Using its majority in the National Assembly, the Government voted down a motion that called for a Commission of Inquiry to be conducted into the September 2020 Lusignan Prison unrest which left two prisoners dead.

In presenting the motion, APNU+AFC Member Geeta Chandan-Edmond said a Commission of Inquiry would be significant to shed light on the man unanswered questions surrounding the deadly riot.

She said lives were lost and the families of the two dead prisoners deserve some closure.

“It is important in the public interest to know and to understand the specific facts and circumstances that led to the shooting and the subsequent death of prisoners, so as to prevent a recurrence……. This motion centres around our duty, as Members of the National Assembly, to confront and interrogate issues of national importance. We must therefore recognize that the sanity of human lives must be respected. Life cannot be restored if it has been lost…. When we were bringing this motion, it was really to give the family members and by extension the people of this country the opportunity to hear what happened truthfully, and to ensure that there is no recurrence” MP Chandan-Edmond emphasized. 

The Opposition MP wh is also Shadow Home Affairs Minister said she is disappointed that the Government does not see the need to get to the bottom of the incident by hosting a Commission of Inquiry.

“I’m disappointed and I had really hoped that the Government would have understood that this was an opportunity to make certain things public, which they have not done so far”.  

In response,  Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn noted that while it is regrettable that two persons lost their lives during the unrest, the Government could not support the motion for a Commission of Inquiry.

“While we continue to work at improving the conditions, the welfare and the housing of both the prisoners and the staff, I think it would be wrong for us to get bogged down in the Commission of Inquiries. And, given the fact that we do not have a properly constructed document with respect to the ‘whereas’ clauses and the solutions, I am not in a position to support the undertaking of any Commission of Inquiry,” Minister Benn maintained.

Minister Been reminded the house that a  COI which was conducted into the Camp Street unrest in 2016. He added that the recommendations from that inquiry were never implemented and that the administration would be examining those recommendations. 

On the 29th of September last year, two inmates were shot and killed while others were injured during a protest by prisoners over cases of the coronavirus in the prison.

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