Amerindian prisoners are suffering under our justice system

Aug 17, 2017 Letters

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 have died and received injuries.
It appears that there is something to hide. The relatives of Amerindian prisoners also complain bitterly 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 both in the Hinterland, on the Coast and in Georgetown. 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 absolutely 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).
In relation to Amerindians who are in the Georgetown prison which was recently destroyed by fire, can the director of prions Mr. Gladwin Samuels and the Minister of Public Security Hon. Khemraj Ramjattan accurately say, how many Amerindian prisoners are in the Camp street prison and other prisons?, how many have died?, what is their current Health Status? And when will they be placed before the courts for trail represented by a state lawyer from the Attorney-General Chambers?
Peter Persaud

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