Latest update February 7th, 2025 10:13 AM
Apr 24, 2016 Editorial, Features / Columnists
The media report that prison officers are fearful for their lives and that the prisoners took over the Camp Street Prison is not surprising. The truth is that the prison system in Guyana is nasty, brutish and rotten. Successive governments just keep talking about improving them, but so far, they have done nothing substantial to stop the rot.
The Camp Street prison has deteriorated to deplorable and inhumane conditions, even unfit to house animals let alone human beings. The eighteen lives lost in the March 2016 riots (one died of a heart attack) at the Georgetown prison should send a strong message to the Minister of Public Security and the government that the rehabilitation of prisoners and the construction of a new prison with modern facilities are urgently needed to prevent such incidents from reoccurring.
However, the government has refused to build a new prison as did its predecessor. They all cite the cost.
It is a national disgrace to have approximately 900 persons in the Camp Street prison that was built since 1832 to house 350 inmates, many of whom are on remand for many years on various charges.
The inordinate delays of trials at the Courts show that the justice system is archaic and is plagued with serious problems that are affecting its overall performance. Meanwhile, prisoners are made to suffer under a system over which they have no control over.
Apart from the construction of a new prison, the government should also seriously contemplate the rehabilitation of prisoners under the motto “human before inmates.” This should be the mindset that goes into any consideration of building a new prison.
Prison reform is desperately required to prevent a return of prisoners to prison. However, there is a deafening silence among prison authorities surrounding the idea of restorative justice, which should be a sensibleapproach to treat those who run afoul of the law.
At the heart of the rehabilitation programme should be the meting out of justice for prisoners in a more humane manner, thereby helping them to change their lives and become law abiding citizens rather than being alienated in prison. Unfortunately, the present prison system puts “inmates before human” and this is evident in the inhumane conditions and treatment that inmates have to endure for years waiting for a trial date.
The current prison conditions and the cumbersome judiciary have served only to breed hate, mistrust and hopelessness in the minds of many prisoners.
Prisoners continue to direct their anger and frustration towards prison officers who represent the authority and the society. The prison system is so primitive that the safety and security of prison officers have become the unwitting targets of prisoners in a system that has become unmanageable.
Seventeen prisoners had to die before a Commission of Inquiry was established to investigate problems at the prison. This reactive approach does not bode well for the government.
Many believe that a new prison is needed to replace the outdated Camp Street Prison which was built more than 180 years ago. If the government is not serious about reforming the prisoners, the system will continue to produce more desperate, barbaricand hard core criminals.
Rehabilitating prisoners is far more humane as opposed to putting them in jail indefinitely. This is by no means a support for those who broke the law, but rather an impassioned plea for a more sensible and humane approach that will eventually reduce the level of criminal behavior in society. Building a modern prison will create a more secure environment for prisoners and prison officers. Pursuing restorative justice and the reform of prisoners would lead to human development and not just inmate lock-up.
Feb 07, 2025
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