Bugs were found in the mattresses that prisoners at the Camp Street jail slept on, according to a former member of that prison’s visiting committee who said that aside from this, the penitentiary appeared livable.
“It was pretty okay, on the margin of livable. One must understand that it is not home or a hotel. You can’t expect to treat bad guys within a home stand, I would not agree with that. They have to feel some level of discomfort,” the former member who requested not to be named told Stabroek News.
This member was on the visiting committee for over a year. That committee last visited prior to the May 2015 general and regional elections. A new visiting committee for this prison as well as the others was installed last month. Stabroek News was informed that between May last year and March this year, there were no visiting committees in place hence no visits were made.
The visiting committees are made up of civilians of various backgrounds who would visit the prison they are assigned to, examine the physical conditions as well as listen to and document the concerns of the prisoners. Their duty is to make recommendations to the Ministry of Public Security as to how the concerns could be best addressed.
According to the former member, chief among the complaints, was the presence of bed bugs. “We did see that. If we knock out the mattresses we would see bugs,” he said adding that the committee recommended that the prison administration ensured that the mattresses were of a good quality and that there be an adequate amount to accommodate all the prisoners in the facility. Some of the prisoners he said used to make hammocks from their sheets because of the state of the mattresses. He said that this practice was not only because of the state of the beds but due to the fact that there was either a shortage or some would have destroyed by the prisoners themselves.
He explained to Stabroek News that he and the other members of the committee visited the city based penitentiary once a month and stuck to a detailed itinerary which was prepared beforehand.
He said the chairman would advise and inform the Director of Prisons when the committee would be visiting and which part of the prison the committee would like to visit.
“It was scheduled and they [the prison directorate] would advise what our itinerary would be …which department we would visit on that particular day,” he said adding that the visit would last several hours and would include touring of cells, the kitchen and other parts of the prison as well as interactions with prisoners, some of whom would have committed serious offences.
He said the visits had to be carefully planned as there would be only so much the committee could do during a visit. Every cell could not be inspected, so it was done by section.
Food
Among the other functions, he said, was the inspection of the food prepared for and distributed to the prisoners. “Sometimes we would taste it and it would taste all right to me,” he said.
He said not only was the quality good but each prisoner received a good amount which was adequate. He said the kitchen was clean and he and the committee members would see lots of groceries. The utensils used to prepare the meals, he said, were clean and in good condition.
“The prisoners keep complaining that they [the prison administration] would provide good food when we visit. We don’t visit impromptu,” he said. It was pointed out that for security reasons, the committee could not turn up at the facility unannounced and as such the standard practice is that the expected date is communicated to the Director beforehand.
He said that during their visits the prisoners would be playing sports in the middle of the compound.
Further, he said that while he would describe the cells as livable they could have been better.
On the issue of overcrowding, the former visiting committee member said that at the time of his visits there were between 800 and 1,000 prisoners housed at Camp Street.
“They are cramped a little but it’s not a three star hotel or home, all of that would be expected,” he said adding that he did not find the facility to be congested.
He said there were no bad smells and the washrooms were clean. The former committee member pointed out that the prisoners never complained of anything major.
During the year he visited there were evening classes, boxing and training programmes in various areas.
He recalled that prisoners often complained about the length of time they were in prison before their matters were heard and completed. He said that during his tenure attempts were being made to get a lawyer to work along with the committee to provide advice on how this could be dealt with. He said the committee chairman would have raised the issue of delay in trials with the prison administration.
Following the March 3 fire which claimed the lives of 17 prisoners, this issue was raised during a meeting between a delegation of prisoners and Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan and Minister of State Joseph Harmon. Following a meeting between government and judicial officials, a decision was made to appoint temporary magistrates and begin night courts.
The setting of fires in the cells has been an ongoing occurrence. The deadly fire was started by a prisoner. Asked whether the committee was at any point concerned about fires, he said that they did not focus much on that. He said there were fire extinguishers inside the prison.
He recalled that on one occasion they had asked about the setting of fires and prisoners said that they would try to deal with that among themselves by either extinguishing it themselves or containing the prisoner who has set the fire.
Human rights
The March 3, incident came as a surprise, he said before pointing out that the fire could have been set for selfish reasons.
“One bad herring does spoil the whole barrel. A few could have become frustrated and they wouldn’t care who it affects, he pointed out.
“The prison officers are trying their best. They were doing an excellent job. When we were there it was a smooth flow. The prison was in good condition,” he stressed.
The former member made it clear that the committee is “for the prisoners” and as such its role is to ensure that a certain standard is kept within the prison.
“Things are two fold; there is the humanitarian side and also the fact that they were accused of committing a crime thus their presence in prison…the average man would say they deserve that bad treatment but we have to be human too,” he said in a bid to explain that the treatment of prisoners has to be seen in two contexts.
He stressed that while those incarcerated at the facility might be criminals, it did not mean that their human rights must be violated.
The former member said that having had that first experience on such a committee, he would like to serve on another as the experience was very enlightening. He said that while growing up he heard a lot of bad things about the conditions in the Camp Street prison but after his visits he concluded that it was a hundred times better. He said the prison is in a far better condition than some lockups at police stations around the country.
The Georgetown Prison Visiting Committee which took effect from March 7, 2016 is chaired by Deoram Timram who is a pastor and head teacher. The other members are Nicola Trotman who is a manager/social activist, Devanand Tika who is a pastor, Thakoor Seeraj who is a pandit at the West Demerara Mandir, Allison Mohamed who is a social activist/administrator and Meresia Greene who will function as secretary and is a research officer in the Ministry of Public Security.
