Milagro Sala, an imprisoned indigenous activist and lawmaker in Argentina, will begin a hunger strike to protest the mistreatment of 25 imprisoned women, including herself.
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"This situation of extreme cruelty towards our leader has led Milagro to evaluate starting a hunger strike with other inmates, starting next week," the Tupac Amaru organization, a 70,000-strong organization led by Salas, said in a statement.
The lawmaker is jailed in the Alto Comedero prison in northern Argentina. Sala said the governor of Jujuy cut off heating in the compound, and denied hot water for showers to her and fellow inmates belonging to the same organization, despite being in one of the coldest prisons in the country.
“They took away my freedom, but they didn’t take away my revolutionary thoughts," said Sala.
She says prison staff also mistreat their relatives and bar them from bringing inmates warm clothes.
“Argentine President Mauricio Macri and Justice Minister German Garavano are accountable to the international community for allowing the violation of the minimum standards regarding the conditions of detention of people deprived of their freedom," the organization said.
Sala was arrested five months ago on charges of public disturbance. She was accused of illicit association and fraud based on alleged mismanagement of public funds.
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Milagro Salas is an elected official in the parliament of Mercosur, a regional integration institution including Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay as well as Venezuela.