(Trinidad Guardian) Former minister in the Ministry of National Security Subhas Panday said during his tenure at the ministry he rejected the idea of conjugal visits for prisoners because he felt it added no value to the prisoners or society. Panday, an attorney, said he did not agree with the idea of conjugal visits as a reward for prisoners. “I helped draft some of the rules and I objected to that,” he said. He is calling for public consultations on the issue and wants to know if the feelings of victims of rape and relatives of murder victims were considered.
“Although they speak of restorative justice I believe they have something to bear. There must be some retribution,” said Panday who stressed that prison conditions must be dealt with before consideration was given to conjugal visits. On Thursday Justice Minister Herbert Volney announced new prisons rules would allow for conjugal visits for certain prisoners. In addition, he said, a new communication system would be installed for video and telephone contact between prisoners and their families.
Panday said the idea of conjugal visits was raised while he was the minister with responsibility for prisons but he believed then, and still believed, there were more pressing issues within the system. He said: “I think we should see about medical (facilities) in the prisons. Prisoners are getting beaten. We should see about that. “There are too many fundamental problems in the prisons that we should deal with first rather than jumping on to sex. “That is why I am saying do not rush the brush. Let us see about the fundamental issues first.”
Panday added: “This is more than human rights. We are going overboard. We are not ready for that. How will it change your life having sex? “It is just a few minutes of gratification or pressure release but how will that rehabilitate you?” he asked. Panday suggested that religious organisations be allowed into the prisons to teach morals to prisoners to make them better persons so they could put their bad ways behind them.
He said parole should be considered for well-behaved prisoners.
The former minister also warned conjugal visits could present a security risk as the women may be used to bring contraband items into the prisons. He added Trinidad and Tobago was not ready for the introduction of such a system since it would leave the wives of prisoners open to ridicule.
