On August 27th, several inmates in the Security Control Unit (SCU) of Wabash Valley Correctional Facility initiated a hunger strike to protest nearly every aspect of their conditions of confinement. The SCU is the most extreme lockdown unit in the state of Indiana. It became notorious in the early 90's for its reputation of torture, starvation, and murder. It's former commander, James Basinger, is now Deputy Commissioner of Operations for the Indiana Department of Correction, making him responsible for policy throughout the entire system. Had it not been for the organized and sustained resistance of the prisoners the world may never have learned the truth of what was happening there. The SCU is the "end of the line" in Indiana prisons. It is where those political prisoners whose influence threatens to arouse the resistance of the prisoners around them are sent to be "broken". Recently, the conditions there have deteriorated to a point that rivals the days of Commissioner Basinger's command. The inmates who initiated the strike on August 27th were met with immediate reprisal. That very night they were informed by Corrections Officers that Internal Affairs was directing them to write disciplinary reports for "group demonstration." This is a direct vioaltion of policy which permits any inmate to refuse meals whenever they so choose. Inmates were cuffed and taken from their cells where they were served with their disciplinary paperwork. CO's made it explicity clear that they believed inamtes were striking in coordination with the national events which are ongoing. This despite the fact non of the hunger strikes were even aware of the national strike due to Wabash Valley's draconian restriction on inmate to inmate correspondence and censorship of political literature. Prisoners have been held on disciplinary segregation merely for receiving information on potential work stoppages and demonstrations. IDOC Watch received reports of overwhelming support coming from several states and outside the country. Many people emailed us to report on what happened after they called Wabash Valley Warden Richard Brown, Deputy Commissioner Basinger, and Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb. Callers were told by Wabash Valley administrators that inmates diets are regulated by policy and receive 2500-2800 calories per day. They expressed confusion as to why the inmates were striking at all. The reality of the situation is that no outside verification of proper following of policy or of the amount of food received by the inamtes is possible and the only information we have is from the inmates themselves. Moreover, despite the supposed number of calories food is often served rotten, undercooked, compromised by CO tampering, and delivered in containers "not marked for human consumption." A few days in to the strike we received a longer list of demands that extended far beyond food policy. Almost all aspects of life in the SCU were being challenged by the inmates. Unfortunately, by the time this list was received the strike had more or less been broken by intimidation. At this point, around day 4 of the strike, we encouraged callers to voice opposition to the disciplinary measures being taken against the strikers, citing violation of policy. It was on this day and the following that the majority of calls were made, undoubtedly due to the strikes amplification by IWOC. We are pleased to report that the pressure has succeeded in forcing Internal Affairs to relent and the strikers were informed that the Disciplinary Reports have been "torn up." This is a rare occurrence and without the support nationally would likely not have been possible. Additionally, one of the strikers, Kwame Shakur, who is also the highest profile political prisoner in Indiana has finally received anti-biotic treatemen for his autoimmune deficieny. Shakur contracted this medical condition following a Tuberculosis outbreak in Pendleton Correctional Facility some years ago. He and the other effected inmates have yet to received their just compensation for this incident. At this point things have returned to "normal" on the SCU. "Normal" as in the expected daily suffering of isolation, starvation, and torture. However, we believe that this wave of repression has passed and for now the strike leaders are out of immediate danger. Gratitude and Solidarity to IWOC for amplifying this event and making it possible to prove that repression can be broken through resistance.