Citizens face life-threatening conditions in Police custody – US Department Report
Kaieteur News – A section of the United States Department of State’s 2020 Country Report on Human Rights Practices has highlighted the fact that individuals detained by law enforcement officers, especially in Guyana Police (GPF) holding cells, face life-threatening conditions.
Looking into the conditions of the country’s prison and detention center, the report found that conditions in police custody cells were “harsh and potentially life-threatening” due to overcrowding, physical abuse and inadequate sanitary conditions.
According to the U.S. State Department, in October, Guyana Prison Service (GPS) statistics showed that there were 1,761 prisoners in seven facilities with a combined design capacity of 1,505. This was due to overcrowding of a backlog of pretrial prisoners, which accounts for 30 percent of the total prison population.
Back in 2018, the report noted that the Government released the findings of an independent study in 2017, funded by the Inter-American Development Bank, which found that prisoners were physically abused by prison officials. He also noted that, in 2018, the government released the findings of the United Nations Expert Working Group on Persons of African descent, which found that conditions at Lusignan Prison were appalling and that the cells were unhealthy for human habitation. There have been reports of lack of drinking water and complaints of prolonged cell detention, with limited opportunities for sunlight from prisoners.
The State also reported individuals, aged 16 and over, in the adult prison population, while in most cases, juvenile offenders, under 16, were being held at a juvenile correctional center, where they were offered primary education . , vocational training and medical care.
The report highlighted that Prison Service authorities had noted that the condition of the prisons and detention centers were investigated and monitored on a monthly basis and that prisoners often avoided procedures for making complaints about inhuman conditions or abuse by sending letters to government officials through their relatives.