Published On:Monday, February 15, 2010

By ALISON LOWE

Tribune Staff Reporter

alowe@tribunemedia.net

"One thing you learn in prison is that things are what they are, and will be what they will be."

-- Oscar Wilde

Speaking at the opening of the newly-renovated Female Correctional Centre within Her Majesty's Prison Fox Hill, Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest said the unit -- with two air-conditioned classrooms, a cosmetology training laboratory, two upgraded dormitories, a new kitchen laundry room and separate correctional facility for juvenile females -- represented prison reform in action.

"It is part of the fundamental rethink about crime and punishment in The Bahamas, a new philosophy about what our approach to these matters should be.

"We are turning this institution around, to ensure the men and women who walk free from it will become productive members of our societies."

He spoke of a "new philosophy" at the prison, with "changes in policies, procedures, practices, the prison-community partnership, in the improvement of skills and knowledge of our personnel, and in various academic, technical and vocational programmes."

His words, not uttered for the first time since he became minister in 2007, were a breath of fresh air to those who have long complained about the state of the country's only penal institution. But to what extent have matters really improved at the prison from the days when human rights watchdog Amnesty International (AI)- like countless local pastors, activists, former and current prisoners, and attorneys -- described many aspects of the prison's conditions as resulting in the "inhumane" and "degrading" treatment of prisoners and quite toxic conditions for the guards who watch over them.

In 2002, AI's "BAHAMAS: Forgotten Detainees: Human Rights in Detention" detailed its experience of visiting the prison with British prison reform expert Dr Rod Morgan, and making numerous recommendations to improve matters.

Fox Hill prison was, in the way it was being run, and in its physical plant, a hellish place wherein both convicts and people yet to be found guilty of any crime, were being held in conditions that in many ways violated domestic and international detention standards and basic human rights.

Eight years have passed since Amnesty made its recommendations, which themselves followed hot on the heels of 12 major changes recommended by the Prison Reform Commission appointed under the former Christie Administration to look into conditions at the prison.

Dr Ellison Rahming, the current prison superintendent who holds a Ph.D. in criminology, headed that commission, and became the Superintendent of the prison in 2005.

Today Mr Turnquest says the prison has become one of the "success stories" of his tenure as minister.

Prison chief Supt Rahming affirms that view, telling The Tribune: "A big part of the change (at the prison) is a change in attitude where I think that, although we are not 100 per cent there, we're closer to accepting the idea that you don't bring about change in human beings by dehumanizing them. You bring about change by uplifting them."

As of January 19th, one in every 260 Bahamians were inside Fox Hill prison. The prison population stood at 1268 inmates: 693 sentenced, 575 remanded. This is significantly lower than the over 1,400 population that has been admitted to in the past, but still greater than the prison's intended capacity. Maximum security -- intended to house around 450 inmates, held over 600, with around half of those not yet found guilty of any crime.

A total of 127 people were inside the prison for having been convicted of what Dr Rahming termed "minor offences." These included five people incarcerated for loitering, five for vagrancy, 11 for obscene language, 16 for resisting arrest, 13 for unlawful possession, two for trespassing, 18 for deceit of a public officer, 16 for disorderly behaviour, six for illegal landing and 35 for overstaying.

Here Insight will touch on some of the problem areas where the prison has seen improvements since the AI report and note some of the elements that remain in need of attention as the institution and those who govern it seek to move towards their stated aim of transforming the prison into a rehabilitative correctional institution, rather than simply a place of punishment. The article by no means covers all of the improvements nor all of the institution's deficiencies. (See this week's Tribune for more details).

Recidivism

Recidivism -- the rate with which ex-convicts are seen to return to prison, having re-offended and been convicted of an offence after being released -- is most often pointed to as the indicator of whether crime is getting better or worse, and if a prison is doing its job in relations to those people held in its confines.

One could conclude based on the recorded rate, that things are going quite well at the prison.

From highs of up to 70 per cent in the earlier part of the decade, the recidivism rate fell to around 42 per cent in 2005, 32 per cent in 2006, 19 per cent in 2007, 21 per cent in 2008 and 19 per cent in 2009. (halved).

