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March 21, 2012

California Prisoners Call for U.N. Investigation of Isolation Units 
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California prisoners and their advocates are calling on the United
Nations to investigate the state’s solitary confinement units as a
form of torture. More than 4,000 inmates in California are kept in
so-called "segregated housing," half of them for alleged ties to gangs.
Under the current policy, gang members are made to stay in isolation for
six years, unless they inform prison officials they have left the gang.
Advocates compare the treatment of thousands of prisoners in
California’s isolation units to the U.S. treatment of prisoners held
at the military base at Guantánamo Bay.



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