The Gloria La Riva presidential campaign strongly condemns the Mississippi Department of Corrections for its outrageous mistreatment of prisoners and extends its solidarity to the families demanding full disclosure and transparency from the MDOC, and to those on the inside fighting for better conditions.

In the weeks since the New Year, at least five prisoners have died and over 20 have been injured, with many reports from the inside claiming more. In recent weeks more than two dozen people both currently and formerly held at the state’s notorious Parchman facility have sued the Department of Corrections, citing decrepit, dangerous conditions, and violence instigated by guards.

Gloria La Riva stated, “Despite only constituting 4 percent of the world’s total population, with 7 million in jails, prisons, and parole the U.S. holds 22 percent of the world’s prisoners. The conditions in the U.S. prison system, and the latest wave of violence in Mississippi prisons, are rooted in a capitalist system which uses the power of the state to employ widespread police terror and mass incarceration to contain the communities which it has deprived of their basic needs.”

She continued, “Our campaign is dedicated to fighting for a new world where human needs are valued over the profits of the big banks and corporations — a world in which human dignity is respected, and no one is forced to victimize another for survival or out of hatred and trauma — a socialist world.”

Point three of La Riva’s Presidential 10 Point Program reads, “Mass incarceration and racist policing are symptomatic of the 400 years of brutal repression meted out to African-descended peoples in the US. Reparations must be paid! More than 2.2 million people are behind bars in the largest prison complex in the world. End mass incarceration of oppressed and all working class people. Fully prosecute all acts of police brutality and violence. Free Leonard Peltier, Mumia Abu-Jamal and all political prisoners!”