A/HRC/16/52/Add.3
136. Paul Allen, aged 43, was arrested in November 2006 and first detained at the
Freeport Police Station in Montego Bay. In June 2007 he was sentenced to 43 years
imprisonment for robbery, rape and other crimes. His case was on appeal. He was injured at
Freeport and taken to hospital. With regard to St. Catherine, he complained about the lack
of meaningful rehabilitation activities. He could leave his cell between 9 a.m. and 12.30
p.m. and between 1.30 and 3.30 pm. He was in a single cell upon his own request.
137. Birris F. Robinson, aged 52, was convicted to life imprisonment in 1983 and hoped
to be released in 2011. Since he was serving a life sentence, he had to be in a single cell. He
complained about the arbitrary practice of the Parole Board and he thought parole should be
compulsory after a certain period. The conditions in St. Catherine were more or less the
same than 20 years before, but there was less violence than before. The last violent event
had happened some two weeks before the visit of the Special Rapporteur. Between 9 and 11
a.m. and from 1 to 3 pm, he could leave his cell, but there were no proper work and
recreation facilities. He added that there should be more training and education facilities.
138. Tony Jones, aged 50, was arrested on 1 September 1984 and sentenced to death on
6 March 1985. He had spent ten years on death row at Gibraltar 1, between 1985 and the
commutation of his sentence in 1995. Between 1995 and 2004 he was imprisoned at Tower
Street, and since then in Town Hall of St. Catherine. He hoped to be released on parole
soon. The prison conditions were getting worse, in particular with respect to the food and
beatings. In 1987, a prison warder had broken his arm. In 2009, there had been a brutal
attack against another prisoner. On Friday before the visit of the Special Rapporteur, a
warder had arbitrarily smashed the bulb of his TV. His mattress was old, and there was no
toilet inside the cells; thus the detainees had to use a bucket. They could go to school and
do some sports.
139. Dwayne Bryan, aged 29, was held in a punishment sector with harsher conditions.
His cell was searched approximately three times per month. If the warders found anything
suspicious, they would break the light bulb in retaliation. He was banned from having a
light bulb. Whether a cell had light or not was completely arbitrary. The detainees were
regularly beaten by the warders, for being late or for any other reason. At the moment, three
detainees were in the hospital for injuries they sustained as a result of beatings. He had been
hit on the head and ribs eleven months prior by a warder. He had stitches and one rib was
broken. The stitching was done in the prison. Since he did not feel well after the beatings,
he had to be taken to hospital for X-rays.
140. Alexander Boothe, aged 29, had been in St. Catherine since 22 February 2005. In
October 2004 he was beaten on the head by Constable Lindsey at Manchester Police
Station. In addition, he was handcuffed behind his back to the grill. He had to sit on a bench
with his feet lying on a chair. The officer beat him with a baton on the soles of his feet in
order to obtain information about a gun. Despite an injury to his head he was not taken to
hospital until two days later. In St. Catherine he had always been in a single cell, which he
preferred. Some detainees were beaten by the warders if they asked for trouble. The food
was horrible.
141. W.I., aged 35, had been in St. Catherine since October 2008; he was sentenced to
life imprisonment. During his detention, he had been beaten twice by warders; the last time
was in December 2009. He had gotten into a fight when the warders came and dragged him
out of the cell. Five officers beat him with batons all over his body for 15 minutes. He had
not lodged a complaint.
142. Vergil Smith, aged 52, had been in St. Catherine since 1996; he was sentenced to
life imprisonment. He had never had any problems in prison until 3 July 2009. Officer Lilly
had been sitting outside his cell on the corridor. He wanted to have money from him and
came into the cell to look for money in the book he was reading. The book fell down and he
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