them!

Greg Boertje-Obed, Fr. Carl Kabat OMI and Vietnam Veteran Michael Walli had no trouble finding Weapons of Mass Destruction. They looked in North Dakota rather than Iraq! Known as the "Weapons of Mass Destruction Here! Plowshares" they are presently imprisoned for their nonviolent disarmament work on an ISBM Missile Silo in North Dakota, USA. They are part of a growing body of folks imprisoned for resisting the war. Consider wrting a postacrd or letter to them! More background www.jonahhouse.org

Hi all,

After 7 days of no contact with family and friends and 7 days of being locked down in segregation, Greg was finally able to call home. He filled in many of the details but there are still some mysterious pieces at large.

On Tuesday, February 21, Greg was pulled off the Duluth compound, brought to segregation and told he was being reclassified and would be given a higher security level. This means that he would no longer be eligible to stay at the Duluth prison camp and would be transferred to a federal correctional institution (FCI) which is more highly secured. Greg tried to question where this decision was coming from and was told that it came from the DC central BOP department. This department decided that people with the conviction of "destruction of government property" were being reclassified to this higher security level. Greg further questioned this and was told that was all he needed to know and he would be held in segregation until he was transferred.

Greg then decided to fast but chose to drink juice and milk. The captain determined that Greg was on a hunger strike and his visiting privileges were taken. Hence the reason folks were not able to visit him over the weekend. The next day, some other official decided that since he was drinking juice and milk, it was not a hunger strike and agreed that what Greg was doing was fasting. His visiting privileges were reinstated but by then visiting was over for the remainder of the week. Visiting days are Sat-Mon.

On Monday, February 26, Greg was moved to Sandstone FCI and put in segregation until a bed opened up in general population. By this time, a number of folks had called both the Duluth and Sandstone institutions so they knew that they were being watched. Last night, Greg was moved into general population and was finally able to call home.

Some very good and trusted friends, including Bill Quigley are looking into this so called decision coming from the DC central office. Word has it that many of the School of the Americas (SOA) activists that have been convicted of "trespass" are facing the same problem. It appears that this is a way for the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to harrass political prisoners. Some of the SOA folks are being sent to even higher security level prisons.

Many years ago, Elmer Maas told me that the federal system was becoming more and more inhuman and downright dirty. Over these years, some of us have seen that to be quite true. Some of us have been kept from returning to our homes after release from prison but still on supervised release, probation requirements have been more punitive and vindictive, attempts to make people pay fines or restitution have been outrageous. The list of ways that this system chews people up and spits them out, grows each year.

Liz McAlister used to say that the times we are in force us to go deeper. Deeper into our faith, deeper into our understanding and deeper into our relationship with whatever Divine force we call on to help sustain us through persecution. Our crimes; loving God with our hearts and souls and loving each other so much that we would "cross a line" or turn a "sword into a plowshare" and face prosecution and imprisonment.

What can you do? Write the prisoners, resist evil with good, love your enemy and whenever you think that your little efforts are insignificant or ineffective, remember how annoying a mosquito can be.

Greg's new address is:

Greg Boertje-Obed #08052-016
FCI Sandstone
Fed. Correctional Inst.
PO Box 1000
Sandstone, MN 55072

His release date unless is still set for May 4.

Peace,
Michele