A REPORT in The Sunday Gleaner once again highlighted the shame of the island's so-called justice system - in particular the continued sexual abuse of mentally-ill patients at the St. Catherine Adult Correctional Centre, Spanish Town.
Dr. George Eldridge, prison psychiatrist, and Dr. Raymoth Notice, former medical officer assigned to the prisons, have both spoken of the apparent gross neglect that has resulted in the continued and repeated abuse of some inmates at that institution.
Ironically, Dr. Elderidge admitted that not only were the authorities aware of the problem, but were concerned about it. And well they might. What is yet to be demonstrated is that this concern is being translated into concrete action.
To-date, Mr. Earl Fearon, the acting Commissioner of Corrections, has not sought to challenge the latest report or even to put in context the circumstances in which this abuse is taking place.
To ignore what is happening on the basis that the abused are criminals anyway, is to encourage a further dehumanisation of those incarcerated.
No one will be able entirely to prevent the kind of incidents reported in The Sunday Gleaner but neither should they be ignored.
More important, at the heart of the problem is the interdiction of some 800 warders in February 2000 after they protested illegally over the re-appointment of Lt. Col John Prescod as Commissioner of Corrections. This has left the system severely undermanned. In effect, the administrators of the country's penal system seem intent on cutting their noses to spite their faces. How else might one explain the long drawn out process in determining the warders' fate?
On the other hand, it is the state's responsibility to protect the rights of all its citizens, especially those who are weak, vulnerable and least able to defend themselves. The fact that they may have committed crimes for which they are being punished should not be used as an excuse to allow their continued abuse.
If there is acceptance that there are mentally unstable patients in the prisons, there must be a better way of monitoring them while they remain in the custody of the state. To do otherwise is to be co-conspirators with the predators.
