Several inmates at the St Catherine Adult Correctional Centre have alleged that they have been deprived of visitation and recreation rights by warders who are on go-slow or on the verge of going on strike over monies they say the Government has owed them for years.

In a letter to Mickel Jackson, executive director of rights watchdog Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ), the inmates claim that warders “reported sick, gone on leaf (sic) or just don’t turn up for work and it has been affecting us the inmates who are being deprived of our recreation time, and visitation, because the inmates are being let out of their cells very late”.

“We are being let out of our cells at 11:00 am each day and by 12 to 12:30 pm they lock us down… all our urine, feces, and slaps (sic) has to stay with us inside our cells until the next day,” the inmates claimed.

Complaining further about restrictions on visitors from the outside, the prisoners said, “Our rights to visitation from family and love ones are slowly being taken away from us… We use to be getting six visits for the month, we are now getting three, which is one hygiene visit where you can only get one of each items… it’s the same procedure that goes for our food visit, one small dish of food, one bulla, one biscuit, one bun.”

They cited frustration with the parole system, contending that they have been “deprived the right to ‘parole’ by officers who are in charge of the programme and refuse to call the inmates who reache (sic) their time to apply for parole”.

“There isn’t a proper infrastructure nor resources to host any rehabilitation programmes here in the Jamaican correctional prison system… only a few correctional officers here believe in rehabilitation… Jamaican correctional officers/wardens did not train to rehabilitate prisoners, they were trained to enforce punishment,” the inmates complained in the letter.

The inmates also alleged that several of them have been given outdated medication by medical officers working in the prison and said, “Most of us have health issues… the medical here is of no use… whenever an inmate is seen by a doctor who would prescribe some form of medication for that inmate, it would take weeks, if possible, sometimes months for him to get that medication.”

They further complained that meals prepared at the prison are unfit for human consumption and are being taken home by warders to feed their animals daily.

In addition, the incarcerated individuals said the buildings housing them are overrun by “roaches, ants, lizards, bedbugs, snakes, centipedes, spiders, rats and cats”, while claiming that “the authorities play a blind eye because they don’t care a bit.”

As for their living conditions which they describe as “unbearable”, the inmates say the 10 x 5 feet cells, which generally house three individuals, are without “proper running water” or toilet facilities.

“When one wants to defecate, they had to defecate on ‘Paper’ if they have any available in their cell. If not, they had to sometimes use their own clothes to defecate on, after which we would wrap the feces into plastic bag then keep it in our cells until the officers come to let us out for recreation time. We then dispose of it, in the rubbish bin beside the kitchen and the bakery. That’s where it stays until the rubbish truck come to collected (sic) the garbage,” they said.

The JFJ, in driving home a call for “immediate reform” of Jamaica’s lock-ups, prisons and juvenile correctional facilities, said the inmates’ distress call come at a time when Jamaica is under review through the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR), where countries evaluate each other’s human rights records.

JFJ said alongside rights group Stand Up for Jamaica (SUFJ) it had submitted a report to the UPR, documenting systemic failures in the island’s prison system — including overcrowding, inhumane conditions, and human rights violations.

“Most of the inmates’ accounts are corroborated by similar statements made by other inmates, attorneys and staff within the system who have called our office asking to speak anonymously. Last year… we interviewed two attorneys who described in graphic, horrific detail the inhumane conditions endured by both prisoners and detainees. Our stomachs turned during the interview as no human should ever experience what was being described,” the JFJ’s executive director said.

According to Jackson, JFJ received several whistleblower complaints in 2024 about unsanitary cells, lack of medical care, and abuse, while SUFJ recorded 25 ill-treatment complaints between 2023 and 2024, including beatings for trivial reasons.

“Overcrowding exacerbates these problems, with Tower Street and St Catherine holding far beyond their capacities, worsened by the 2024 earthquake that damaged infrastructure. Sanitation is dire, with inmates relying on buckets for waste, and meals are reportedly insufficient and low in nutritional value. Health care is understaffed, with delayed hospital transfers and outbreaks of influenza and tuberculosis in 2024. A 2020 Indecom report on Rio Cobre Juvenile Correctional Centre noted dilapidated facilities and rights-violating discipline,” Jackson said.

“The state of our lock-ups are no better than the prisons. In 2024, JFJ received whistleblower reports of bedbugs, sewage issues, and overcrowding in lockups like Spanish Town, Santa Cruz, and Black River, alongside reports of abuse, including beatings and delayed medical care. Despite government commitments, progress remains slow, with new bail legislation and lengthy sentences threatening to worsen conditions,” JFJ said.

“Thirty-two years after Agana Barrett and two others suffocated in an overcrowded cell at Constant Spring Police Station in October 1992, Jamaica’s lock-ups and prisons remain plagued by overcrowding and inhumane conditions. A recent civil suit, led by attorney John Clarke on behalf of inmates, seeks accountability for these constitutional violations. Without a court-mandated judgment, the Government seems unlikely to act swiftly. Civil suits, after all, burden taxpayers, not the parliamentarians who delay reform. When will we act to erase this stain on our human rights record?” she added.

“JFJ urges the Government to build a modern prison, meeting international standards, with adequate space, sanitation, and rehabilitation programmes to address overcrowding and outdated infrastructure. The Government should also consider the enactment of legislation to set capacity limits, improve sanitation, food, and health care, and promote non-custodial measures for non-violent offences. We must act urgently, as the loss of some liberty for an offence should never mean the denial of fundamental human rights and dignity,” Jackson said further.