Supt Rahming puts the reduction down to the introduction of sentence planning, internal classification, and the introduction of a wider range of classes and programmes for certain inmates during his tenure, with all of these new initiatives revolving around providing more personalized attention to a prisoner than he would have experienced years prior.

Internal classification

In days past -- in fact up until Supt Rahming took the reins of the prison in 2005 -- all who entered the prison were automatically thrown in Maximum Security, the most antiquated, draconian and widely seen as the inhumane part of the prison.

Today, however, Supt Rahming maintains that people aren't simply thrown in the hole with serious offenders unless they too are a serious offender, cutting down on the possibility that a less hardened criminal will be exposed to those worse than him and perhaps inspired or cajoled to emulate his cell mate upon release.

"It would be odd to find a minor offender housed with a dangerous violent person, where as before everyone began their prison sojourn in maximum security. That was happening up until I got here. You began there and then you had to work your way out of maximum security, because the thinking was, we have to break you in," said Dr Rahming.

"Now you go to Central Intake (established in 2005), you stay there for five or seven days, the classification board sees you, and they determine, based on your background, your security risk and all of those things, such as courses you can take where you're going to be housed and all those kinds of things."

Once an inmate goes through this process, he also becomes subject to another relatively new initiative: Sentence planning.

This involves assessing the "deficiencies" of prisoners upon entry, their particular psycho-social problems, and charting a structured medium-long term sentence plan that they will follow during their time in prison.

"In other words, when you come here now as a sentenced person, from the first week attention is put to what do we need to do with this person to have him decide to redirect his life while he's here so he may stand a better chance of being successful once he's released.

"So if a person has a long sentence 8 to 10 years. The classification board may say, for the first couple of years go in maximum security for self reflection, you just go in there and think about what you've done. If you behave yourself and show some remorse, then you come down and move into medium security. Then you can avail yourself of the educational, technical, vocational courses on the compound, as you come further down you may be able to go out on the extra mural scheme and work. Inmate X may have a substance abuse problem, Tom may not be able to read, so literacy would be what's really important for him. So that is why classification is important so you know you are trying to target the deficits of these inmates and shore that up so that he has a greater sense of confidence and competence when he's released from the prison. That's a gradual reintegration into society," said Dr Rahming of the system he introduced.

The third major component to which a reduction in the recidivism rate has been attributed is an expansion in educational and technical vocational programme offerings during Dr Rahming's tenure.

While some classes were available prior to 2005, these were few and far between and by all accounts the former prison superintendent did not place great emphasis on these opportunities.

According to Dr Rahming, around 60 per cent of inmates take advantage of the educational courses offered in some form or other, with three courses the maximum available in a week. There are 18 courses in total, including literacy, mathematics, computer skills, ceramics, tailoring and a cosmetology school in the female correctional unit. It is possible that prisoners who came without qualifications can leave with a BJC or BGCSE.

However, the courses are only available to convicts in prisons other than maximum security, and not to those on remand, who can also remain in the prison for years at a time. It is expected that classes will shortly begin within the maximum security unit for the most serious offenders so that they can also be given a chance to better themselves. The hope, of course, is that any skills they obtain will further their capacity to live within the law and earn a legal wage when back in society.

All this is to be commended, however, it is pertinent to recall one of the major reasons why we continually look at this item called the recidivism rate -- it is because we link a reduction in it to a reduction in the level of crime in society. Unfortunately, as the recidivism rate has fallen, it has not in fact corresponded with a fall in crime rates in The Bahamas. Consideration of these facts leads to the conclusion that either the statistics are false or new crimes are primarily being committed by first time offenders, those who are being convicted are responsible for more crimes than ever before, that those who are committing the crimes are not being convicted or that the judicial backlog is keeping those responsible for the crimes in the "remanded" rather than the "convicted" category, and thus artificially depressing the recidivism rate. Of course, none of this reflects on what goes on inside the prison itself.

