Displeasure with being ‘held at pleasure’

HOW THE hell can someone spend 40 years in prison without a trial or conviction? Noel Chambers had been incarcerated at the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre since February 1980 and died at the facility 40 years later at 81 years of age. He was neither tried nor convicted. To put this into context, when

Mr Chambers was incarcerated, I was still in school, and at the time of his death

I am years past the average age at which women go into menopause. In 40 years, people have been born and become grandparents. In the 40 years he was in prison, there have been 10 Olympic games and 10 World Cup football tournaments.

Not only did Chambers die in prison after four decades without a trial or conviction, but the state he was in at the time of his death was nothing short of scandalous. It is reported that his body was filthy and emaciated and riddled with vermin bites, bedsores and live bedbugs. Photographs of his body brought tears to my eyes. It looked like a skeleton covered by a thin sheet of skin. I have visited the Jamaica Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals on several occasions, and I can tell you that none of the animals there would have been allowed to deteriorate the way he did.

The Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) report concluded that the “overall lack of timely and adequate medical attention, in addition to his indefinite incarceration and poor hygiene, highlight serious breaches of his constitutional rights, the Criminal Justice (Administration) Act and the Correctional Institution Rules”.

Chambers had been held “at the governor general’s pleasure” after he was deemed unfit to plead to a charge of murder. Someone is detained at “pleasure” (Her Majesty’s pleasure/governor general’s pleasure/court’s pleasure) in cases where children are found guilty of a capital offence, persons are found unfit to plead, or persons found to be guilty of an offence are adjudged to be suffering from a mental disorder.

NOT AN ANOMALY

Chambers was said to be suffering from a mental disorder. In 2007, the Criminal Justice Administration Act was amended to outlaw imprisonment at the governor general’s pleasure, and it was decided that anyone detained on mental health grounds is to be held at the court’s pleasure. In other words, the process was now solely in the hands of the court. The INDECOM investigation found that twice Chambers received ‘fitness for trial certificates’ from two different psychiatrists. The first was issued in 2003 and the second in 2009. However, despite attempts by family members and a human rights attorney to have his case heard in court, there was no trial.

The magnitude of this injustice might lead one to believe that this case is an anomaly. But it is not. The commission also found that at least 15 other inmates have been imprisoned for more than 30 years without being tried, and that nine other inmates have been declared fit to plead, but they, too, have not been placed before a judge.

According to INDECOM boss Terrence Williams, “All these pleasure clauses are basically how the Englishman used to describe or put a nice spin on an indefinite detention. What they are saying is that we are detaining you indefinitely for the protection of the public as we think you are unfit to plead,” adding that there is usually no evidence of followups with the inmates, who languish in jail.

So, who is responsible for this travesty? The commissioner of corrections is required by law to produce a monthly report on inmates who have been deemed fit to plead. Was this being done? Williams said, “If I was tabling blame, I would say 60 per cent of it is [for the Department of ] Corrections, 20 per cent of it is Parliament, and 20 per cent is for the courts.”

However the blame is to be distributed, people need to be held accountable and fired. This is unacceptable. Far too many injustices occur in Jamaica that become nine-day wonders. This must not be one of them. We the people must demand constitutional limits on the period that someone can be detained ”at pleasure”. We must demand that people who are deemed fit to plead are allowed to do so.

We cannot just let this pass.