OPOSITION
SPOEKSMAN ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, LABOUR AND IMMIGRATION
23
August 2001
I
thank the Chairman of our party for allowing me these personal intimations
about the situation in the prison. As
you know, my younger brother Matthew is a prison at the Fox Hill jail. This
matter is therefore of great personal concern to my family and me. But you also know that my concern, interest
or advocacy is not new. I have been
tirelessly campaigning for prison reform since my call to the bar in 1986. I have just come back from Germany visiting
prisons and looking at issues of prison reform. A decade earlier I was in Sweden looking into the same issues. At
one point, I was offered and considered accepting the position as head of prison
fellowship but I had to decline due to my political, commitments.
Because
of the lack of political support in the country, those who have been advocating
prison reform have been singularly unsuccessful in influencing the Government
to do something about the prison. This
despite the overwhelming evidence that the prison is not only a health hazard
and clearly violates the constitution of The Bahamas that bans cruel and
inhumane punishment. This despite the overwhelming physical evidence over the
last year that at least three persons have died in the prison. The victim whose case is now before the
Coroner’s court seems to have been suffering from depression that led to his
suicide.
But
there has been at least one murder there .
You have a police officer who
was convicted of rape, sentenced to seven years in prison and is now dead. The authorities have offered no explanation
nor apology to the family of the man for not being able to guarantee his
safety, health and security.
There
is also overwhelming evidence that tens of thousands of young males end up in
prison and that this is impacting their ability to enjoy society and become
productive individuals. The prison is
quite simply unsafe and needs to be condemned.
I am
therefore personally heartened by the evidence of Dr. Ricky Davis. Lately, my colleagues and I led by the
Leader of the Opposition visited the prison and saw for ourselves the kitchen
which the doctor described as not fit for a hog. I
had never seen so many flies in my life over all the food that was being
prepared for the inmates to eat. Those
conditions still obtain. My brother is
in the medium security prison where
that kitchen is. But in maximum
security it is even worse because the kitchen is right next to the latrine
where raw waste is dumped.
I
want to thank the prison warders who in
the midst of lack of resources, lack of training and poor working
conditions and salaries manage to keep
a civilized face in a bad situation.
The society must realize that even if the prisoners deserve these
conditions, which they do not, the warders certainly do not deserve these
conditions. The fact is that the same
conditions that affect the prisoner affect the warders. They carry all the health and psychological
problems of the prison home to their families.
They are an abused lot and their lot must be improved.
I serve notice that within weeks we will be moving the courts to force the Courts do what they have the power to do under the constitution which is to order the prison authorities to correct these inhumane conditions forthwith.
I
thank you for your attention.