Maximum Security

There are six prisons "within a prison" at Fox Hill, and Maximum Security is but one of them -- housing "slightly over 600" people in January 2010, half of them on remand. The others are the female correctional unit, low security, medium security, the remand centre and the central intake facility.

Dr Rahming said that today, unlike previous years, the maximum security unit is the only one that is officially over populated -- primarily because of the introduction of prisoners on remand into the unit next to convicts.

In its 2002 report, AI described conditions with the relatively ancient building as cramped, fetid -- a combination of the heat, poor ventilation and drying laundry festooning the ceiling -- as altogether "inhuman and degrading", especially given the "slopping out" arrangements that existed at the time, and in fact up until late last year.

Other reports, such as affidavits supporting appeals made by people like Atain Takitota, the Japanese man wrongfully held in the prison for eight years, tell an even more gut wrenching story of life in maximum security in the earlier part of this decade and last -- with Mr Takitota recalling how he was regularly induced to vomit as a result of the stench within the cells, abused, and forced to sleep on the concrete floor.

"Slopping out" saw inmates defecate and urinate into buckets within their cells, in full view of other inmates, which prisoners would then have to empty. AI said the arrangement was "degrading both to the prisoners who have to undertake it and the staff who have to supervise it."

To rectify this particular institutional misdeed, the current administration purchased 220 composting toilets -- given that the building itself is deemed so old that it would be almost impossible to implement conventional toilets -- and 70 per cent of these have now been installed, making conditions more sanitary and less humiliating for inmates.

Meanwhile, in recent years a laundry facility was created within the unit that obviated the need to hang clothes and bedding up throughout the cells, which had increased the dampness and humidity within the small enclosed space.

Minister Turnquest noted such additions, as well as repairs to the roof of the structure and the corridors represent "tremendous" improvements to the facility.

The average number of inmates per cell has been reduced from around four and five in the earlier part of the decade to three, Dr Rahming said.

Damien Gomez, an attorney with significant experience of working with clients held within maximum security, said he has noticed "marked improvements" in maximum security during his visits there in recent years, primarily in its cleanliness, and is also aware of the commitment by the Superintendent to advance prison reform.

Nonetheless he feels the maximum security unit remains a relic that will ultimately hold back these efforts until it is replaced.

"Conditions there can't be described as anything other than inhumane. If you kept a dog in the conditions we keep people in maximum security, you would probably be prosecuted by the Humane Society. The ventilation is very poor and you would need to do massive renovations to improve that. Although it must be said that most inmates aren't kept there," he said.

Mr Gomez also explained why he feels that enhancing the state of maximum security is something that every member of society should be interested in, if they are concerned about crime.

"When you treat people worse than animals you really shouldn't be surprised at the level of anger that is produced by their abuse," he stated, suggesting that not until the state "leads by example" in its treatment of all prisoners will true reform be possible.

'Lost in the system'

Anyone should be able to agree that the case of Atain Takitota and a Jamaican man, both found languishing in the prison system without cause at different times -- the Jamaican convicted of manslaughter but held for 14 years beyond the expiration of his sentence, and the Japanese man, never even convicted but instead allowed to remain in Fox Hill for eight years for absolutely no reason except for the total disregard of those who should've been checking on his status, are shameful blights upon this country's record as one that respects the most basic human rights. To make matters worse, not only were they being detained without cause, but the conditions of their detention were described as abysmal. Takitota was finally released in 2000 and the Jamaican in 2003.

I asked Dr Rahming if anyone was ever held responsible for these men's cases once they came to light. "That was before my time," said the prison chief. According to The Tribune's records, no one ever was. It is unlikely that any one person -- except perhaps a previous prison superintendent, as the overseer at the time -- ever could be. The reasons for their unlawful detention were systemic and a stark example of most everything that was wrong with the country's prison at that time. People were being "left to rot" for years on end by prison officials, who showed no due concern about their status for literally years on end -- decades in fact.

Today, with Government not having taken any known steps towards enhancing access to legal aid for those who could not otherwise afford a lawyer -- it promised to implement such a system in its 2007 but presently only those charged in capital cases get access to such representation -- very many people enter prison and have no legal counsel throughout their time there. Who is looking out for their interests? Dr Rahming admits it is a problem.

