Jamaican Prison riots
Photo by Anthony Chammond
The prison riot at the Horizon Adult Remand Centre in Kingston is just what is happening to Jamaican society as a whole. The riot was predictable as this has happened before and also happened another time and another time – too many times to mention in fact. Will any lessons be learned? Well none have been learned so far.
Will there be an investigation that will amount to anything? Probably not and the reason is because the Jamaican government and society think that they have more important things to worry about, rather than looking after its’ prisoners and criminals. But this kind of thinking would be a big mistake because if you don’t care about the people in jail, then you probably don’t care about other people you don’t know, it’s about lacking sympathy, lacking forgiveness, not caring.
I’m in a harsh mood because I was talking to some elderly Jamaicans about how things used to be in the 1960s (not that long ago!!) and how you used to be able to trust people, but nowadays people are more likely to want to cheat you, rape you, lie and threaten.
Back to the subject matter – this riot was predictable – if you’re not going to give people water then what do you expect? The human rights group, Jamaicans for Justice are trying to push for an investigation (someone needs to give Dr Gomes a gold medal). The prisons are overcrowded and underfunded – god knows what’s going to happen when the anti-gang drive comes into force in March – the national security minister says that he wants to put them all in prisons – it seems he’s asking for more riots. if I were a prison officer in one of any of Jamaica’s jails, i would be even more worried than usual!
[...] more important things to worry about, rather than looking after its prisoners and criminals”: Jamaica Salt blogs about a prison riot in Kingston. Cancel this [...]
The prison conditions in Jamaica are atrocious. It will get worse over time, and there will be more prison riots resulting in loss of lives. The situation in some of our prisons can only be characterized as totally EXPLOSIVE !!
I have seen first hand, the destruction caused by a overcrowed, underfunded, and underutalized prison system.
The degraded conditions in which human beings have to live in. If you are not careful you will return to society in an animalistic mood. Jamaica, be careful of how you treat your inmates, they will come back to haunt you.
Yes, Mr. Mc Gann, the JAMAICAN GULAGS can definitely transform people/human beings into animals.
[...] also been largely absent from the local blogosphere, with a couple notable exceptions. Here is a good one. The prisoners claim they rioted because of lack of water and deteriorating conditions. The [...]
Kartel in prison and i think they set him up…Why people are so badmind…smh only God knows….