Pressure grows on government for early prison release

Edmond Campbell, Senior Staff Reporter

Citing the serious threat posed by COVID-19, Public Defender Arlene Harrison Henry says there is an urgent need for the authorities to look at various categories of inmates in Jamaica's prisons to determine who can benefit from early release.

Her comments come at a time of renewed concerns about overcrowding and breaches of established rules at the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre and the St Catherine Adult Correctional Centre, which have been highlighted in a report by the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM).

READ: From bedbugs to water woes, elderly inmates live in filth, Says INDECOM

On Wednesday, senior government officials, including Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton, toured at least two correctional centres in Kingston.

The Department of Correctional Services reported on October 3 that there were 14 positive COVID-19 cases at Tower Street.

Of the cases reported, two were staff and 12 inmates.

Four inmates and two correctional officers attached to the Horizon Adult Remand Centre tested positive for COVID-19.

The inmates have reportedly recovered but the status of the officers is not known.

In a Gleaner interview, Harrison Henry emphasised that the country should “utilise the measures to reduce the prison population,” noting that a public-health response alone to the COVID pandemic might not be adequate.

The public defender said that a review should be done of the aged population and the mentally ill in correctional centres.

Decisions should be taken on a case-by-case basis, she said.

Harrison Henry cautioned that the rate of infection of diseases in a confined population is likely to be higher than among the general population.

“With overcrowding, you have close confinement, close contact, shared facilities and poor hygiene. The overcrowding really undermines any public health initiative and human dignity,” she charged.

The Office of the Public Defender has made recommendations to reduce the prison population since the onset of COVID-19 in Jamaica in March.

She said her office has been having dialogue with officials from the Department of Correctional Services, technical staff of the Ministry of National Security, and Matthew Samuda, minister without portfolio with responsibility for the correctional facilities.

“My impression is that it may be that some steps are now going to be taken. Once the virus is there, it is a problem and without the virus the conditions are horrifically bad,” she said.

Late Tuesday evening, Samuda issued a statement saying that the Government would announce further plans to control the spread of the virus in correctional facilities.

READ: Gov't to decide on release of certain prisoners in COVID response

“We are currently looking to deal with the most vulnerable and those living with comorbidities within the correctional facilities and we will outline an approach in short order,” he said.

Commenting on the INDECOM report, Harrison Henry said that respective administrations have failed to address the chronic overcrowding problem in correctional centres.

She contended that Jamaica’s record for “human rights, civil liberties and dignity in our correctional facilities has been poor”.

Harrison Henry sought to distinguish between the physical facility and the staff, noting that her office has received fewer complaints overtime against correctional officers.

“The abject, dilapidated and creaking conditions of the physical plants – it’s an indictment on all of us.”

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