At least five prisoners will testify today when the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the disturbances at the Georgetown Prison which resulted in 17 deaths officially begins.
Chairman of the Commission former Justice James Patterson has assured that all the hearings are public. However given the volume of witnesses and members of the public who may want to attend, the conference room at the Department of the Public Service located at Waterloo Street, South Cummingsburg may not have adequate seating accommodation.
Patterson along with human rights activist Merle Mendonca and former prisons director Dale Erskine took their oath of office on Monday before Chief Justice Ann McLennan. On Tuesday they would have held their first meeting.
Yesterday, they held a press conference to update the members of the media on their intended course of action and to answers questions.
Patterson, while clarifying that the inquiry is a presidential one stated that “perhaps it will be tidier” to first have evidence from prisoners and prison officers involved. He said that the commission has to look into what happened that “ought not to have happened” based on the Standard Operating Procedures.
He said that the commission has made arrangements to access “certain documentary aids” in the possession of prison officers and where required the police force. He said that the mandate of commissions of inquiry is rarely narrow. “It is very wide because the whole concept is to get to the bottom of it”, he said, adding that while the commissioners have all the powers of a High Court judge certain aspects of the evidence act would be relaxed.
According to Justice Patterson, the commission will dwell on the reasons for the occurrences and escapes that had occurred. He yesterday made an appeal for persons who wish to testify to get in touch with the Commission’s Secretariat which is located at the Waterloo Street building of the Public Service Division.
He said that he has already received a request from an “entity” which he will soon be addressing.
Every assurance was given that the powers given to the commission will not be transgressed in any way. “We will do what we have to do though the heavens fall”, he declared.
When asked about the procedure to be used in selecting witnesses given that dozens of prisoners and their relatives may want to take the stand, he said that there is staff who will take “proofs of the evidence” to be heard and then “obviously we will make a choice”.
“We cannot accommodate everybody who wants to say something. There is always the exhibitionist element in things like this”, he said.
With regards to the use of video evidence of last Thursday’s events, he said that documentary evidence does include this type. “I would want to see that. I will not discourage that”, he said adding that there are people who want to give evidence but are afraid of retribution. “That is not going to happen under my watch. They can give it in camera if I so determine”, he stated.
Revised terms of reference for the CoI stated that March 28 will be the date when the commission shall render its report, findings and recommendations.
Asked if this is enough time, Justice Patterson said that an assessment will have to be made after a glance at the witness list, “We can’t determine the longevity of it until we see how many people want to testify but it doesn’t look like any mentioned time can stand. The rules state that another date can be given by the Minister of Public Security.
Minister of State Joseph Harmon had said following the swearing in ceremony that given the late start a revised date was in order.
He said however that the commission should finish their work within a month. Originally the commission was to begin their work on March 7 and deliver a report on March 15.
He emphasised that if anyone wants to give their testimony in camera, “let me get a proof and if the commission so determines so be it but we are not going to use that to let people make spurious allegations against anybody and hide under the cover of anonymity. That is not going to happen”.
The hearing will be held from 10 am to 2pm daily with a short break in between.
‘Warzone’
Meanwhile, Justice Patterson said that a recent visit to the prison revealed less than ideal conditions for the prisoners and prison officers.
“It wasn’t nice…seem like a warzone that they now getting back together. I saw two contending fractions, one may be described by some as the wretched of the earth and another as the oppressors. It is sad”, he told reporters after revealing that he and the other commissioners visited on Tuesday and left around 7 pm.
He informed that during the visit they met prison officers who seemingly had not slept in days. He later reiterated that what he did see, looked like a warzone. “I don’t know what it was like before…it has to be about 25 (or) 30 years since I last went there”, he said.
Reporters were later informed that the ratio currently was 10 officers to about 100 prisoners. Erskine said that the ratio was similar while he was heading the prison system. He said that efforts were made to improve that situation back then but he declined to give more details saying that this will be dealt with during the inquiry. He said that he would not want to say more until the commission has inquired into that particular aspect of the prison.
Justice Patterson said that when the commission puts forth its recommendations, “our job is finished. What they (the government) do with it that’s a matter for them”. He said that he is not there to advise the government but he is merely the Chairman of a CoI.
During the course of the press conference, Erskine was asked about objections being made to his appointment to the commission given that he was once in charge of embattled officer Gladwin Samuels.
During Erskine’s tenure as Director of Prisons, there were many complaints about the state of the prison system and other issues that are being raised by prisoners now. It would appear that those issues were not resolved while he was at the helm of the prison system. It was also under his watch that two prison officers including Samuels were charged in the beating death of a prisoner. The manslaughter charge was later dismissed. Samuels who is the Deputy Director of Prisons has been sent on six weeks leave in the wake of allegations made by prisoners following the deadly riot.
Erskine was asked what assurances he can give to prisoners that he will be impartial. Justice Patterson however choose to respond to the question. He stated that though Erskine was once at the helm of the prison system, “you can’t somehow shut out people from saying anything about anybody. I was there when he took an oath to be impartial, and I expect him to do that”.
He said that the assumption that “somebody because of some association…will not be fair in his judgment is an oblique attack on the gentleman’s character. That’s my view. You have to come up with something more substantial”.
Multiple fires had been lit in a section of the Capital Offences building last Wednesday as part of a protest over various grievances. The situation was brought under control but erupted again when prison officers returned the following morning.
Fires were set again and at the end of it all 17 were dead and another six inmates were injured, three of whom are hospitalized.
President David Granger later that day instructed that a CoI be established. A day later the commission was named.
Last Friday despite the deaths, the prisoners continued their protest.
During the standoff, members of the Joint Services were forced to use tear gas and fired pellets to get the prisoners out of the Capital Offences building, where a fire had been lit around 7am.
The prisoners also managed to kick out an already weakened wall located at the southern side of the building. Some prisoners were seen on the roof of a building in the compound holding various implements.
Seven prisoners were subsequently rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital for injuries they sustained.
Harmon and Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan later met with the prisoners who issued a list of grievances. After given an assurance that the grievances would be addressed the prisoners ended their protest action and there has been normalcy since.
All the circumstances
The commission has been constituted to inquire into all the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the 17 prisoners, to report the findings and conclusions to the Minister of Public Security and to make recommendations on any action that should be taken to avoid a recurrence.
According to the Terms of Reference (ToR) “The inquiry will investigate, examine and report on the causes, circumstances and conditions that led to the fatal disturbances and any other subsequent disturbances. It will also inquire into the nature of all injuries sustained by the prisoners”.
It will further “Determine whether the conduct of the staff of the Guyana Prison Service who were on duty” on that day and thereafter was in conformity with the Standard Operating Procedures of the Guyana Prison Service and “whether the deaths of the 17 prisoners was as a result of the negligence, abandonment of duty, disregard of instructions (or) inaction of the prison officers” who were on duty the previous night and on that day.
The commission is to make comprehensive recommendations to ensure the safety of the prisons.
The commission must examine and make findings and recommendations to “improve the physical infrastructure of the prison; the existing security arrangements in respect of the custody, management and control of prisoners; the appropriate treatment of prisoners in compliance with legal and other requirements and to prevent a recurrence of any such disturbances.”
