In Trinidad and Tobago, there has been yet another prison inmate death, purportedly by suicide. The latest victim is 28 year old Sunil Ali who was recently charged with the brutal slaying of 8 year old Hope Arismandez.

Arrested shortly after the little girl’s disappearance on May 24, 2008 Sunil Ali allegedly confessed his crime of rape and murder to the police and led them to the body of young Hope in a cane field. While in police custody he had reportedly indicated an intention to take his own life.

Prison sources indicated to the media that Ali was on suicide watch while on the remand section of the Golden Grove Prison in Arouca and had been placed in a cell by himself to protect him from violent attack by other prisoners. Nonetheless, Ali managed to hang himself with his bed sheet some time before 7pm on Friday 30th May 2008.

It is believed that Ali was mocked by inmates in cells around him and consequently, he may have slipped into a state of depression leading to his suicide.

CURB is alarmed at the rate of self harm which has occurred in Trinidad and Tobago prisons in recent years. We urge the Ministry of National Security to develop safe cells for inmates believed to be at risk of suicide or other forms of self harm as has been done in the United Kingdom.

Just as the prison at Balsam Ghut approaches three inmates short of reaching its maximum of 120, the British Virgin Islands premier, Ralph O’Neal collected the keys to the Territory’s new female prison and immigration detention centre during an official ceremony on Friday 30th May 2008.

The Premier told the gathering that the modern trends towards a globalised community have increased pressures for governments to provide detention facilities that are capable of achieving world standards for safety and security.

Minister for Prisons Honourable Andrew Fahie stated that any person who is detained – including every sentenced prisoner, whether male or female, refugee, expatriate or local – has the right to conditions of detention that are consistent with human dignity, adequate accommodation, proper nutrition and medical treatment.

Minister Fahie pledged to do his utmost to continue to ensure that every effort is made to continue to upgrade and provide adequately for all individuals in this community, even those that are incarcerated.

The new female prison and immigration detention centre are housed in the same building. The Immigration Department is responsible for the top floor of the two-storey building, while Her Majesty’s Prison will utilise the ground floor as the new female prison and juvenile facility. All of the different sections are completely sealed off from one another.

In the Barbados Parliament recently, Minister of Family Dr Esther Byer Suckoo whilst debating a resolution for the national strategic plan for HIV/AIDS prevention and control 2008-2013 said the government did not intend to sanction the distribution of condoms to prisoners in any of the nation’s penal institutions.

Dr Byer-Suckoo reportedly stated that condoms are not safe for anal sex, adding that prisoners need to be empowered with harm reduction strategies, whilst limiting the mobility of offenders. She emphasised the need to be able to reach prisoners with the strategies for the prevention of HIV because the government was aware that the potential for transmission of HIV in the prisons is high.

The Minister said that the government would utilise a variety of strategies to encourage prisoners who have been sexually assaulted and abused in custody to come forward to receive competent and effective counselling, treatment and care.

She was ready to acknowledge, however, that for such an atmosphere to be created, there needs to be the assurance for prisoners that their human rights will be protected in the prison and that, as a rape victim in the prison, they will have recourse for action.

CURB is in high praise for the Barbados government for its willingness to publicly address this issue rather than engage in denials and hide behind senseless rhetoric. We hope that other Caribbean governments follow this sterling example and move with decisiveness to stop prison abuse in the region.

Superintendent of Prisons in the British Virgin islands, Kenton Callwood, recently expressed concern over the lack of facilities at the prisons to deal with juveniles. His statement was made during the recent trial of a 16 year old youth who was sentenced to 6 years in prison by Justice Indra Charles on a conviction of manslaughter.

In her judgment, Justice Charles reported the superintendent as saying that the prison is ill-prepared to deal with a long-term juvenile inmate who for the most part will be isolated. Also, major changes will have to be made to meet the minimum standards required for dealing with juvenile inmates.

The judge hoped that this case would encourage the government of the BVI territory to move quickly to provide a proper facility to house its young people who have breached the law. According to the judge, although a new section for juveniles has been created in the new female section of the prison, the needs of minors cannot be met.

In addition, she said juveniles in adult facilities are extremely vulnerable from not only adult inmates but also from abuses from untrained staff.

In Trinidad and Tobago, CURB has been working quietly behind the scenes to secure a visit to the twin-island nation by representatives of the international organisation, Stop Prisoner Rape (SPR).

The purpose of the initial visit would be for SPR to meet with Prison Commissioner, John Rougier, become acquainted with the situation in local prisons, the intentions of prison authorities, and the needs of all stakeholders, including rape crisis counsellors, prison volunteers and other agencies in treating with prison sexual assault and abuse.

