Frazier died five days later. There have been widespread allegations of torture and ill-treatment at Wallens Ridge and Red Onion State Prison, two new supermaximum security facilities situated in remote rural areas of Virginia. Many of the prisoners come from other states and jurisdictions and as a result are isolated from their families. While the prisons are staffed mainly by white guards, most inmates are people of colour.
Prisoners allege that physical abuse by the guards is often accompanied by racial insults.
Amnesty International is concerned, however, that such weapons can be harmful or even lethal if used on people suffering from conditions such as heart disease. Furthermore, there is an inherent danger that weapons which can inflict severe pain without necessarily leaving marks on the body, are open to the kind of abuse alleged to have taken place at Wallens Ridge and Red Onion. Prisoners held in Red Onion have alleged that guards used electro-shock stun weapons against prisoners to punish them for talking back or for minor infractions of prison rules. In 1999, prisoners at Wallens Ridge alleged that guards maintained a climate of fear and intimidation. The prisoners claimed, for example, that guards used electro-shock devices to punish inmates and left prisoners strapped down for prolonged periods in punishment cells.