ASKING FOR FORGIVENESS!

Apr 05, 2016 Editorial, Features / Columnists

Had the authorities heeded the complaints of the prisoners and their relatives, the riots which took the lives of seventeen inmates at the Georgetown Prison could have been avoided. Now that seventeen lives are lost, the government has apportioned blame on the previous administration for failing to implement the recommendations from several groups aimed at improving the putrid conditions at the prison.
Prison reform which was one of the government’s campaign promise during the election became less of a priority after it took office. By placing it on the back burner, the nation, especially the relatives and friends of the deceased have paid a hefty price. The riots at the prison were awful.
It is important for everyone to understand that the rights of prisoners’ matter. Among the core rights are that prisoners must be treated with fairness, dignity and respect; the right to a speedy trial; free from unreasonable delay; to be innocent until found guilty, have legal representation, be informed and to be paroled. The denial of these rights by prison authorities was expressed by several inmates at the Commission of Inquiry.
Those who died in the prison riots were sons we raised, fathers we loved, brothers and uncles we cherished and the friends we valued. They broke the law, and even though they were imprisoned, no one can deny the fact that the government was responsible for their security just as it is for the rest of us. After all, they were under the supervision of the government.
The anguish wrought from their deaths can only be truly fathomed by those left behind to bear the pain and suffering. As a civilized society, justice is not only done, it must be seen to be done, but the dispensation of justice has over time become disproportionately unfavorable to alleged accusers of a crime. In such circumstances: whither the accusers?
It is an irrefutable fact that the prisons in Guyana are primitive, overcrowded and crude. The public is aware of it. Given the limited rights granted to criminals, it is no wonder that many have spent years in jail waiting for a trial. In some instances, the wait is five years or more.
Those at the vanguard of protecting the prisoners and upholding their rights have become complicit in a system in which the rights of the prisoners are violated.There is such overwhelming evidence of this practicethat prosecutorial procedures and even the laws and the judicial system that one questions,are archaic and have led to poor decisions.
The recent pardon of persons by the President who have committed minor offences and, ostensibly, paid their debt to society should have been seen as a good gesture but not for some in society.
In a pious and virtuous society, the people are frequently told that they ought to forgive, even if they do not forget. Though there is no specific biblical reference to it, they have been nurtured into believing that it is human to err, but it is divine to forgive.
This is true, and the laws and legal practices in the country tend, in many ways, to submit to this abstract. No one except the agnostic will objectto the idea of forgiveness. It is something most in society frequently seek for themselves. But unfortunately, there seems to be a lack of sensitivity and similar compassion for prisoners who are asking for forgiveness.
It is one of the ironies of jurisprudence that people, especially the poor and the downtrodden who broke the law and act contrary to the rules of society, should not be forgiven. But those with status, wealth and power who operate outside the laws are given the opportunity to seek and claim leniency from the same laws and society.

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