Prison system is a national emergency – GTUC

…says no need for another CoI

The Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) has said the problems facing the prison system are of a national emergency nature, and they necessitate a bipartisan approach through debates and engagements in and out of the National Assembly.

Because it perceives the situation as very grave, the GTUC recommends constructive engagement between Government and the Opposition to address the problems at reference.

According to the GTUC, the current situation is a “national security crisis.”

“This nation does not need another Commission of Inquiry (CoI) to admit what has been known for years and not being attended to. In the last 16 years, there were several commissioned reports and discussions on the prison system,” the GTUC said in a statement.

The GTUC deems the following reports as notable: Guyana Prisons Ten-Year Strategic Development Plan (2001-2011); British Prison Reform (2001); Justice Cecil Kennard CoI (2002 jailbreak); Disciplined Services Commission Report (2004); Lloyd Nickram Study (2009); and Justice James Patterson CoI (2016 jailbreak).

“Sitting on the 2004 Commission was Mr David Granger, who is now President (of Guyana) and Commander- in-Chief.  It is not lost on GTUC that recommendations in the 2016 CoI which could have easily been implemented were only acted on after the 9th July unrest. The other reports were done during the Bharrat Jagdeo presidency. Recommendations from the stated reports must now be used in determining the future of the prison system,” the GTUC statement has declared.

The GTUC has also said it recognises improvements in the techniques used to recapture the escapees, which resulted in the minimising of causalities; and the overall handling of situations which clearly had potential to get worse was also noted. However, the Trade Union representative body has accused both the past and present governing administrations of putting prison reform on the back burner, prioritising other issues of lesser import and ignoring the problems that have been festering for years.

Reiterating its commitment to the wellbeing of the prisoners, the GTUC proceeded to highlight the inhumane treatment to which they are subjected, and spoke of the absence of proactive and carefully-thought-out-and-implemented policies that continue to result in logistical nightmares. Hopefully, the GTUC has said, the welfare of the prisoners is not lost on the administration, whose actions are signalling the existence of human rights and environmental crises.

The GTUC has said that, in many instances, conditions are not better than animals being held experience, which animal rights activists will rightly condemn.

The GTUC has said it rejects the idea of privatising the prison system, and has urged the Government to equip prison officers to be able to deal with crises.