Archive for February 6th, 2013

Local cop cells condemned

(CNS): The prison cells at both George Town and West Bay police stations have been condemned by the UK’s prison inspectors, who described them as dirty, windowless and hot with numerous safety issues and, like HMP Northward, barely fit for human habitation. With Cayman’s new human rights regime, the state of the police cells could land government in court and lead to costly awards if the cells are not, as suggested by the UK’s HMP inspection team, condemned and replaced as soon as possible. As well as the appalling environmental conditions, the inspectors found that prisoners were badly treated, with the system of managing prisons arbitrary and informal.

During the inspection of both the police and court custody areas undertaken by the HM Inspectorate of Prisons, the team found that the proper treatment and care of detainees, including women and young people, was “informal, subject to too much unregulated discretion and lacking in effective oversight and accountability.”

Nick Hardwick, the UK’s Chief Inspector of Prisons, said urgent improvements needed to be made to custody facilities operated by both RCIPS and court services, but in a similar concern to that raised over the conditions at Northward, he said it was difficult to see how improvements could be achieved without significant investment and a radical review.

The report, which was released this week and teams with another damning report of the prison system, catalogues a list of disgraceful conditions and treatment of people held by police while under arrest.

“George Town and West Bay custody suites were not fit for purpose,” the report said. “They were dirty, windowless, hot and humid, with no air conditioning, except in staff areas. Cells contained obscene and gang-related graffiti and multiple ligature points …Detainees held there had no privacy.”

While the prison conditions should be of real and significant concern for the local authorities, the detention of people in police custody in such appalling conditions when they are merely suspected and not even charged with a crime raises even more serious problems for government and the potential for human rights abuse claims.

Although both George Town and West Bay cell areas were condemned before the inspection, they were still in use when the inspectors came to Cayman last summer and are still in use today. The custody suites were described as “appalling and not fit for purpose” and the inspectors said there were no definite plans to replace them.

The report described detainees putting towels up at the air vents and putting mattresses on the cell floors in an effort to deflect any fresh air that came through the vents onto them in order to bare the overheated and stuffy inhuman conditions. But that was not all.

“We found examples of gang-related, obscene and biblical graffiti on the walls and doors,” the report said. “In our survey, 100% of men said that the temperature was bad and 60% that the lighting was bad too. Each suite had showers and toilets, which were dirty and not suitably screened to provide any privacy. In our survey, only two men said that they could use the toilet when they wanted to, and 60% that they were not given the opportunity to have a shower. However, as none of the cells had a call bell and staff were not able to see the cells from their offices, it was not clear how any detainee attracted the attention of staff to request anything.”

The inspection team also found a lack of consistency in the care provided, and one ‘protected witness’ had been in isolation for over a month at the time of the inspection and had no access to fresh air and natural light, with no way of telling the time of day.

“At the time of the inspection there was a protected witness being held in them, who had been in isolation for over a month,” the report reads. “The door to his cell was left open so that he could also use the corridor, but his cell and the corridor were dark, with no natural light. He had no way of telling what time of day it was, had not been outside for several weeks and was clearly depressed.”

The care of detainees was described as inconsistent, with clear examples of poor and unregulated discretion being used that had a negative impact on detainees. The inspectors also found little evidence of officers having been trained in the care of detainees.

“We met one auxiliary constable in George Town who told us that he had received no formal training, and he had resorted to watching clips on ‘YouTube’ about custody in the USA to learn how to care for detainees.”

The abuse of those held on remand at the police station was also documented in the report. “Three detainees in our survey alleged that they had been abused by police while in their custody and one that he had been sprayed with mace. No applications of force used in custody were recorded or reviewed, and there were no systems to manage, monitor or ensure accountability,” the report said.

With no secure exercise yards, the inspectors described how men were sometimes taken into the car park in handcuffs and shackles for some fresh air or to smoke. 

Pointing to the arbitrary and discretionary nature of how prisoners were treated, the report noted that there was little documentary evidence of how decisions were made to allow visits, with the discretion used by some officers not replicated by others.

Meanwhile, the report also found that the cells and custody conditions at the court house were also cramped and lacking in privacy at a time when prisoners most needed to speak to legal counsel.

“Facilities for consulting legal representatives were poor," the report reveals. “We saw detainees talking to legal counsel in preparation for their court appearance through the bars of their detention rooms in the presence of staff and other detainees. Legal counsel we spoke to told us that dedicated private interview rooms were not available and that they had to make use of the counsels' robing room, which was liable to interruption from other counsel using the facility.”

The report also documented some internal wrangling at the court over who was responsible for prisonersonce they were convicted. While court services, prisons and police all have specific roles in the care and control of detainees, there was no written protocol to define the role and responsibilities of the respective organisations in terms of the care of detainees.

“We were told of some disagreements between the parties, in relation to the escorting of newly convicted detainees to prison,” the report noted. “The Prison Service was of the opinion that it was the responsibility of the police to transport all newly convicted detainees, irrespective of whether they had arrived at court under arrest. The police took the view that the Prison Service should take responsibility for detainees once they had been convicted.”

The report said that in reality, there simply was nowhere to hand over the care of convicted detainees safely within the court custody area, but the issue had caused animosity between the parties. It also noted that the facilities for conducting court hearings remotely by video conferencing had never been used.

Government officials announced the installation of video link facilities from the jail to the courts over one year ago and claimed to have plans to begin using them within weeks. It is not clear why the video link has never been utilized.

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