With mounting complaints about the condition of the East La Penitence lock-ups, where female detainees are forced to sleep on the concrete floor and endure the stench of filthy toilets, women’s rights groups and the local human rights body are urging the relevant authority to rectify the situation.
Red Thread and the women’s arms of both the People’s Progressive Party and People’s National Congress Reform along with the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) have sounded their concern over the state of the lock-ups, which house female prisoners who are yet to appear in court or those transferred from the New Amsterdam Prison for court hearings in Georgetown.
Two recent inmates who spoke with Stabroek News recounted horror stories about the conditions of the facility during their incarceration. The lock-ups are made up of three cells; one for juveniles and two for adults. There are two toilets and one bathroom. According to one of the former inmates, who asked not to be named, while she was there the cells were filled and they were forced to sleep in the passageway. She said there were some 28 females housed in the facility and most of them were juveniles, who were the ones who are forced to sleep in the cells on the cold concrete floor. The woman disclosed that the older women fight to sleep in the passageway because it is tiled and is not as cold as the concrete in the cells. The woman said the only thing they were allowed to take in to sleep on was newspaper and sometimes they could use their towels if they were allowed to keep them.
She recalled that there were two sisters, aged 15 and 13 years old, who were in the facility. It was not clear when they would be allowed to leave as they were charged with trafficking in marijuana. The woman said the two children were picked up on the Linden Highway along with their father, who pleaded not guilty to the charge and was on remand. “How could you have young children with big people? What you think it doing to them? And then they have two Amerindian teenagers on a murder charge who go to Matthew’s Ridge court every three months. One a dem skin start breaking out with things on it. Is because of the conditions and it is just not right. Something has to be done. I believe somebody should tell the President because I know if he go and see dem things he wouldn’t allow people to be like that,” the woman said.
Only last week, drug accused US citizen Maxine Cecelia Batts, 64, begged a magistrate to send her back to the New Amsterdam Prison because she was forced to sleep on the cold concrete at East La Penitence. The former inmate with whom this newspaper spoke revealed that for three nights Batts, who is paralyzed from her waist down, slept in her wheelchair. “But if you see how she foot dem swell up fat, fat and we had to lift she up and put she to lie down on the ground,” the woman said.
One toilet, described as being “condemned,” meaning that it is out of service, is filled to the brim. “The women told me that one time a big, big, pink rat and big crappo [toad] with thing coming out he mouth crawl out dah toilet,” the woman said with a shake of her head. She added that it was these incidents that forced those in charge to cover the toilet bowl and then place the tank on top of the cover. “They want keep anything that inside deh inside but they can’t keep in the smell. Dem need to get rid of the toilet it causing disease,” she lamented. She said sometimes they are forced to use small drink bottles to flush the toilets. “And you would understand that it can’t really work so sometimes the toilets are just left dirty and smelling up the place.”
Meanwhile, June Azore, an amputee, had gone to a police station to enquire about her hearing and speech-impaired daughter, who had been detained on the suspicion of larceny. When Azore turned up, she too was locked up.
Fighting back tears, she told Stabroek News that her rights and those of her 14-year-old daughter were violated. She recalled being forced to sleep on a crowded passageway with her daughter because the cells were filled. Azore also spoke of a “high stench” at the lock-ups and being unable to breathe properly. She said no provisions are in place for a disabled person to utilize the bathroom facilities, while noting that she struggled to take a bath while there. “That place is in terrible condition. The smell from the overflowing toilet to the bathroom, it was really bad and they have people hold up there in those conditions…it ain’t right,” Azore added. She said the experience was going to stay with her for a long time.
Azore also complained about the manner in which the officers treated her and her daughter, saying that from the condition of the station to the treatment, “everything was horrible.”
Stabroek News attempted to get a comment from Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee on the issue but questions about the facility and other matters, which this newspaper was asked to email, were not answered.
‘Very serious abuse’
Karen De Souza, of Red Thread, told Stabroek News that the female lock-ups “are a true horror story,” which she described as “a very serious abuse of the persons who are locked up in there.” She added, “It seems as if the Guyana Police Force or the authorities have taken a decision that once you are locked up or on remand, you don’t need to have any sleeping accommodation.”
