Amerindians need a Legal Aid Centre

Dear Editor,
The Georgetown Prison was burnt down on Sunday 9th July, 2017. In relation to this disaster, the relatives of many Amerindian prisoners are eager to officially know about their current welfare and health status. This badly-needed information they are not receiving from the Director of Prisons, Mr Gladwin Samuels, the Ministry of Public Security (MoPS) and the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples Affairs (MoIPA).
They complained that Amerindian prisoners are badly treated in the prison, and their health status is ignored by the prison wardens and authorities. With the disaster that hit the Georgetown Prison, they all want to know how many Amerindian prisoners received injuries, or even died.
The relatives of some Amerindian prisoners also complained that hinterland Amerindians do not have access to justice, and more so to an attorney-at-law, because of their poverty status; and as a result, they are unjustly sent to Guyana’s prisons by the courts in the hinterland, on the coast and in Georgetown.
Reports are that many Amerindians are in prison for over six years, not knowing when they will appear before a magistrate or judge for court trial, or be released from prison. This smacks of a blatant violation of Indigenous Peoples’ rights in Guyana, where the administration of justice is concerned.
In this regard, Amerindians are calling for the quick establishment of an Amerindian Legal Aid Centre (ALAC), because Guyana’s Legal Aid clinic does not visit the hinterland regions and, as a result, provides no legal assistance to Guyana’s indigenous peoples. With this in mind, I do wonder if legal luminaries such as Melinda Janki, Nigel Hughes, Anil Nandlall and others can consider the formulation of an Amerindian Legal Aid Centre (ALAC).

Yours sincerely,
Peter Persaud