Even as Justice Minister Christlyn Moore told a news conference at the Maximum Security Prison in Arouca yesterday that she had checked and no prisoner at the facility was on any hunger strike, eight or nine inmates, pushing their hands out the windows of their cells, shouted continuously that they were being treated like dogs. “There is disquiet, there is no doubt. But to describe it as a hunger strike is a bit generous,” Moore said.
Prisons Commissioner Martin Martinez, who was at the conference, said inmates who were reportedly on a hunger strike had in fact been feasting on cereal, snacks, juice and water bought for them in the prison cafeteria by visiting friends and relatives. He said when he visited them last Sunday they “were as happy as a well-fed baby in a crib with a rattle” with no indication anyone was starving or listless.
Martinez said prison medical officers were yesterday expected to examine the inmates who were not eating prison meals. He said they were being closely monitored in case they stopped eating altogether and measures had been put in place to take care of them if they did. Moore said she had been offered prison meals whenever she visited and they were quite adequate. She ate rice, chicken, lentils and salad on her last visit to Carerra Island Prison.
The minister said she had a long conversation with Martinez, key administration personnel and members of the inmate population yesterday morning and she believed she could state there was no hunger strike at the prison. “There are some prisoners who have access to alternative meals and have refused to eat prison meals. “This does not equate with a hunger strike. But it also does not mean there has not been disquiet among prisoners,” she said.
Moore said she had held an hour-long meeting with 15 inmates earlier in the morning and their only concern was the length of time it took for their cases to be heard. Her meeting came after newspaper reports that remand prisoners had gone on hunger strike on May 19 over the delays in hearing their matters and inadequate prison conditions. The shouts of the inmates, from a cell block next to the hall where the press conference was held, could be heard even before it started.
“They treating we like dog! We have to wait eight and nine and ten years for a date! They creating criminals here!” different inmates shouted. There are 400 prisoners on remand at the Maximum Security Prison, another 1,100 at the Golden Grove Prison and a total of around 1,800 at all the prisons. Moore said she found it necessary to visit after reports of the hunger strike and because her ministry had been receiving an increasing number of letters from prisoners complaining about the lengthy waits for trial dates.
“From our checks, 578 people accused of murder are in the prison system. Of this, 386 have been awaiting trial for more than three years,” she reported. One short-term measure had already been put in place by Chief Justice Ivor Archie after requests by the Justice Ministry, she said. This involves the judiciary setting aside two to three weeks in September to hear the cases of those who plead guilty.
There were 30 remand inmates wanting to plead guilty to the last count, she said, but others were also willing to take advantage of this opportunity.