Catholic Commission for Social Justice
By Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ & Director, CREDI
“We don’t want our institutions to become petri dishes” —US Attorney General William Barr.
Like the US Attorney-General, those in authority in T&T are concerned about the potential dangers of overcrowded prisons in the face of COVID-19. In some countries, certain categories of inmates have been released early to avoid the spread of the virus within prisons. The challenge will always be balancing between public health and public safety.
It is with great sadness that CCSJ noted the suggestion made by former National Security Minister, Gary Griffith, in Newsday on Friday, January 26. As reported, during a discussion on ISAAC 98.1 FM, entitled: Looking for Solutions, on January 24, and in light of the video on social media showing some local prison officers wearing ski masks beating restrained prisoners, he suggested that T&T should “look at the possibility of privatised prisons”.
Inter alia, he said: “…It is important to look at systems. Sometimes it involves privatisation, to make sure there are checks and balances to ensure accountability in different arms of the protective services” and measurement of performance by having a private entity within the prison system to monitor. “There is no one there to guard the guards.”
Not to promote the interests of prisoners would be to make imprisonment a mere act of vengeance on the part of society…For all to play their part in building the common good they must work, in the measure of their competence, to ensure that prisoners have the means to redeem themselves, both as individuals and in their relations to society.” (Blessed John Paul II, July 2000 – Message for the Jubilee on Prisons)