~ Prison director responds to demands ~
POINTE BLANCHE–To intensify their strike inmates of Pointe Blanche prison have decided not to voluntarily enter their cells. The police was called in Thursday evening to lock them in.
The director of Pointe Blanche prison responded Thursday to the demands which were laid down by inmates who are on strike against the “inhuman” conditions in the detention facility since Wednesday. The inmates said they will continue their strike as they want short-term plans on paper and no more talks with representatives of the Justice Ministry without having anything in black and white.
In his written response to three representatives of the striking inmates, prison director Alvin Queely stated Thursday that conform international standards and rules of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment CPT the Pointe Blanche prison can house 80 male inmates – 40 cells of two inmates – and six females in three cells with two inmates.
However, according to guidelines issued in November 2018 by the Prosecutor’s Office with regard to the “emergency situation” with detention in St. Maarten, there is a maximum capacity of 70 detainees in total, of whom 63 are housed in Pointe Blanche and seven in the Police Station in Philipsburg.
Queely said he had contacted the Chief Prosecutor Mirjam Mol about this policy and would have a discussion on this matter with her today, Friday.
The director said that there are currently four cells which house three inmates each. In October 2018, the European Human Rights Court ruled in the complaint of casino boss Francesco Corallo that urgent steps be taken to improve the conditions of detention at the police station, and according to the Prosecutor’s Office these principles also seem to be a guideline for the assessment of the situation in Pointe Blanche.
The CPT recommended that “urgent steps” be taken to improve the conditions of detention. In particular, all detained persons should be provided with at least four square metres of living space per person in multi-occupancy cells, and with their own bed, a sheet, pillow and towel, as well as with hygiene products and cleaning materials for the cell.
Also, ventilation and access to natural light should be improved, all sanitary annexes should be partitioned up to the ceiling and leaking toilets and pipes repaired. All cells should be equipped with a call bell.
CPT also recommended that persons should not be detained at the police station in excess of three days and in any event never longer than 10 days.
“Since my arrival in St. Maarten, I made it clear that no cell may contain more than two inmates. So, I instructed the Head of the Unit Detention to take care of this today [Thursday – Ed.] and if there are cells that are not fit, she has to contact the Maintenance Coordinator to fix this problem,” the director informed the inmates.
Concerning the 18 points as described in the reports of the Law Enforcement Council (“Raad voor de Rechtshandhaving”) the prison director said that, “some time ago I asked the attention of my managers to hand over their suggestions how to deal with these points and recommendations. I will come back on this matter in the near future.”
Pertaining to fire safety, he said that the Fire Department had inspected the safety situation in prison on July 26. He said he had not received a report yet but was informed that there are “some things we have to work on and update.”
He said he also requested the fire department to train staff in the matter of in-house emergency services (“Bedrijfshulpverlening”) “They will set up a plan, and I hope we will start very soon,” said Queely.
Pertaining to the complaints about pests, cockroaches and pigeons in prison, he said that this matter would be handled with the “necessary urgency.”
The prison director said he had no objections to inmates forming an association in prison and said he was willing to meet with the association in the last week of every month, “as soon as it complies with the statutes.”
Before reaching out to the director, he recommended inmates meet with the Head of the Detention Unit as the senior ranked manager in the Housing Unit, in case of issues and complaints. If it concerns (external) security issues and matters inmates should direct themselves to the Acting Head of the Unit Security.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/91963-striking-inmates-refuse-to-enter-cells-police-called-in
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