California Hunger Strike Prison 2013: Inmates End 2-Month Strike 'Until Further Notice"
Inmates who went on a hunger strike in solidarity against solitary confinement in California have ended the protest after two months.
Thirty thousand inmates across the state participated in the hunger strike, but the number of protesters sank down to about 100 this week.
The inmates who organized the protest released a statement to announce the official conclusion of the hunger strike and provided an outlook into the future of their goal to reform the prison system in California.
"To be clear, our Peaceful Protest of Resistance to our continuous subjection to decades of systemic state sanctioned torture via the system's solitary confinement units is far from over,"
"Our goal remains: force the powers that be to end their torture policies and practices in which serious physical and psychological harm is inflicted on tens of thousands of prisoners as well as our loved ones outside."
According to the New York Times, two state lawmakers vowed to hold public hearings on the prison conditions and long-term isolation policies. The proposed hearings are expected to take place next month.
Jeffrey Beard, who serves as the secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, released a statement saying he was happy to see the strike come to an end.
"We are pleased this dangerous strike has been called off before any inmates became seriously ill," he said. "CDCR will continue to implement the substantive reforms in California's Security Housing Units that we initiated two years ago."
Although the hunger strike has come to a halt, it could start again if the inmates don't see any progress soon. In the statement, which was signed by 17 people, the inmates only said that the strike is over "until further notice."