The situation at the prison at Comayagua, Honduras, is
frightful.
And it’s only a sample of the deplorable conditions of
prisons throughout Latin America.
More than 300 inmates lost their lives earlier this week
when a fire swept through the overcrowded facility, which was meant to house
only 500 inmates but was home to more than 800 people.
Latin America is rife with overcrowded prisons.
And we have our own problems right here in the Cayman
Islands.
Her Majesty’s Prison at Northward was built to hold 179
prisoners, but is holding 209 inmates. While the numbers aren’t as large as
those in the Honduran prison, there is still an overcrowding issue here.
Officials have promised a new cell block is in the works to
ease overcrowding at Northward. It can’t come too soon.
Latin American prisons are also known to mix adult prisoners
with juveniles; a mixing ground where youthful offenders learn how to become
better criminals.
Unfortunately, we have the same problem on Grand Cayman
where some juvenile prisoners are being housed at Northward men’s prison and
some adult males are being housed at the Eagle House Juvenile Detention
facility.
Everyone must agree that housing youthful offenders with
adults has a negative impact on the younger inmates.
Again, the Cayman Islands is addressing the issue by
building a juvenile justice facility, but mixing young and adult offenders
shouldn’t have become an issue in the first place.
As tragic as the fire and loss of life is in the Honduras
prison fire, there are many lessons that the Cayman Islands and our Caribbean
and Latin American neighbours can learn from this disaster.
We need to stay ahead of the curve and ensure that our prisons
– both for adults and youngsters – are adequately staffed and that there is
enough room to safely house them. And we need to ensure that inmates can’t
start fires like the one that started the blaze in Honduras.
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