Uncaring system

I had started a review on the judgment delivered by the Court of Appeal on March 3, in favour of Rajesh Mathura, who was attacked by prisoners in the cell downstairs San Fernando Magistrates’ Court. A prisoner tried to burn him alive by setting fire to his jersey. He was beaten over the head with a piece of iron and his back slashed with a razor blade. The officers took him out of the cell in a bloody condition and simply placed him in the prison van bound for the State prison. 

The other prisoners kicked the sides of the van and demanded that it stop and take Mathura for medical attention. An unconscious Mathura was eventually removed and taken to the hospital. The court found that Mathura “endured horrific and criminal acts of torture at the hands of fellow prisoners, some of whom were armed with prohibited and dangerous weapons.”
The court condemned the police for failing to protect and secure Mathura, and made certain observations that must bring change if we are to describe ourselves as a civilised society.

The court said: “In the event that holding cells were designed to house as many as 25 prisoners, albeit on a temporary basis, the police have a duty to ensure the safety of those who are in the cells, especially when the cells are overcrowded.

Real grievance

“While the police cannot guarantee the safety of every person taken into custody, what is required is that humane conditions exist within the cells and prisoners be thoroughly searched before being placed in the holding cells.” Those prisoners with violent propensities ought to be kept apart from others, and every effort should be made to ensure that prisoners on remand are kept separate and apart from convicted people. The treatment of prisoners has been the subject of judicial criticism and condemnation in many cases. But, by and large, little or no real change has occurred.

I have represented clients whose stories of torture and brutality made it difficult to sleep at nights. A prisoner is at the mercy of the officers in whose care and custody his future lies. With no real grievance mechanism in place to address the complaints of prisoners, decent human beings are transformed into beasts by an uncaring system that inflicts mental and physical torture and cruelty in a way that makes rehabilitation impossible.
The general attitude is that a prisoner is incarcerated for the purpose of punishment, and, therefore, has no rights.

Thus, young boys are raped, prison officers become unofficial pimps, and a man can be maimed for life for a precious pack of cigarettes or a cellphone. We can never progress as a nation unless fundamental questions are answered about what happened to Mathura. Who were the police officers responsible for searching the prisoners before placing them in a cell, in accordance with established police practice and procedure? If they were searched, who gave them prohibited weapons that could be used to inflict serious personal injury? Who were the officers who, despite Mathura’s bloodied condition, took him into the prison van for an hour-long journey to Golden Grove instead of the nearby hospital?How is it possible that the prisoners who maliciously wounded Mathura escaped conviction on the ground that the police prosecutor did not call upon Mathura to identify his assailant in court?

Radical reform

Why did the DPP not appeal the decision of the magistrate? Has the incompetence or negligence of the police prosecutor been ignored by the Commissioner of Police? Has disciplinary action been taken against any of the police or prison officers? Was Mathura the victim of a conspiracy between the police and unknown others? I have dealt with cases where police and prison officers were bribed to ensure that a certain prisoner is raped or harmed whilst in custody. Searching a prisoner before placing him in a cell with other prisoners is a basic and elementary precondition and step.

Sheer incompetence and gross negligence simply cannot explain how a prisoner ended up with a lighter, piece of iron and a razor blade in the cell to injure Mathura. There is, as we say, a lot more in the mortar than the pestle. Our nation seems to have lost its conscience, and I hope this case acts as a powerful reminder of the need for radical reform and change in the prison service. We will be judged by how we treat those less fortunate than ourselves, including prisoners who are human beings with human rights that the State should respect.

By Anand Ramlogan 2009-04-04