Herman Wallace

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Herman Joshua Wallace (born October 13, 1941 in New Orleans - † October 4, 2013 in New Orleans) was an American human rights activist and part of the Angola 3 prisoner trio .

Life

Bank robbery and imprisonment

In 1967, the previously unknown Wallace was sentenced to prison in a maximum security prison in Louisiana for a bank robbery . In the USA, the facility was considered one of the most dangerous of its kind at the time. Wallace and his fellow inmate Albert Woodfox founded an offshoot of the Black Panther civil rights movement in prison and campaigned with it for better prison conditions.

Assassination attempt in prison and renewed conviction

When a white guard was stabbed to death on April 17, 1972 in a prison known colloquially as "Angola", the first thing investigators were watching were Wallace and Woodfox. A court later sentenced the men to life imprisonment. Also, Robert King , the third of the trio prisoner "Angola 3", is blamed for the murder.

Wallace denied guilt for the guard's death until death. Instead, they wanted to get them out of the way as disagreeable political activists. For 41 years, Wallace was in strict solitary confinement in a six-square-meter prison cell. He went to the yard alone for an hour three times a week. The human rights organization Amnesty International has denounced the inhuman conditions since his arrest, as Wallace's access to books, newspapers and television was restricted. In all that time he was never allowed to work. Amnesty also found the trials to be unfair because Wallace's conviction was largely based on the testimony of other inmates, with one later retracted and another reportedly bribed by the prison authorities. DNA traces that could relieve Wallace have been lost. Even the widow of the murdered guard said in 2008 that she did not believe Wallace and Woodfox were the culprits.

Investigative boards in Louisiana have reviewed Wallace's solitary confinement more than 150 times since 1972. Each time a pardon was refused despite good conduct.

Art project with a New York artist

In 2001, New York artist Jackie Sumell became aware of Wallace and asked him: "What would the dream house of a man who has been sitting in a three by two meter cell for more than 30 years?" Reason "help Jackie with her career and Jackie help him to draw attention to his fight" on the project. In hundreds of letters and phone calls, Wallace and Sumell developed a model over a period of five years. Wallace dreamed of mirrors over the bed and a bathtub the size of his cell.

Continuation of the art project

In 2008, the project resulted in an exhibition that was shown in several countries. Wallace finally asked to make the dream come true and build the house as a symbol in his hometown. In fact, Sumell moved to New Orleans , but so far she has not been able to raise the necessary funds for the construction.

The documentary Herman's House also wanted to draw attention to the relationship between the artist and Wallace. According to the producer, the filming was difficult as the prison administration denied all requests to film in prison. “Herman's House” is based to a large extent on telephone calls with Wallace. The film was screened at the Toronto Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in April 2012 .

Release and death

In the summer of 2013, Wallace was diagnosed with fatal liver cancer after severe weight loss . After the findings, Amnesty International again campaigned for his immediate release with 65,000 signatures.

On October 1, 2013, Wallace was unexpectedly released from prison and transferred to a hospice on the grounds that his trial was unconstitutional. Amnesty International welcomed the decision. After his release, Wallace wanted to take legal action against the authorities for years of solitary confinement. On October 4, 2013, three days after his release, Wallace died saying "I am a free man."

Web links

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Isolation prisoner dies three days after release
  2. ↑ Breaking: Herman Wallace Dies Just Days After Being Released from 40+ Years in Solitary (engl.)
  3. ↑ Helen Kinsella, The Angola Three's long, lonely quest for justice in: The Guardian, October 2, 2013, accessed June 10, 2015
personal data
SURNAME Wallace, Herman
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wallace, Herman Joshua; Angola 3
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American prisoner and human rights activist
DATE OF BIRTH October 13, 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH New Orleans
DATE OF DEATH 4th October 2013
Place of death New Orleans