With a national push to transition from a penal to a correctional system, the Guyana Prison Service (GPS) Administration has prioritised inmate welfare, alongside security.
“The Government would have made it a primary focus in terms of raising the standards in terms of living conditions for the inmates and also for officers,” Senior Superintendent of Prisons (SSP), Mark Smith, disclosed on a recent television programme.
The SSP acknowledged that there were past complaints and cases of inmate ill-treatment, but he assured the public that such reports are no longer an issue.
“Going forward, you shouldn’t be getting any negative reports coming out from the Human Rights Association in terms of treatment against inmates,” Smith stated confidently.
Senior Superintendent of Prisons Mark Smith
Officials credit improved rehabilitation programmes, upgraded facilities, and a strict no-tolerance policy, for the change.
This aligns with the Government’s broader rehabilitation strategy, which includes certified vocational training, improved facilities, and reintegration programmes.
The administration’s commitment to humane treatment and prisoner rehabilitation is expected to foster a more effective correctional system, while reducing recidivism.
With these reforms in place, GPS officials believe that Guyana’s prison system is not only improving locally but also setting a regional example for correctional institutions across the Caribbean.
Last year, the United Nations’ (UN) Human Rights Committee (HRC) criticised Guyana for harsh prison conditions, including overcrowding, abuse, inadequate medical care, poor sanitation, and limited access to water and sunlight.
Concerns were raised over the lack of transparency and independence of prison visiting committees.
The committee urged Guyana to comply with international standards, reduce overcrowding through non-custodial measures, improve detention conditions, and allow independent prison monitoring.
Training for law enforcement on preventing deaths in custody was also recommended.
The report followed a review involving a Guyanese delegation led by Minister Gail Teixeira.
In 2023, similar concerns were raised by the committee, emphasising the need for urgent reforms in Guyana’s prison system.
In 2023, Minister Robeson Benn had re-emphasised the importance of rehabilitation for persons in prison rather than them experiencing violence. He made this disclosure while delivering the feature address at the graduation ceremony at the GPS.
Benn also emphasised the importance of reform within the prison system, noting that the GPS’s role is not just custodial but rehabilitative.
“We don’t want people to come into the prison and be treated with cruelty. We want to rehabilitate them. We want to make them better citizens. We want them to be stable and to come out and have jobs. We want them to go out and join their families and not pose a threat to their families, to themselves, or to the wider community,” Minister Benn had stated.