SPR has over 30 years experience in advocating for the rights of prisoners to be free from sexual assault and abuse and played an integral role in the passage in the U.S.A. of the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003.

Thus far, SPR has offered to fund its initial visit to Trinidad and Tobago and may well return before the end of 2008 to conduct such workshops and other training sessions for prison officers, chaplains, volunteers and crisis responders as may be deemed necessary.

SPR had hoped to visit the Caribbean from 26th to 30th May, 2008. However, in an effort to accommodate the Prison Commissioner of Trinidad and Tobago whose schedule for that period was said to be extremely busy, SPR opted to postpone the trip.

At present, CURB is awaiting a response from the Prison Commissioner as to whether several alternative dates in July and August 2008 proposed by SPR are convenient for him to accommodate them.

The Caribbean can expect a report on conditions at Her Majesty’s Prisons to be released soon, according to St. Vincent and the Grenadines Human Rights president and prominent Attorney-at-Law, Ms. Nicole Sylvester.

The report is based on interviews conducted at the prison and observations made by SVGHRA members during visits to the penal institution. Members of the Association have seen prisoners who have received fractured bones and other injuries while they were incarcerated.

Ms. Sylvester was hopeful that the new proposed multi-million dollar prison facility being constructed at Belle Isle, would improve the conditions of inmates and pledged the support of the Association if the facility becomes a reality. However, she believes that the proposed construction should not relieve the prison authorities of responsibility for the manner in which the inmates at Her Majesty Prison are being housed and treated.

Asked by the media about a previous promise by the government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to construct a juvenile detention centre, Ms. Sylvester was saddened that the assurances were never fulfilled. She indicated that her Association would continue to agitate for a separate facility for juveniles in the justice system.

CURB will be very interested in reading the report of the SVGHRA and believes that citizens in all Caribbean territories should develop a greater interest in what is taking place behind prison walls to ensure that their tax dollars are not being utilised to perpetrate, condone or cover up physical and or sexual abuses on prison inmates.

CURB has added a new feature to the Resources Page of the Stop Prison Abuse website.

Now you can see and hear brief animated video testimonies of sexual assaults which took place in Trinidad and Tobago prisons.

Hear the experiences of a lad from the Youth Training Centre, a girl from the Women Prison and a man who witnessed repeated sexual abuse of an inmate while on remand.

We encourage you to join with us to Stop prison Abuse. It’s Not Part of the Sentence!

Journalist Gemma Handy recently published an article in the Turks and Caicos Islands Weekly News in which she quoted a prison source who alleged that there had been a number of assaults by officers against inmates in recent weeks.

The officer alleged that since the first article by Miss Handy exposing physical and sexual assaults at the Turk Prison, there have been two or three beatings. The officer indicated that the beaten inmates were not allowed to see the Visiting Committee until a much later stage by which time their bruises had healed.

However, the officer claimed that the article had a positive effect as there had been some “positive changes” at the prison since Ms Handy highlighted the abuses.

The officer added that the full investigative reports on the abuses alleged by Miss Handy should have been made available to the public and the media as well as inmates themselves. The officer is quoted as saying, “The Government is clearly behind the prison and hiding what’s been going on because it makes them look bad.”

On Thursday 27th March, 2008 an accused whose bail was revoked by a Trinidad magistrate pleaded with the magistrate not to sned him to jail for fear of being stabbed to death.

When Randy Mason saw that his plea fell on deaf ears, he slammed his head three times into the wooden walls of the courtroom and shouted that he rather die than return to jail.

CURB recalls that similar pleas by a youth a few years ago were followed by a completed suicide after he was remanded to the Youth Training Centre. It is alleged that the youth in that case may have been the victim of repeated sexual assault and abuse in custody.

We hope that the prison authorities place Mr. Mason on a more effective suicide watch than that provided last year to Richard Alexander who hanged himself in custody in 2007.

We urge them to provide Mr. Mason with professional mental health care to ascertain the basis of his fears and a thorough medical examination to detect any evidence of physical assault or sexual abuse.

In March, 2008 in Trinidad and Tobago, a murder accused reported a police officer stationed at the Arouca Police Station for making sexual advances to him while he was in their custody.

According to newspaper reports, while the accused was in the police cells, the officer allegedly went to the cell and told the murder accused that he would help him if he allowed him to have sex with him.

Homicide officers were allegedly forced to release the murder accused because of the sexual assault, and the man reportedly returned to the police station with his lawyer who lodged an official complaint at the Arouca Homicide Bureau.

Sources said the accused officer had been reported several times in connection with other sexual allegations but that senior officers turned a blind eye to his sexual misconduct.

CURB demands that a full investigation be conducted into these allegations by an independent body and systemic changes implemented to protect detainees and prisoners from physical and sexual assault and abuse from police and prison officers.