FLORIDA, United States--International relief and development organisation Food For The Poor says it secured the release of 256 non-violent inmates in prisons in Jamaica, Guyana, Haiti and Honduras this Easter.
Four men were freed in Guyana, nine men in Jamaica, 232 men and women in Haiti, and 11 men in Honduras, the charity said, stressing that it worked hard this year to secure the release of those inmates as prison overcrowding continued to be a major problem in the Caribbean and Latin America.
In Jamaica, nonviolent prisoners were released from Hunts Bay Police Station, and Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre in Kingston, and the St. Catherine Adult Correctional Centre in Spanish Town. Each of them was escorted from their cell to a room, and later to the chapel where they were each greeted by Food For The Poor staff. They also received words of encouragement, a hot meal and personal care items.
In Haiti, six prisons located in Cap-Haitien, Fort-Liberté, Grande Rivière, Hinche, Port-au-Prince and Port-de-Paix agreed to allow Food For The Poor to pay its required fines for nonviolent offenders. The majority of these prisoners, which included a few women, were locked up for stealing items such as chickens to feed their families or other items for their daily needs.
Each inmate released in Haiti received a hot meal, a 100-pound bag of rice, personal care items, and money for transportation home.
Food For The Poor cited the recent fire at the Camp Street Prison in Georgetown, Guyana, in which 17 inmates lost their lives and several others were injured, as an example of why its work is necessary. That 130-year-old prison was built to hold 450, but at the time of the riot had more than 1,000 inmates.
“It’s truly tragic what happened to those men in Guyana; no one deserves to die that way. These prisons in developing countries are being filled to the max with people who are committing petty offences,” said President and Chief Executive Officer of Food For The Poor Robin Mahfood.
“I understand if a person commits a crime they must face the consequences of their actions, but the majority of these first-time offenders are being locked up with hard core criminals for weeks, months and even years at a time because they cannot afford to pay the minimal fines for their freedom.”
One of those inmates in Guyana was Rajesh. Sick and suffering from tuberculosis, he was sentenced to four months in prison. He and three other men were released from the Georgetown prison after Food For The Poor paid their fines for Holy Week. In Rajesh’s case, the charity also provided treatment for his tuberculosis, which he was extremely grateful to receive.
Each of the four men was given a Holy Bible, a change of clothes, caps, personal care items, food and a monetary gift as they were released from prison.
For 18 years, Food For The Poor has been paying the fines of nonviolent offenders, freeing them from their prisons twice a year – at Easter and Christmas.
“We serve a God who is very merciful,” said Mahfood. “We can only pray that each prisoner who was released will recognise that our Lord is a God of second chances.” ~ Caribbean360 ~
