The second hearing of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the fatal Camp Street prison unrest was yesterday deferred until Monday after President of the Guyana Bar Association (GBA) Christopher Ram successfully moved for its members to have full participatory rights instated.
These rights include the right to have counsel present at the inquiry, the right to participate in the process, the right to access evidence and the right to cross-examine witnesses.
The CoI has been set up to enquire into all the circumstances surrounding the deaths of 17 inmates who perished in a fire at the prison on March 3rd. After the first hearing on Thursday, when two prisoners testified, yesterday was scheduled for additional witness testimonies to be delivered by inmates.
Ram had, however, said on Thursday that it was an infringement of the rights of the prisoners to be called to lead testimony without representation as there was the possibility that they could incriminate themselves.
Yesterday, in his grounds for an application for interested party status, Ram stated that the March 3rd unrest at the prison led to the highest number of deaths of incarcerated people in a single event in the history of Guyana.
Furthermore, many of the attorneys linked to the GBA are directly and substantially affected by the tragedy as some of those who perished were their clients. He submitted that witnesses in the CoI, whether prisoners or police officers, had the right to representation, which can be provided by the association.
When pressed by CoI Chairman Justice James Patterson about whether the attorneys would be representing the witnesses pro bono, Ram said that while he could not state the position of all the attorneys, the GBA was encouraging its members to do so. He said too that any attorneys making appearances on behalf of the board of the GBA would do so for free.
Patterson, who eventually granted the application, also raised the concern that more often than not, those lawyers that do offer pro bono services are young and inexperienced. While Ram stated that he did not find this statement to be true, he acknowledged Patterson’s suggestion to have younger attorneys accompany the more seasoned ones to gain experience in criminal proceedings.
The CoI’s Terms of Reference include investigating, examining and reporting on the causes, circumstances and conditions that led to the fatal disturbances and also determine whether the conduct of the staff of the Guyana Prison Service in any way contributed to the prisoner deaths. It is also to make recommendations on any action that should be taken to avoid a recurrence.
