Jamaican Researcher

Are Jamaican Prisons ready for inmate education on Human Rights Advocacy?

The title of this post is a question–a provocative one, I must add. I posed it because as I prepare to execute a pilot education program on advocacy for improved economic and social rights (ESR) and services to inmates who are incarcerated in adult correctional institutions (prisons) in Jamaica, I cannot help but ponder the Correctional Institution’s readiness to embrace inmates advocating for changes, such as the abolition of solitary confinement as a punishment, as recommended by the United Nations.

You can review the draft of the educational tool that I created specifically for the pilot… Introduction to Inmate Economic and Social Rights.

From the outset, it is evident that inmate education on advocacy for the improvement of ESR is necessary, because there are obvious gaps when we compare national legislation and international principles. There is therefore a clear case for advocacy for the improvement of ESR and services to Jamaica’s prisoners.

My general intention in executing this program is to assess and evaluate the need for ESR programming in adult penal institutions, which will lead to recommendations and justifications for project funding, institutional building, and capacity development.

The first draft of my ESR sensitization tool captures Jamaican legislation and international guidelines and principles for inmates. One thing that you will notice is that national laws sometimes conflict with international principles, for example the use of solitary confinement as punishment.