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ISSUE 147 Friday 11th MARCH, 2016<br />
The killings of Prison Officers is a case of…<br />
“PETER PAYING FOR PAUL”<br />
Story by AZAD ALI<br />
The killings of prison<br />
officers are being<br />
blamed on the<br />
abuse of inmates at the<br />
Remand Yard, Golden<br />
Grove, Arouca by prison<br />
officers.<br />
This is the claim made<br />
by a prison officer who told<br />
Sunshine there are certain<br />
prisons officers who beat<br />
prisoners during searches<br />
of their cells while masked<br />
from the Emergency Rapid<br />
Response Unit (ERRU) and<br />
since the inmates are unable<br />
to see their faces other innocent<br />
officers are targeted<br />
for revenge.<br />
He said the killing of Fitzalbert<br />
Victor Jnr. who was<br />
gunned down in Laventille<br />
last week is a case of “Peter<br />
paying for Paul”.<br />
This was the second time<br />
over the past four months<br />
a prison officer has been<br />
murdered near his home,<br />
prompting Commissioner<br />
of Prisons Sterling Stewart<br />
to declare “we are under attack”.<br />
But this “attack” will<br />
not stop until prisoners are<br />
treated in a humane manner,<br />
one officer said.<br />
A source said it is a norm<br />
for prisoners at the Remand<br />
Yard to get a beating when<br />
cellphones and illegal drugs<br />
are found in their cells.<br />
When inmates protest the<br />
search of their cells they<br />
also get a cutarse. Many of<br />
them suffer injuries about<br />
their bodies. A source said<br />
as long as prison officers<br />
continue to beat inmates<br />
there would be attacks on<br />
them by their criminal<br />
friends on the outside.<br />
Prison Officers’ Association president CERON RICHARDS, second from left,<br />
speaks with members of his association at the front gate of the Remand Prison<br />
Facility, Port-of-Spain, following a press conference.<br />
GUYANA<br />
PRISONERS REACH “GENTLEMAN’S<br />
AGREEMENT” WITH GOV’T<br />
After three days of<br />
protests by prisoners<br />
at Guyana’s<br />
main jail – which<br />
resulted in the deaths of<br />
17 inmates –, and a meeting<br />
between prisoners<br />
and government ministers,<br />
agreement has been<br />
reached on steps to improve<br />
conditions at the<br />
penal institution.<br />
Inmates at the Camp<br />
Street Prison will be allowed<br />
to call their families<br />
more regularly, the quality<br />
of their meals will be improved,<br />
and efforts will be<br />
made to reduce periods of<br />
remand.<br />
That was announced by<br />
Public Security Minister<br />
Khemraj Ramjattan at a<br />
press conference on Friday<br />
after he and Minister of<br />
State Joseph Harmon met<br />
after three days of unrest<br />
with an 18-man delegation<br />
from the prison.<br />
The latest period of unrest<br />
began last Wednesday,<br />
after a search uncovered<br />
cellphones and drugs. Prisoners<br />
set nine fires which<br />
were extinguished before<br />
getting out of control, but<br />
the disturbance was reignited<br />
the following morning,<br />
as some prisoners were<br />
being moved from one<br />
part of the jail to another.<br />
They set a fire that damaged<br />
part of the compound<br />
and resulted in 16 of them<br />
perishing there and a 17th<br />
passing away at the hospital<br />
after suffering burns to<br />
most of his body. Several<br />
other prisoners were also<br />
injured.<br />
In another round of protests<br />
early on Friday, prisoners<br />
set fire to another<br />
section of the prison but<br />
that was quickly extinguished.<br />
They also kicked<br />
out the walls of a wooden<br />
section of the jail and security<br />
forces were called in as<br />
they ran through the prison.<br />
Several prison officers<br />
and inmates were injured<br />
and treated at hospital.<br />
Officer in Charge of the<br />
prison, Kevin Pilgrim,<br />
confirmed that following<br />
the meeting between the<br />
ministers and the prisoners,<br />
some calm was restored<br />
at the prison. He<br />
said the damaged sections<br />
of the prison were being<br />
repaired.<br />
Harmon also reporters<br />
after the meeting: “I think<br />
we have sort of a gentleman’s<br />
agreement on both<br />
sides and we are going to<br />
try to keep our end of the<br />
- over abuse of inmates<br />
bargain and they are going<br />
to keep theirs.”<br />
Among the concerns expressed<br />
by the inmates<br />
were: the long time many of<br />
them were on remand; only<br />
being able to call their loved<br />
ones twice a week; and the<br />
poor quality of meals.<br />
Ramjattan and Harmon<br />
said those matters would<br />
be addressed immediately.<br />
According to Ramjattan,<br />
telephone calls will be increased<br />
to three per week,<br />
with the possibility of being<br />
increased to four or five<br />
when more telephone lines<br />
are installed at the prison,<br />
and prison authorities have<br />
been reminded that meals<br />
are to be of a sufficient<br />
good quality and in conformity<br />
with the Standard<br />
Operating Procedures of<br />
the prison system.<br />
Commissioner of Prisons<br />
STERLING STEWART<br />
Page 11<br />
Deceased FITZALBERT<br />
VICTOR Jnr<br />
Reports are that after the<br />
two recent lockdowns at the<br />
Remand Yard prison, several<br />
inmates were beaten<br />
and there was talk in the jail<br />
there would be a reprisal<br />
for the injuries a number of<br />
them suffered.<br />
Prison officers have been<br />
warned by their seniors<br />
about abusing inmates,<br />
which they are not heeding.<br />
Another prison officer<br />
said instead of Prisons Association<br />
President Ceron<br />
Richards “bumping his<br />
gum” about taking the government<br />
to court over its inability<br />
to protect and assure<br />
the safety of officers while<br />
on or off duty, he should<br />
call on his membership to<br />
stop the beating of inmates.<br />
richards should also try<br />
to stop the smuggling of<br />
contraband behind bars by<br />
some of his rouge officers.<br />
It was noted that while<br />
Richards have been calling<br />
for officers to be given<br />
firearms, Victor had been<br />
issued with a licenced gun,<br />
but he was unable to defend<br />
himself as he had left it upstairs<br />
at his Prizgar Lands<br />
home when he was ambushed<br />
and shot.<br />
Richards also wants officers<br />
to be removed from<br />
“hot spots” but there are “hot<br />
spots” all over the country.<br />
Prisoners on Remand are<br />
getting more and more frustrated<br />
over the long delay in<br />
their cases being heard and<br />
are now becoming more agitated<br />
since they are unable<br />
to use their illegal cellphone<br />
to make outside calls and<br />
have phone sex since the installation<br />
of jammers.<br />
They will now have to<br />
use the Inmate Calling Solutions<br />
(ICS) system where<br />
inmates can now make outgoing<br />
calls from the jail.<br />
So far it has been reported<br />
that some 300 prisoners at<br />
the Remand Yard at Golden<br />
Grove and Maximum Security<br />
Prison have registered<br />
with the programme.