80% of prisoners learnt no trade behind bars – IDB/CSSP 2017 study

As in-remand inmates increase to 37 %

High Court judges and other officers of justice often encourage incarcerated persons to take steps to reform themselves, but the results of their admonition are not being seen, as high numbers of inmates claim they have not learnt any trade whilst being imprisoned.
This revelation was unearthed from the Citizen Security Strengthening Programme (CSSP) prison survey report that saw collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank and University of Guyana.
According to a 2017 IDB/CSSP study, some 80 percent of the incarcerated inmates claimed they did not learn any trade since their incarceration.
In fact, Mazaruni reflected that 31.1% inmates are learning a trade whilst being inside. At the Georgetown Prison, 84.4% of those said they did not learn, while Lusignan’s numbers showed 74%.
Timehri’s no-trade numbers were at 82.2%, whilst New Amsterdam was slightly lower at 80.5%.
Additionally, judicial officers, when passing sentence, would also encourage prisoners to take advantage of programmes to reduce anger management and to increase literacy.
However, the study suggested that prisoners are not fully educating themselves. When the question was posed, asking if inmates studied or attended classes or school in prison, New Amsterdam Prison had a 34.3% “yes” response.
Seventy-eight percent of prisoners at the Camp Street, Georgetown penitentiary said they attended no such classes.

Remand inmates increase to 37%
Meanwhile, even as incoming President of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Adrian Saunders, called for reforms to remedy the region’s “broken” criminal justice system, Guyana’s prison system saw an uptick of prisoners who are on remand.
The IDB/CSSP study revealed that 762 of the country’s 2043 inmates were on remand awaiting the outcome of court matters. This reflected 37 percent of all inmates are in-remand, which is a 2% increase from the previous 35%.
Speaking at Duke Lodge last month, Justice Saunders had outlined that trials are not being heard within a “reasonable” amount of time, which was not only a constitutional violation, but a “serious human rights abuse”. He suggested that the prosecutorial authorities, prisons, the executive and bar association all need to collaborate to tackle the issue.
As reported, the survey also found that most inmates have either used marijuana or have been incarcerated for drug possession or dealing.
“Six out of ten prisoners reported having consumed marijuana; 7.6 per cent cocaine base paste, cocaine, or crack; and 6.4 per cent pills or ecstasy. Two most frequent crimes for which the inmates were arrested in Guyana are intentional homicide or murder, 34.9 per cent; and drug possession or drug dealing, 21.3 per cent,” it said.
The report had also found that six out of ten inmates were physically punished to some degree by their parents or guardians when they were children.
“One out of five inmates said they were gangs members or belonged to criminal groups in the neighbourhood where they lived as minors. Four out of ten inmates stated they had a family member who had been sent to prison,” the report states.
The CSSP is funded by the Inter-American Development Bank, with US$74,200 being allocated for the survey. (Shemuel Fanfair)