De Souza said the cells are concrete boxes with little ventilation and very little light, while the smell is “abominable.” The woman activist said that even the persons who work at the station should not be exposed to such a stench and such an environment, which “really is inhuman.” De Souza recalled that the state of the lock-ups has been terrible since the 1970s, when she was incarcerated. Over the years, she added, there has been some refurbishment with the toilets being fixed and part of the floor being tiled.
Co-President of the GHRA Mike McCormack told Stabroek News that his organization has received complaints about the facility. He said it is an issue that they would raise with the police and hope that a solution would be found. He added that the social services should take the matter seriously, especially with young children being forced to exist in such conditions.
McCormack said that even though the persons are being incarcerated, the minimum human right standards must be maintained and the police need to ensure that when they are locking up persons, they provide proper conditions for them. “If you detain people and can’t treat them like human beings, then you don’t have the right to detain them, simple as that,” the GHRA head said.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Women’s Progressive Organisation (WPO) Indra Chandarpal said that while no one has come forward to complain about the facility and they recognize that it is a lock-up and not a home or a hotel, the authorities must respect people’s human rights. “There are going to be some difficulties because a prison is supposed to penalize you as well as not making you too comfortable but at the same time taking into consideration the human rights of the person,” she told Stabroek News. She also noted that over the years the relevant authorities have been making moves to improve the conditions.
She said her organization does not condone situations such as what is alleged to exist at the lock-ups as there must be acceptable conditions in place at such facilities “because they are also entitled to some basic human rights. And we believe that the authorities, if they are allowing such practices to take place, we are saying it is not right.”
Chandarpal further added, “There should be some semblance of the basic amenities. Persons who are allowed to lie on the concrete, they can get sick and we should look at the health of the persons. At least the basics should be provided; they should be able to get a mattress to sleep on. If the allegations are true, we would like to urge the authorities at the police station to investigate and correct as early as possible. Those people may be criminals but they are entitled to certain basic facilities.”
She said that all the recommendations about the facility that have been made in the past should be taken into consideration and immediately efforts must been made to rectify the situation.
Chandarpal, herself a former Human Services Minister under the PPP government, said that the question of the children being held at the facility is something her organisation had raised many years ago. “In terms of incarcerating the young ones with the seasoned criminals, that is something we have spoken about and it is something that we do not think is acceptable, because for all the reasons, whether it is at the La Penitence Police Station or any other police station, I think it is something that we should avoid as much as possible,” she said.
Additionally, she said the authorities need to strike a balance to ensure that while the children are awaiting the outcome of any situation while they are in police custody, they should be taken care of to prevent any kinds of harassment and any sexual abuse. She said the WPO will support all the initiatives that are there and those that will be taken to ensure that children are given the attention that is needed to prevent any kind of abuse.
Recently, there have been allegations of young girls being sexually assaulted by police officers while in custody.
Chairman of the National Congress of Women Cheryl Sampson said her organisation is concerned when women are not treated the way they should be. She said while she has been unable to visit the lock-ups, her organisation has received complaints from a number of young people who have been locked up there and they likened it to the Brickdam lock-ups before it was rehabilitated. “I am told that there are no proper facilities for women and the women are sometimes told to walk with a container to use as a toilet,” Sampson said.
She referred to the complaints Batts made to the court and added that she was informed that if a person’s family did not take a piece of cardboard for them to sleep on, then they have to use the bare concrete. “…When you think of the conditions of holding facilities in other countries, you wonder when we are going to get to that stage. It is a lock-up, yes, they need to be punished but give them something to lie on, perhaps a thin piece of sponge, provide toilet facilities for them,” Sampson said.
She further noted that the fact that hardened criminals are being held with young children is not right. She said the children should be held at another location. Sampson also questioned when the Sophia facility for juveniles, which appears to be completed but stands locked, will be opened. “I think they should think in terms of people as human beings and provide better facilities. Just like how after people had to protest and complain and write letters they have done something to the Brickdam lock-ups, do likewise to the East La Penitence lock-ups,” she said.
