The Commission of Inquiry (CoI) notwithstanding, the pervasiveness of drugs in Guyana’s prisons point to a deterioration in the running of penal institutions that will be extremely difficult to remedy. The events leading up to March 3, which saw 17 inmates of the Camp Street, Georgetown facility killed in fires set by prisoners, confirmed much of what had been hinted at and whispered about prior to that. And that is that the distribution, sale and use of illegal drugs proliferate in the prison.
It had been reported that a day before the deadly unrest began, prison officers had conducted random searches and unearthed and seized illegal items, including cell phones and a quantity of narcotics.
For obvious reasons, cellular phones are banned in prisons. Ideally, inmates maintain outside contact through landline telephone calls that are screened and visits by their relatives. Yet, the raid conducted by prison officials had turned up 19 cell phones. In addition, it later emerged that many of the phones seized were smart phones with internet plans and that prisoners had been using them to update their Facebook statuses and profiles. No doubt they also used them to chat with relatives, friends and others.
The Guyana Prison Service would have had these phones for almost a month now, in addition to other phones seized in the past. One wonders whether any attempt was made to find out to whom the phones belong. Some may belong to the prisoners who had them but others may be registered in the names of relatives, who should have been questioned and perhaps charged, depending on the evidence gathered, including paying the monthly instalment to either GTT or Digicel to keep the internet plan working. One also wonders how the inmates managed to charge those cell phones. Accessing the internet uses up way more battery power than phone calls and clearly, there are no electrical points and plugs in the cells, so who was recharging the prisoners’ cell phones? Again, after an investigation, charges should be laid. Such probing does not require a CoI. And in any case, which prisoner is going to publicly incriminate a relative or ally who smuggles a cell to him, pays the charges and, possibly, ensures that it is charged and returned? No. The chances of such information being revealed through the CoI are slim to none.
It boggles the mind therefore that there seems to have been no investigation and no charges stemming from the events preceding the deadly fire. It is obvious that prisoners did not rub two bricks together to set the combustible material in their cells on fire; matches and/or cigarette lighters would have been on hand. How were these procured?
Meanwhile, two Sundays ago, this newspaper carried a report based on an interview with a woman, Ms Felicity Benjamin, who had spent just 30 days in the New Amsterdam Women’s Prison. Among the things that perturbed Ms Benjamin during her short prison term was the use of drugs. “Them girls smoke them weed… They blow it in meh face,” she said, stating that she got high from being forced to inhale the second-hand smoke. She added that after she complained to the Matron of the prison, she was threatened.
It is a well-known fact that marijuana (weed) is particularly pungent, far more so than tobacco. Prison wardens should be able to detect the smell of cannabis while it is being smoked, afterwards in the area where it was used, as well as on the hair, clothes and breath of inmates who would have used it. The questions that arise, given Ms Benjamin’s experience, is whether the prison officers are unaware of the practice, or whether they turn a blind eye (nose). One would hope that training in the detection of this and other illegal substances is part of the orientation of prison officers.
The irony of the situation is that there are prisoners—both men and women—serving custodial sentences for the possession of drugs, including cannabis, for the purpose of trafficking, while the blatant drug possession and use inside the prison indicate heavy trafficking. Drugs don’t grow and are not manufactured in the prison so they must be taken inside by prison officers and visitors. There is little evidence of attempts being made to clamp down on this. Instead, prisoners seem emboldened in their disrespect of authority and rule-breaking.
Unfortunately, such scenarios give the opposite perspective to the concept of rehabilitation of those incarcerated. Aside from the woeful conditions in the prisons, which would make rehabilitation difficult, prisoners who are determined to continue lawbreaking inside the prison will do exactly that once they leave. Without a doubt the prison system needs fixing. Much like a Mini Cooper attempting to fetch a load of sand, the CoI may be the wrong vehicle to fix it.
