CJ Sharma on remand

NOW that Chief Justice Sat Sharma has added the weight of his office to our call for better prison conditions, particularly at the remand facility on Frederick Street, we expect that, at long last, some positive action will be taken. Three months ago, we expressed our horror at the findings of a team of attorneys representing the Law Association who had visited the State Prison in Port-of-Spain. What they reported to us was an absolute disgrace to a civilised society and we then observed, “Government cannot continue to ignore these atrocious conditions without being accused of callous and inhuman negligence.”    

In his address on Thursday, opening the new law term, Chief Justice Sharma took up the cause which he treated not simply as a humanitarian one but also in the interest of justice since the majority of persons subjected to this abominable incarceration are detainees awaiting trial and, as such, are entitled to enjoy the benefit of the presumption of innocence. The CJ gives another distressing account of the state of the city prison: “The conditions of the Remand Section of the Port-of-Spain Prison are reportedly appalling. An average cell measures approximately eight feet by twelve feet and, although originally intended to be occupied by two prisoners, now accomodates on an average seven to nine men.

“For these persons, the cell is not a bedroom alone, it is also a living room, dining room, kitchen and bathroom. The methods used to perform basic human functions at nights and the means used for cleaning a cell on mornings are abhorrent and revolting. “Further reports are that very little fresh air gets into the cells. Infestation of the cell by vermin is said to be commonplace, Sanitary facilities are reported to be abysmal. In short, the picture painted is one of decidedly sub-human conditions. How are these persons to deal and adjust in a society upon obtaining their freedom?” We must now ask: How much worse than this must conditions at the State Prison deteriorate before the authorities are moved to alleviate them? In our editorial three months ago, we stated that, in continuing to ignore this horror, the Government had opened itself to accusations of callous and inhuman negligence. As far as we know, nothing has since been done.

The fact is, however, that the state of this prison is a festering atrocity that will not go away, and the longer it is ignored the more terrible and dangerous it becomes. It strikes us as somewhat ironical that our Government, ardently pursuing its 20/20 vision of developed nation status, could remain so indifferent and untroubled by this example of gross dehumanisation in our prison system. In this regard, the point made by Chief Justice Sharma seems acutely relevant: “The hallmark of a civilised society is the manner in which it treats those who are disadvantaged or who have forfeited certain of their civil liberties because of conduct that society deems as unacceptable.” He repeatedly refers to “the basic fact that the purpose of detention of a remand prisoner is solely to bring him to trial,” and that “punishment, deterrence and retribution are out of harmony with the presumption of innocence.”

Mr Sharma calls for a radical overhaul of the remand prison “consistent with basic norms of decency and civility which recognise that, while there is justification for the suspension of some rights, the dignity of the individual must be kept intact by acceptable standards of accomodation and treatment. “Unless this is done, the price to be paid will be a steep one and a cycle of criminality may be unwittingly perpetuated.” The cause could not have been argued more eloquently. With these observations of the CJ, we rest our case.