Conditions in some of the prison system’s eight facilities continued to be harsh.
Physical Conditions: The country’s prisons, with a design capacity for 4,886 inmates, held an average daily population of 3,800. Of those, approximately 1,700 were convicted inmates, and 2,100 were in pretrial or other status. Pretrial detainees often waited six to 10 years before their cases went to trial. Some prisons suffered from extreme overcrowding, while others were not at full capacity.
Observers often described the Port of Spain Prison and the Golden Grove Remand Yard as having particularly poor conditions and severe overcrowding, with as many as 10 prisoners kept in 10-by-10-foot cells. The Port of Spain Prison, designed to hold 250 inmates, held 600 prisoners, and the Remand Yard, designed to hold 600 inmates, held 1,156 prisoners. Prisoners at both prisons had sufficient access to medical services, but caregivers often lacked sufficient medical supplies. Medical professionals visited the prison two or three times a week.
The Port of Spain Prison and the Golden Grove Remand Yard held 50 percent of the prison population, while other prison facilities remained below capacity. Neither of these facilities had adequate lighting, ventilation, or sanitation facilities. Prisoners at all facilities had access to potable water. Authorities held pretrial detainees separately from convicted prisoners.
In November prisoners at the Golden Grove Remand Yard and the Maximum Security Prison claimed prison officers halted educational programs and slowed food service, leaving prisoners hungry. As a result, there were incidents of violence, including prisoners setting small fires and altercations between inmates. Prison officers began the alleged mistreatment of prisoners after the killing of one of the prison officers outside of work. In response to the disturbances in the prisons, the prime minister convened a special committee of senior-level law enforcement officials to investigate and address the problems.
Although conditions at the women’s prison were better than those in the Port of Spain and remand prisons, the women’s facility occasionally became overcrowded, since it held both women on remand and those serving prison sentences. The daily average female prison population was 120, with maximum capacity of 150.
Since there is no female youth facility, authorities placed some underage female prisoners in the custody of a Roman Catholic facility and others in a segregated wing of the women’s prison.
Authorities held a daily average of 190 male juveniles separately from adults at the Youth Training Center and held fewer than 23 female juveniles in custody at the women’s prison. Observers raised concerns throughout the year that the women’s prison also held young girls who had not committed any offense but who were in state custody.
There were 2,200 prison officers. Authorities charged a number of prison officers for offenses including larceny, drug trafficking, possession of marijuana, and smuggling of contraband to prisoners.
The government also operates the Immigration Detention Center, where most detainees were illegal immigrants who could not afford the cost of travel to their home country. The center had an intended capacity of 150, and men and women had separate facilities. Observers reported that the men’s section was overcrowded, but the women’s section was below capacity. Detainees had access to potable water, medical care, and sanitation facilities, as well as regular outdoor access.
Administration: The Ministry of Justice has responsibility for the prison service. Prisoner recordkeeping was adequate. Authorities made use of alternative sentencing for some nonviolent offenders and worked to refine alternative sentencing options, including the Drug Treatment Court. The Ministry of Justice conducted a review and evaluation of all major inmate rehabilitation programs throughout the prison service.
Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and could observe their religious practices. Prison authorities permitted prisoners and detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities without censorship and request investigations of credible allegations of inhumane conditions. Prisoners could also contact the office of the ombudsman, which has the authority to investigate complaints related to the functions and duties of most government departments. Authorities investigated and monitored prison and detention center conditions but did not document the results in a publicly accessible manner.
Independent Monitoring: The government permitted prison visits by independent human rights observers upon approval of the Ministry of Justice.
Improvements: During the year the Prison Service focused on restorative justice and inmate rehabilitation, increased powers for prisons inspectors, improved prison infrastructure, and better working conditions for officers. In May the Ministry of Justice announced a memorandum of understanding with the government of Canada to strengthen prison facility planning, offender management, juvenile justice, and correctional programs.