U.S. report reiterates Guyana’s prison conditions “potentially life-threatening”

May 02, 2019 News

The U.S Department of Justice has once again decried the state of affairs as it relates to the living conditions in Guyana’s prisons, noting that it poses a serious threat to human life. This is according to a recently published report on human rights practices of Guyana and other countries around the world.

Camp Street Prison

According to the document, “Prison and jail conditions, particularly in police holding cells, were reportedly harsh and potentially life threatening due to overcrowding, physical abuse, and inadequate sanitary conditions.

In October (2018), the Guyana Prison Service reported there were 2,216 prisoners in eight facilities with a combined design capacity of 1,505. Overcrowding was in large part due to a backlog of pretrial detainees, who constituted approximately 30 percent of the total prison population.”

The report was keen to note that in May 2018, the government released the finding of an independent study of the prison system funded by the Inter-American Development Bank which revealed that prison officers physically abused prisoners.

Further, the report said that government reported that the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent found that prison conditions at the Lusignan Prison were appalling and cells were unfit for human habitation.

In this regard, the report disclosed that prisoners reported unsanitary conditions and a lack of potable water, and they also complained of lengthy confinement in their cells with limited opportunities for sunlight.
Turning its attention to the administration, the report noted, “Authorities stated they investigated and monitored prison and detention centre conditions monthly, and committees prepared reports after each visit. Prisoners often circumvented procedures for submitting complaints of inhuman conditions or mistreatment by passing letters addressed to government officials through family members.”
In the report, ‘Study of Inmates in Guyana 2017’, six out of 10 inmates said that there were more inmates in the prison facilities than it was designed for. The report also highlighted important shortcomings in the prison systems as it relates to the provision of basic items such as clothing, sheets and towels.
According to the study, “Only 5.7% of the inmates reported that prisons provided sheets. Only 6% of the inmates reported that prisons provided clothing. Only 3.6% of the inmates reported that prisons provided towels.” Prisoners reported that their families were the main providers of these items.
“Prison was perceived as an unsafe place by the inmates. Nine out of ten inmates reported feeling less safe in prison than at their home or the place where they had lived before. Six out of ten inmates said that someone has stolen their personal belongings in the prison. A quarter of the prisoners said that, in the previous six months, they had been attacked or beaten. Eight out of ten inmates said that they had seen another inmate being beaten.”
As it relates to the kinds of activities in the prisons, 21.9% of the inmates participated in entertainment activities and 28.2% participated in educational activities. To a greater degree, 48.7% participated in sports activities, half of the inmates (52.3%) participated in the cleaning or maintenance of the prison, and just 47.9% performed some kind of work inside the prison.
However, some positive aspects can be observed regarding four other issues.
The study found that a vast majority of the prisoners or 75.1% reported that they had the opportunity to have a shower between eight and fourteen times per week. In a similar vein, a high percentage of inmates (71.4%) believed that the toilets they used were “clean” or “very clean.”
Along these lines, seven out of ten inmates (71.3%) said they had enough water to drink, although half of them (50.8%) rated the water they received as “poor” or “very poor”. Despite these prevailing conditions, it was noted that there were no major violations when it comes to inmates’ sexual rights.
“Nine out of ten inmates said that since they were arrested, they had not witnessed another inmate being forced to have sexual intercourse with another person. Almost all prisoners said they had not been forced to have sexual intercourse against their will since they were arrested.”