As part of the Bureau of Prison’s delayed entry into the 21st century, it is implementing TRULINCS (Trust Fund Limited Inmate Computer System) throughout the federal prison system, to provide prisoners with access to email through a special system allowing prison officials to monitor all incoming and outgoing emails.

Puerto Rican political prisoner Carlos Alberto Torres was looking forward to the convenient, regular communication it facilitates, given that, since his transfer to FCI Pekin, his postal correspondence is regularly delayed from one to three months.

But it was not to be. On December 9, the SIS [prison intelligence office] lieutenant called him in to notify him that— unlike the rest of the FCI Pekin population— he will not be allowed access to email. Why? Because of “his case and his background,” offered the lieutenant, who had no response to Carlos Alberto’s inquiry as to why, after 29 years of impeccable conduct, they would treat him this way, pointing out that his release might be just around the corner, citing the USPC hearing examiner’s recommendation for April 2010 release. Nor did the lieutenant provide the required written explanation for his exclusion from the program.

Show your support for Carlos Alberto by writing to the U.S. Parole Commission to encourage them to adopt the recommendation and order his release! Sample letter available at http://boricuahumanrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/7.31.09_cat_petition_lappin.doc

See also
“Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Carlos Alberto Torres: parole bid foiled by Bureau of Prisons.” August 2009 post.

The January parole hearing was postponed, the false accusation was ultimately expunged, and he proceeded to hearing in May.

At the May hearing, the hearing examiner for the Parole Commission recommended that he be paroled on April 3, 2010— by when Carlos Alberto will have served exactly 30 years in prison— and advised that we could expect the commission’s final decision within 21 days. However, in June, prison authorities reinstated the false weapons possession charges against Carlos Alberto and his eight cellmates.

On July 28, the Parole Commission notified Carlos Alberto that they would postpone their decision for at least 90 days, pending resolution of the charges.

Two days later, the prison disciplinary hearing officer held hearings on the false weapons charges. Carlos Alberto’s defense consisted not merely of his statement denying possession. The tenth cellmate appeared as a witness, admitting that the knives were his, and his alone, and that Carlos Alberto and none of the other cellmates knew he had hidden the knives in the light fixture. The guilty party also provided a sworn statement to this effect. Much to the surprise of Carlos Alberto and the other eight cellmates, the disciplinary hearing officer nevertheless found them guilty of possessing the hidden weapons.

The finding of guilt will undoubtedly adversely affect the decision of the Parole Commission. Indeed, one might suspect that the reinstatement of the charges and the finding of guilt were calculated to adversely affect the decision.

The National Boricua Human Rights Network and the Comité Pro Derechos Humanos de Puerto Rico are waging a phone and fax campaign to the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the U.S. Parole Commission, asking that the false disciplinary charges be expunged and that Carlos Alberto be released from prison. Sample letters and contact information are provided below.

Download petition letter to the Director of the Bureau of Prisons.

Download petition letter to Warden.