Advocates at odds with prison

Two men who were the subject of an advertisement by the Barbados Bar Association regarding their nonattorney status say they have been “banned” from Dodds Prisons and branded “undesirables.”

Colin Roach and Winston Clarke, who have been assisting inmates who cannot afford legal counsel, told the Weekend Nation that they were informed of a memo written by Superintendent of Prisons DeCarlo Payne indicating that as of June 23, they would not be allowed on the Barbados Prison Service property to visit or conduct any business.

The directive, shown to this newspaper, dated June 23, states: “The superintendent of prisons has deemed him [Roach] as an undesirable according to Prisons Rules Cap.168 rs63 (5) which states: ‘The officer in charge may refuse admission to the prison of any person who in his opinion is undesirable.’

Legal action

However, Roach, who has already filed legal action against the superintendent over the ban, is defiant. He questioned the timing of the eviction, which comes hot on the heels of his successful assistance to inmate Corey Lynch.

Acting as a McKenzie Friend, Roach helped Lynch file a constitutional motion against Payne and the Attorney General for failing to provide adequate medical and social care while incarcerated.

The matter was decided on March 29 by Justice Patrick Wells, who found that the State violated Lynch’s right not to be subjected to inhumane and degrading treatment and awarded him $20 000 in damages at four per cent per annum.

Roach told this newspaper that on June 9, he went to the Dodds, St Philip institution to serve a writ of habeas corpus on the superintendent regarding an inmate whose appeal matters had not been adjudicated.

Advised

Roach said an officer informed him that the superintendent had been advised not to sign the application.

“I insisted that the superintendent must sign because he had the body,” Roach said. He said he was ordered off the premises by senior personnel.

Two days later, on June 11, Roach said police officers visited him and handed him a written note which stated: “The superintendent ask you to cease and desist from coming to the Prisons.”

In a sworn affidavit sent to both the Minister of Home Affairs and the Solicitor General, Roach fired back: “I was following Section 57.4 of the Supreme Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2008 and Mr DeCarlo Payne as superintendent of Dodds Prisons, violated my right to be in a public space where I was conducting business. I have been prevented from visiting inmates, who gave me power of attorney to act on their behalf.”

Clarke, a paralegal who is already locked in a separate legal battle with the Barbados Bar Association after they published his name in a newspaper advertisement warning the public that he was not an attorney, signalled that he is fully prepared to take the superintendent of prisons to court as well.

While he said he was not officially informed of the “ban”, he was aware of a memo at the prison indicating that he was no longer welcomed there.

“If somebody – don’t matter who it is – does something that I believe is counterproductive to those under their care, whether it be the Prime Minister, whether it be the superintendent . . . . I will speak about it as long as what I am saying is true and I have the documentation or truth to substantiate what I am saying,” Clarke said.

He believes his legal success with prisoners might be behind his ouster.

“One of the reasons that I have been banned and as he say undesirable from the prison, is because of my assistance to inmates. . . who are representing themselves,” Clarke said.

“I can say that there are about 23 matters that I have done consecutively where I have been successful for the inmates and for some reason this administration does not like to see people being set free. If we continue to speak out, these people would not be able to get away with these things.”

The Weekend Nation reached out to Superintendent Payne by telephone and email but up to press time there was no response to queries concerning the ban.

Minister of Home Affairs and Information Gregory Nicholls declined to comment on the situation.

He would only state: “The issue was one for the management of the prison to respond to directly as it is not a matter brought to me for action”.

He further explained that his hands were tied by the very legislation governing the facility.

“My remit in respect of the Prisons is set out in the Prisons Act and it doesn’t permit me to get involved with operational matters.”

However, he added: “I am not aware that the alleged banning of people has risen to the level of policy intervention but I will assure you that if this reaches me, I will faithfully discharge my duties fairly and impartially according to the law.” (MB)

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