Will Potter: The secret US prisons you've never heard of before
Vil Poter (Will Potter): Tajni američki zatvori za koje do sada niste čuli
Award-winning journalist and author, Will Potter focuses on the animal rights and environmental movements, and civil liberties in the post-9/11 era. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
that "writing about prisoners
da je "pisanje o zatvorenicima
we treat prisoners as ghosts.
da zatvorenike tretiramo kao duhove.
goes to great lengths to keep them hidden.
da ih drži skrivenima.
when no one is watching,
kada niko ne gleda,
that we need to tell.
prison units in the United States,
zatvorske jedinice u Sjedinjenim Državama,
Communications Management Units or CMUs.
za upravljanje komunikacijama, JUK.
"Little Guantanamo."
"Mali Gvantanamo".
right here, at home,
one se nalaze ovde, kod kuće,
in Terre Haute, Indiana,
u Tera Hotu, Indijana,
in Marion, Illinois.
u Merionu, Ilinois.
the formal review process
when they were opened.
koji zahteva zakon.
been convicted of crimes.
su osuđeni za zločine.
and some involve threats and violence.
a neki uključuju pretnje i nasilje.
or innocence of any prisoner.
ili nevinosti bilo kog zatvorenika.
Thurgood Marshall said,
Turgud Maršal, rekao:
s treskom zatvore,
their human quality."
has said there are three flecks of light
rekao je da u tami zatvora,
but they radically restrict all of these
ali ovo je strogo orgraničeno
extreme prisons in the United States.
od većine ekstremnih zatvora u SAD.
to 45 minutes a month,
na 45 minuta mesečno,
other prisoners receive.
koje imaju ostali zatvorenici.
to six pieces of paper.
na 6 listova papira.
to four hours per month,
na četiri sata mesečno,
like Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph
bombaša Olimpijskog parka, Erika Rudolfa,
which means prisoners are not allowed
što znači da zatvorenicima nije dozvoljeno
except psychologically."
who is imprisoned here.
open records requests
zahteve za otvorenim zapisnicima
and former prisoners,
i bivšim zatvorenicima,
into the CMUs have opened.
60 to 70 prisoners here,
60 do 70 zatvorenika,
on Iraq by sending medical supplies
sa Irakom, šaljući medicinske potrepštine
from Saddam Hussein's Iraq as refugees.
iz Iraka Sadama Huseina.
as part of an FBI sting.
koju je sproveo FBI.
to bear witness to a loan,
i trebalo je da prisustvuje zajmu,
involved in the loan was trying to enlist
uključenih u zajam, pokušao da regrutuje
to a terrorist group.
terorističku grupu.
some non-Muslim prisoners.
i neke nemuslimanske zatvorenike.
the racial numbers,
rasne razlike,
and environmental activists
za prava životinja i životnu okolinu,
of participating in two arsons
u dva podmetanja požara
that he would be sent
plašio se da će ga poslati
weren't supported by any facts.
nikakve činjenice.
hasn't fully explained
nije u potpunosti objasnila
for these decisions.
rečeno mu je
talking about environmental activists.
o aktivistima za životnu sredinu.
prisoners in US prisons
postoji oko 400 zatvorenika
are in the CMUs.
at a low-security prison
nalazio u zatvoru minimalnog obezbeđenja
for an answer, a hearing,
saslušanje,
shows how those requests are viewed.
pokazuje kako se tretiraju takvi zahtevi.
recommended McGowan's transfer
preporučio Mekgovana za premeštaj
Counterterrorism Unit,
Task Force of the FBI.
za terorizam, iz FBI-ja.
was really sent to a CMU
poslat u JUK
cited McGowan's "anti-government beliefs."
"uverenja protiv vlade".
about environmental issues,
o pitanjima životne sredine,
reflect on their mistakes
da nauče iz svojih grešaka
any time at all in Washington, DC,
u Vašingtonu,
concept for the government.
veoma radikalan koncept.
McGowan in the CMU.
on this stage before,
monitoring my work.
and only journalist to visit a CMU.
novinar koji je posetio JUK.
Counterterrorism Unit,
protivterorističke jedinice,
about CMUs, like this one.
kao što je ovaj.
be approved to visit?
out to the prison, I got an answer.
pre nego što sam otišao u zatvor.
as a friend, not a journalist.
kao prijatelj, ne kao novinar.
that if I asked any questions
da ako pokušam da ga pitam nešto
for my reporting.
the guards reminded me
čuvari su me podsetili
and knew about my work.
to interview McGowan,
da intervjuišem Mekgovana,
as "self-contained housing units."
"nezavisne životne jedinice".
of describing black holes.
za opisivanje crnih rupa.
checkpoints that you would expect.
koje biste očekivali.
to the visitation room is silent.
the rest of the prison is on lockdown.
ostatak zatvora je zatvoren.
could touch each wall.
mogao da dodirnem zidove.
orb in the ceiling
veličine grejpfruta,
by the Counterterrorism Unit
protivteroristička jedinica
have to be in English for CMU prisoners,
moraju biti na engleskom jeziku,
for many of the Muslim families.
za mnoge muslimanske porodice.
bulletproof glass
otporno na metke,
attached to the wall
koje su prikačene na zid
razloge da se smejemo.
while in the CMU,
i da bi se zabavio dok je u JUK,
that I was secretly the president
da sam ja tajni predsednik
u Vašingtonu.
now thinks that Bella and Edward
sa su Bela i Edvard
and at length about his niece Lily,
govorio o svojoj nećaci Lili,
it feels to never be able to hug them,
da nikada ne može da ih zagrli,
was transferred out of the CMU
Mekgovan je prebačen iz JUK-a
he was sent back again.
ponovo poslat nazad.