However, asked whether it is likely that any Atain Takitotas could be found inside the prison walls today, Supt Rahming said this is "supremely unlikely."

In what he describes as a significant step forward for "inmate management" within the Bahamian penal system, shortly after he arrived at the prison, Dr Rahming established a Case Management unit. Aside from wider ranging responsibilities such as liaising between the inmates and their family members, the unit conducts "human audits" on a quarterly basis to confirm the status of those within the compound in an effort to ensure none get left behind, continuing to take up space in the institution longer than they should.

However, between this unit and the pre-release programme unit, which helps prepare inmates set to be shortly released to enter back into society, through provision of advice on applying for jobs and so forth, there are only ten staff for almost 1,300 inmates. If half of those were on the case management team, this would mean each staff member would have responsibility for around 260 inmates.

Nonetheless, Dr Rahming notes that such services exist in "most first world prisons" and were "very much needed" when he came on board at the prison.

International Standards

The separation of convicts and inmates awaiting trial and of those under the age of 18 from the adult prison population.

In a 2002 report, Amnesty criticised the fact that "most" remanded inmates in Fox Hill were being kept in cells alongside convicted criminals. It noted that the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners condemn such mixing of the prison population, and called for separation.

A purpose built Remand Centre opened shortly thereafter with a capacity to hold 320 people awaiting trial -- a move that was greatly anticipated by Amnesty International.

However, this soon became overpopulated as crime rates and a judicial backlog grew, and today there are almost double the number of remanded persons in the Remand Centre than it can house, according to Dr Rahming.

Unfortunately for those who arrive now, if there is no space at the Remand Centre, they are sent to the antiquated Maximum Security unit, built in the 1950s to house 450 people and today occupied by over 600 people. Roughly half of its population are on remand. Consider the long pre-trial detention periods that helped to cause the overcrowding that put them there to begin with, and it would begin to appear that we are in the position of punishing more severely and for significant periods of time those who are not charged with any crime than convicted criminals who reside within the medium and low security facilities on the prison compound.

Minister Turnquest said the government does not at present have any plans to expand the remand centre so as to allow for remanded individuals to be removed from maximum security, preferring instead to push hard to reduce the judicial backlog this year by introducing new courts, judges and other judicial resources.

Meanwhile, the government has taken strides to separate children from the general prison population since the Amnesty report in 2002. The female juvenile section of the female correctional unit, which opened in 2008, was a great step forward in this regard. Children are also separate from adults within the remand centre -- where as of January 19th there were 27 minors under the age of 18. At that time, five inmates under the age of 18 -- presumably males -- were being held with the general prison population in the low and medium security sections, in violation of international standards.

This is a sharp and commendable reduction from the 22 children held with adults at the time of AI's visit in 2002, and could to a great extent be attributed to the government's decision to open the female juvenile correctional unit, but should remain a concern. "Detaining children with adults exposes them to serious risk of harm, including sexual abuse," the AI report noted.

Legislation

Talk of updating the 70-year-old legislation that governs the prison has been popular for decades. Today the government is mandated to provide 20 cigarettes a week to any prisoner who requests them, which costs an average of $250,000 a year -- money that could be put to better use elsewhere in the facility. Another significant and anachronistic clause in the Act, which has been pointed out by both Supt Rahming and former minister of national security "Mother" Pratt as one whose elimination would be a major step forward in the process of reform in the prison, is that which restricts the return to the prison of anyone who has a criminal record. They cannot visit for any purpose under the present legislation, and this hinders what might be meaningful opportunities for reformed ex-convicts to shine a light on the way forward for current convicts. The old legislation also discriminates against women prison officers, mandating that they, unlike their male counterparts, cannot be trained in the use of weapons, creating the perverse situation where in an emergency a female police officer could attend the scene armed alongside a male prison officer, but not her female prison counterpart.

Minister Turnquest says a draft Bill to replace the Prison Act 1943 is being reviewed, however he declined to comment on what changes it might entail.

See this week's Tribune for more on the prison...