Death row inmates lament delays in appeal hearings

Nov 24, 2010 News

– slam prison authorities for inhumane treatment

By Dale Andrews

Several prisoners who have been sentenced to death are up in arms over the delay in the hearing of their appeals.
Some of the prisoners have been on death row for more than five years and despite serving notices immediately after receiving their sentences, they are still to have their appeals heard.
And in addition to the delay in having their appeals heard, the inmates who are suffering from several ailments are worried that their death sentences will be unofficially carried out before their appeals are heard.
A senior functionary of the Judiciary told this newspaper that the Chancellor has the responsibility of convening the Court of Appeal. The official said that the Court of Appeal has enough judges to form a quorum.
However, he pointed out that the court could only hear an appeal if the record for the case is completed and properly filed. This he said should not take more than a few months.
Among those awaiting the hearing of their appeal are Safraz Rahim, Mark Samuels, Niranjan Rattan and the Ramnauth brothers; Allan, Patrick and Marvin.
Rattan has been awaiting his appeal the longest.
He was convicted on November 14, 2005, after being charged on 29 April, 2003, with the murder of another man during a drinking spree.
Rattan is a diabetic who claimed that he is not receiving proper treatment.
“The (Home Affairs) Minister said in Parliament that it is costing the state $19,000 per prisoner and yet we are not getting treatment anywhere near that amount,” he told this newspaper during a recent interview with this newspaper.
Safraz Rahim was charged with murder on 1st July, 2003 for the murder of a man on the West Bank of Demerara.
Rahim had chopped a man to death after responding to a call for help from his sister-in-law.
He was convicted and sentenced to death on 5th June, 2005.
A hypertensive case, Rahim informed this newspaper that when he voiced concerns over the meals he was receiving, a prison official said that “you could do what you want”.
“They behaving like they own this jail,” he told Kaieteur News.
The Ramnauth brothers, Patrick, Marvin and Allan were charged on 13th September, 2003.
They were convicted and sentenced to death in May 2007 for the murder of a woman at Bush Lot, Berbice.
“The meals are killing us slowly. Sometimes we have to throw it away. We are not even getting the proper medical attention,” one of the brothers lamented.
“They want to execute us in a different way,” another brother stated.
Then there is Mark Samuels who was convicted and sentenced to a date with the hangman in November last year.
His crime was killing his reputed wife and sleeping with her body for several days in their Grove, East Bank Demerara home.
The death row inmate is suffering from cataract in both eyes and may soon go totally blind.
But many see his plight as poetic justice.
A few weeks ago this newspaper had contacted Prison Director Dale Erskine on the concerns expressed by the condemned men with regards to their meals, and the problem was immediately rectified.
But this turned out to be temporary and intermittent.
For a few days after the intervention of the Director, the inmates enjoyed some of the best meals since their incarceration.
But recently it was back to the regular unpalatable food.
“These people have us on death row for so long and they are torturing us,” one of the inmates said.
The condemned men also took umbrage to recent remarks made by a government official who said that all the persons behind bars are criminals.
“We have the right to appeal our convictions and in some cases those who were convicted are freed on appeal,” one of the condemned men reasoned.
They are appealing to the Guyana Human Rights Association to examine their plight with a view to having the state honour its obligations to the United Nations treaty on the treatment of prisoners, even those who have been condemned.
They pointed to several cases of the deaths of fellow inmates due to a lack of proper medical attention on the part of prison officials.
But while some may argue that the condemned men have no real rights to complain, a prison official said that this category of inmates are best cared for, since they are the most vulnerable to acts of self-destruction.

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Death row inmates lament delays in appeal hearings

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