This event was hosted by the International State Crime Initiative and featured the UK premiere of the new documentary by Valerie Kaur of Yale Visual Law entitied ‘The Worst of the Worst’. The documentary is a portrait of Northern Correctional Institution, a US supermax prison in Connecticut to which British citizens Babar Ahmed and Talha Ahsan were extradited in October 2012. This marks Solitary Watch’s first visit to the UK.
Location : Kings College, 132 seat lecture theatre
Speakers:
- Caroline Lucas MP,
- Hamja Ahsan,
- Tessa Murphy (Amnesty International),
- Avaes Mohammad,
- Dr. Ian Patel,
- Jean Casella & James Ridgeway (Solitay Watch)
Poems read : TV Death Row – Talha Ahsan , poem by Angola 3′s Herman Wallace, voices from Solitary confinement
Before the film showing, Tessa Murphy of Amnesty International introduced the issue of solitary confinement as a human rights concern. Then special guests from America, James Ridgeway and Jean Casella (solitarywatch.com) gave a presentation on supermax prisons and solitary confinement in America. After the film showing, Hamja Ahsan, the brother of Talha Ahsan, read from Talha’s new supermax prison writings and answered questions about his brother’s conditions.
An article and review on the event and film screening by Aisha Manair of London Guatanamo Campaign is here
A trailer for the film is below – to host a screening of the film contact : info@freetalha.org with “SUPERMAXFILM” in the subject header
TEASER TRAILER – The Worst of the Worst: Portrait of a Supermax Prison from Yale Visual Law Project on Vimeo.
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