A/HRC/16/52/Add.3
179. A detainee had been sentenced to life imprisonment in 1978. In 1992 he was badly
beaten by some officers but did not complain. In 2008, he was wrongly accused by an
officer and subsequently kicked and boxed by four officers, among which was Officer Blair
Grove. He was taken to the hospital but did not lodge any complaints. The named officer
came to his section very often.
180. Michael Freemantle, aged 55, was a well-known prisoner who had won a case
before the UN Human Rights Committee in the 1990s; but had not received any reparation
as awarded by the Human Rights Committee. He was arrested in 1985 and sentenced to
death on 21 January 1987. In 1995, this sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
Since he had been detained for almost 25 years, he should be eligible for parole and had
applied to the Parole Board. The last time he had been abused by a prison warder was in
1997, but on 9 January 2010 he had been abused by a fellow prisoner. The Special
Rapporteur strongly urges the Government of Jamaica to pay all applicants who were
successful with their individual complaints before the UN Human Rights Committee an
adequate compensation as indicated in the Committee’s final views, including Mr.
Freemantle.
181. Stephen Morrison, aged 35, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment and had
served his sentence since 2006 in Tower Street. Although he complained about the lack of
education and rehabilitation facilities (workshops were only available for a few prisoners),
he maintained that this prison ran rather smoothly.
Security Cells
182. The room for the warders was empty. Detainees were locked up in dark solitary
confinement cells without a toilet or water and had nobody to call for help. During the
debriefing with the officials, the Superintendent admitted that due to a shortage of
personnel, no staff was in the building during the nights, but prisoners could shout if they
needed help. There were three small sections with a total of ten cells. There was no light in
the cells, but only outside in the corridor. In principle, it seemed that the prisoners in the
security cells were allowed to leave the cells like other prisoners in the morning and
afternoon, but there were exceptions when prisoners were kept in complete solitary
confinement. The Special Rapporteur holds the opinion that this cannot be done for the sole
purpose of security and that it definitely amounts to a punishment.
183. Dwight Hawden, aged 30, was kept in cell no. 10 in complete darkness. He was
sentenced in 2006 to life imprisonment but hoped to be eligible for parole after 15 years. He
was usually kept in Section E South, but Officer Tamo had decided the Friday before the
visit of the Special Rapporteur to put him in a “punishment cell”. Between September and
November 2009, he had been locked up in this sector for two months. The only light in the
cell came from a tiny opening in the direction of the “Gay Section”, which he could also
use to communicate with other prisoners outside.
184. Clinton Gordon, aged 49, was sentenced to death in 1990. This sentence had been
commuted to life imprisonment in 1993. He should soon be eligible for parole but he
needed an employment letter in order to be released on parole. Since he was serving a life
sentence, he was in a single cell in the E North Section. Because of lack of space, the
officers had brought two other men into his cell. He protested, so he was moved to the
security cells in December 2009, where he was again in a single cell. The conditions were
much worse here, the cell was dark, and he considered this a misuse of the security cells.
He would prefer to be together with others than to be alone in the security cell. He could
usually leave his cell during the day, depending on the warders.
185. Ricardo Salmon, aged 28, had been in the security cell for eight months. He had
been stabbed once by another inmate and taken to the Kingston Public Hospital. Two
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