The US Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2007 in St. Lucia found that “prison conditions generally met minimum international standards at the four-year-old Bordelais Correctional Facility, which had a capacity of 500 prisoners and held approximately that number. Some prisoners and family members complained about treatment of prisoners at the facility.

The Boys Training Center, a facility for boys charged with criminal offenses or suffering from domestic or other social problems, operated separately from the prison. The boys in the program normally stay for two years and receive vocational training while enrolled. There were allegations of poor conditions and harsh treatment of the juveniles at the facility, including beatings by police officers.”

However, media and Court reports from St. Lucia have long indicated a state of overcrowding at the island’s prison, especially for remanded persons. As the rate of crime increases in St. Lucia, CURB encourages the authorities to develop alternatives to incarceration in order to ensure that the Bordelais prison does not suffer from the extremes of overcrowding that plague other Caribbean nations.