CMU documents on my website
procurele dokumente JUK-a,
that McGowan had called his wife
da je Mekgovan zvao svoju ženu
was saying about him,
at the end of his sentence,
kad je odslužio kaznu,
još više kafkijanska.
for the Huffington Post headlined,
sa naslovom:
a CMU for my Political Speech."
poslat zbog svog političkog govora".
back in jail for his political speech.
zbog svog političkog govora.
njegovo oslobođenje,
by the Bush administration,
što ih je Bušova administracija otvorila,
how and why CMUs were created.
su JUK osnovane.
with "inspirational significance."
od "izuzetnog značaja".
these are political prisons
da se kaže da su to politički zatvori
because of their race,
zbog svoje rase,
political beliefs.
characterization is too strong,
da je takva karakterizacija prejaka,
of the government's own documents.
by the CMU, the sender was told
pošiljaocu je rečeno
"for political prisoners."
"političkim zatvorenicima".
activist Andy Stepanian,
za prava životinja, Endi Stepanijan,
anti-government and anti-corporate views.
i anti-korporacijskih stavova.
may be hard to believe,
poverovati u sve ovo,
and in the United States.
i u Sjedinjenim Državama.
is that the US has a dark history
because of their political beliefs.
zbog njihovih političkih uverenja.
was home to the CMU,
bio dom JUK-a,
in solitary for 22 hours a day.
na 22 sata dnevno.
was to "control revolutionary attitudes."
"kontrolisala revolucionarne stavove".
the Lexington High Security Unit
zvani Leksington visokobezbedna jedinica,
to the Weather Underground,
"Weather Underground",
independent struggles.
nezavisnim pokretima.
communication and used sleep deprivation,
komunikaciju i koristio uskraćivanje sna
"ideological conversion."
"ideološko preobraženje".
but only through the campaigning
ali samo uz pomoć kampanja
advocates, like Amnesty International.
i zastupnika ljudskih prava,
with the Center for Constitutional Rights
sa Centrom za ustavna prava
of their due process rights
prava na pravično suđenje
and religious speech.
i religioznih govora.
never come to light without this lawsuit.
se nikada ne bi pojavili bez ove tužbe.
and my message for you today
i moja poruka vama danas
to what is being done to these prisoners.
šta se radi ovim zatvorenicima.
of the values held beyond prison walls.
vrednosti koje važe van zatvorskih zidina.
to human rights.
ljudskim pravima.
repeating the mistakes of our past.
da ponavljamo greške iz naše prošlosti.
described as the stories of the dead,
opisao kao priče o mrtvima,
the stories of ourselves.
I learned about the Bill of Rights,
o Ljudskim pravima,
about 25 other laws and rights
the number one question I get
postavljano pitanje
that people don't know.
of situations, any rights abuses,
slične situacije, kršenja prava,
that it's actually happening
to actually make a change.
da se nešto i promeni.
what's happening at all
disenfranchised populations
not native English speakers.
engleski im nije maternji jezik.
representation that I mentioned,
imaju odlične advokate,
of what's happening.
šta se dešava.
that you have right to council
pravo na zastupnika
convicted of a crime,
kada su ljudi osuđeni za zločin,
was bogus or legitimate,
after that is warranted.
zagarantovano.
and dangerous narrative that we have,
veoma štetan i opasan,
of things to happen,
kind of turns a blind eye to it.
were all real documents, word for word,
su prava, svaka reč,
all of them to my website.
na svoj sajt.
a footnoted version of the talk,
to je verzija ovog govora sa beleškama,
without the little snippets.
bez ovih malih isečaka.
on primary source documents
na dokumenta iz primarnih izvora
with former and current prisoners,
sa bivšim i sadašnjim zatvorenicima,
with this situation every day.
there myself, as well.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Will Potter - Investigative journalistAward-winning journalist and author, Will Potter focuses on the animal rights and environmental movements, and civil liberties in the post-9/11 era.
Why you should listen
Independent journalist and TED Fellow Will Potter is based in Washington, D.C.; his current work examines how whistleblowers and non-violent protesters are being treated as terrorists.
The author of Green Is The New Red: An Insider's Account of a Social Movement Under Siege, Potter has extensively documented how non-violent protest is slowly being criminalized. His reporting and commentary have been featured in the world's top media outlets, including the Washington Post, NPR, Rolling Stone, El Pais, and Le Monde. He has testified before the U.S. Congress about his reporting, as the only witness opposing the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act -- and he is a plaintiff in the first lawsuits challenging so-called "ag-gag" laws as unconstitutional.
Will has also lectured at many universities and public forums about his work, including Georgetown University, Harvard Law School, and the House of Democracy and Human Rights in Berlin. International speaking tours have included Germany, Austria, Switzerland, New Zealand, and Spain, and he was the international guest lecturer for Australia's 2014 animal law lecture series.
His reporting has overturned criminal prosecutions, and it has both been praised in Congressional reports and monitored by the Counter-Terrorism Unit.
Will Potter | Speaker | TED.com