Garth Rattray I WAS deeply honoured recently to be invited to participate in a forum on the "Imminent reform of Jamaica's Justice and Penal systems" held at the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre. It was put on by the Reverence for Life Foundation; a group of team-mates passionately dedicated to positive values, attitudes and self-rehabilitation. These proactive visionaries prefer to be called 'team-mates' because the word 'inmates' is stigmatised and connotes criminality and abject dependency.
This enlightened group consists of wards of the state who realise that in order for our nation to enjoy peace and prosperity, we must address the root causes of crime and violence. The group has the full support of several concerned parties including the Correctional Officers who see first-hand the frustrations and repetitive failures of the current system. While not shirking personal responsibility for their actions, the group lists social factors like values and attitudes, the gun culture and the lack of education and opportunities as the causative agents for crime and violence. Problems associated with political tribalism and the drug trade were also discussed.
DESIRE TO REFORM
During the four and a quarter-hour session they demonstrated a desire to reform and presented their concerns, ideas and recommendations as they earnestly sought to find solutions to the problems that recycle (their term) crime and violence in Jamaica. The justice and penal systems were methodically analysed, revealing glaring improprieties, deficiencies and prejudices. Burning legal issues like the presumption of innocence, the right to trial by a jury and creativity, sensibility and equality in sentencing were probed and found in need of urgent attention. Invitees and team-mates expressed serious misgivings about the proposed Caribbean Court of Justice because they say that it is difficult to have faith in judges recruited from a flawed system.
I no longer simplistically view prisons as places where those who pose a danger to society are secured. I saw no prisoners inside those walls, instead I saw fellow Jamaicans who, to some extent, are as much victims of society's crime of neglect and/or exploitation as they were perpetrators of crimes themselves. There must be justice (equity) in the beginning if there is to be true justice in the end. We are certainly not guiltless; the prisons represent our failings. We perpetuate perpetrators of crime by mindlessly lumping transgressors behind thick walls and stout bars.
Regarding long-term solutions, the group accepted the principles of restorative justice and yearned to work towards redress.
Simply locking them away is doing no one any good.
REMARKABLE GRASP
They demonstrated a remarkable grasp for the essentiality of the family unit, the cohesive community and the need to be a productive part of society. They wanted to know why there was no yardstick for measuring rehabilitation and why it was that they were not given the opportunity to produce and be self-sufficient. I met highly skilled labourers, businessmen, teachers and even an ex-policeman, all adrift in a sea of hopeless frustration. It is unwise to believe that they have nothing to offer by way of advice and productivity. The edifice in which we attended the forum used to be a bakery where, for example, the very famous 'prison bread' used to be produced. This is where one correctional officer learnt to bake and he lamented the loss of the facility as he pointed to where the ovens used to be in a now permanently sealed-off white wall.
PREMIER THREAT
Crime and violence are destroying our nation; they are the main reasons for migration and the premier threat to our fragile tourist industry. It is foolish to ignore the voices of those willing to assist, even if from behind prison walls. Although the burden rests with the Ministries of National Security and Justice, it was pointed out at the forum that the politicians are our representatives; we need to let our opinions known to those elected to serve if we are to effect change.
Society must share the responsibility for the less fortunate among us if we are to stop the vicious cycle of crime, violence and malevolence. We will have to pay sooner or later. The current rehabilitation strategy is in reality a rehabilitation tragedy. Our prisons are severely overcrowded and the mechanisms for rehabilitation and early release programmes are in need of upgrading. Until we assiduously tackle the fundamental problems in our communities and prisons, we will have to imprison ourselves behind burglar bars and in "gaited" communities. Generations to come will judge us harshly if we fail to act upon the opportunities such as those presented to us by the Reverence for Life Foundation.
Dr Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice.
