2003 Prison Justice Day

Prison Justice Day 2003

Webcast from the August 10, 2003 Vancouver memorial event for Prison Justice Day, a day set aside to remember all the men and women who have died unnatural deaths inside Canadian prisons.

766 prisoners who died of unnatural causes in Canadian prisons are named on banner.

August 10th is a day set aside each year when prisoners and supporters gather to honour the memory of the men and women who have died unnatural deaths inside of Canadian prisons. On August 10th, 1974, Eddie Nalon bled to death in a solitary confinement unit at Millhaven Maximum Security Prison near Kingston, Ontario, when the emergency call button in his cell failed to work. An inquest into his death found that the call buttons in that unit had been deactivated by the guards. In the year to follow, there was another death in this same unit. The call buttons had not been repaired. Prisoners at Millhaven mark the anniversary of these deaths by fasting and refusing to work.

What started as a one time event behind the walls of one prison has become a national day of solidarity. On this day, prisoners across the country fast, refuse to work, and remain in their cells, while supporters organize community events to draw attention to the conditions inside of prisons. Prisoner deaths from murder, suicide, and neglect, can and must be prevented.

This year activists are focusing on the situation of women in prison. The Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) is currently conducting a systemic review of federally sentenced women inside Canadian prisons. The complaint was filed in 2001 and is looking at discrimination against women in prison based on sex, race and disability. The complaint has the support of numerous organizations across the country as well as Amnesty International. For more information on the CHRC Inquiry contact the Prisoners Justice Day committee or the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, www.elizabethfry.ca (contains all submissions to the CHRC.)