Prisoners at the Camp Street jail last evening set fire to their bedding and pieces of paper in protest at conditions triggering a response by the Joint Services who were in control of the situation up to press time last night.
The fire service quickly quelled the flames of three small fires set by inmates of the Capital Offences building while in their cells some time around 7.30pm. The unrest had started earlier in that building where inmates could be heard chanting “we want justice”, “we fear for we lives” and even “they want to kill we but we gone kill them first.”
The capital offences building holds over 200 inmates and much like the rest of the Camp Street Pri-son is overcrowded. Inmat-es could be heard shouting that they are being denied basic human rights such as a proper meal and even in circumstances where family members bring food, prisoners are not given their meals. They shouted from the building that they were routinely brutalized by prison officials while some could be heard reflecting that they had been waiting seven, eight and up to 10 years on remand awaiting trials.
Inmates shouted that they were fed up and were being treated like animals. Some could even be heard accusing prison officials of brandishing and discharging weapons routinely in the prison with the intent to kill inmates. Some prisoners shouted that one officer was threatening that he had killed before and could kill again.
Relatives of prisoners contacted Stabroek News numerous times stating that the inmates were scared and officials did not have a proper plan in place.
When contacted, junior prison officials stated that there was no issue at the prison and the situation was under control. Acting Director of Prisons Welton Trotz, when contacted, related that he is on leave and the situation was being handled by Deputy Director of Prisons Carl Graham. Stabroek News was unable to get in touch with Graham despite many attempts.
At about 5pm, members of the Tactical Services Unit responded to the situation at the prison and the Guyana Defence Force arrived after the fires were put out to further monitor the situation.
TSU officers cordoned off the four streets surrounding the jail. However, persons were still walking back and forth ignoring officers’ requests to remove themselves from the area. The response time of the approximately 20 TSU officers was staggered as pickup trucks arrived at 10 and 15 minute intervals. Officers were seen carrying both assault rifles and tear gas grenade guns into the compound.
Up to press time, the Joint Services remained on site.
