By RHONDOR DOWLAT Sunday, September 13 2009

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Commissioner of Prisons John Rougier....

PRISONS OFFICERS of the Maximum Security Prison (MSP) and the Golden Grove Remand Yard Section in Arouca are calling on Commissioner of Prisons, John Rougier, to come to the aid of them and prisoners.

The officers claimed that they are becoming frustrated when they are forced to work between 12 and 15-hour shifts instead of their usual eight-hour shifts almost every day, without proper compensation.

With respect to the prisoners, an officer who wished to not to be identified claimed that some of the frustrated officers seemingly take out their frustration on prisoners and mercilessly beat them.

Speaking with Newsday, the concerned prisons officer claimed that it pains him to see prisoners being assaulted “beyond comprehension”.

He said that when prisoners are brought back to the prisons from their respective courts, some of them are being accused of “vaulting” – the term used for the concealing of contraband up their rectums, and officers mercilessly beat them in a bid to force them to defecate.

“Some of these officers really advantage some of the prisoners, they treat them like if they are animals. When prisoners are brought back to the courts all of them are searched at MSP, even the ones who are going back to Remand Yard. Those Remand Yard prisoners are being searched twice because when they are then taken to the Remand Yard they are again searched and most of the times upon this second search some of them are mercilessly beaten and assaulted,” the officer said.

“Then the second issue of concern is that some of the prisoners are being badly beaten by officers who constantly prey on them. These officers, who are very mean, strip them naked, beat them mercilessly, push their hands up their rectum, refuse them their diet and refuse them their airing. I am fed-up of seeing these batch of officers treating prisoners like animals because they just bringing down the entire Prisons Service and tarnishing the image of prisons officers, especially the ones who are working hard and diligently in keeping with their required duties and not being mean and inhumane,” said the officer.

“Yes, I understand that we are here to maintain law and order in the prisons and also to make sure that the prisoners do not rebel,” the source said, “but at the same time, there are humane ways of disciplining and dealing with the illegal entry of contraband.”

A relative of one of the prisoners who was recently badly beaten and forced to defecate, claimed that the prisoner has not been himself since.

“He is acting like if he is in a constant daze, he said he felt as though he was raped by the officers who pushed a baton up his rectum. He said he feels as though he is going out of his mind. I personally think, that he may be going mad because he was so traumatically defiled. I am calling on the Commissioner of Prisons, John Rougier to seriously look into this kind of abuse and deal with it as a matter of urgency. If this was the United States this kind of nonsense would have never been taking place.”

President of the Prisons Officers Association, Rajkumar Ramroop said that he will launch an investigation into the alleged incidents.

Efforts to reach Rougier for comment proved futile.