…flays police for unlawful killings“The principal human rights abuses were complaints of unlawful killings by police, mistreatment of suspects and detainees by security forces, poor prison and jail conditions, and lengthy pretrial detention…“Other problems included allegations of government corruption, including among police officials, and sexual and domestic violence against women and abuse of minors.”This is according to the United States of America’s State Department Annual Report on Human Rights for 2010, released by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday.The report pointed out that while the government or its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings, the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) received 13 complaints of unlawful killings.The report documents as an example the fateful day in June last when police officers, responding to a disturbance at a high school, shot and killed 16-year-old student, Kelvin Fraser.Another example cited was the fact that there were no known developments in the investigation by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in the April 2009 fatal shooting by an off-duty member of the Presidential Guard.The US report also pointed out the 2009 killing of businessman Dweive Kant Ramdass among others.The report stated that during the year the PCA received 11 complaints of unnecessary use of violence and the local media reported several cases of random police brutality, arrest, and interrogation prior to investigation.The case of Detective Corporal Ricardo Inniss who was accused of raping a 21-year-old woman who was in custody at the Turkeyen Police Station was also documented.The woman alleged that the detective, who was on duty, threatened her with continued confinement, took her into a room, and had sex with her against her will.The woman reported the incident, and the detective was detained but no charges were ever filed at year’s end.The US State Department report also cited the October 2009 case against three police officers, Sergeant Narine Lall, Constable Mohanram Dolai, and Corporal Oswald Foo, for maliciously wounding three suspects, 14-year-old Twyon Thomas, Deonarine Rafick, and Nouravie Wilfred.“Prison and jail conditions were poor and deteriorating, particularly in police holding cells. Capacity and resource constraints were a problem…The Prison Authority reported that at the end of October, there were 2,Jerseys NFL Wholesale,122 prisoners in five facilities, which had a combined design capacity of 1,580.”Approximately half of the prisoners are in Georgetown’s Camp Street Prison, which was designed to hold 600 inmates but held 1,060.“Overcrowding was in large part due to backlogs of pretrial detainees, who constituted approximately 41 percent of the total prison population…Government medical officers visit each prison location on a monthly basis.”It stated also that unlike in past years when all newly hired prison guards received limited human rights training from the Guyana Human Rights Association, the association was not invited to perform training during the year.The report did include the fact that conditions improved at the Brickdam facility lockups after the facility reopened following renovations that saw improved cells and bathroom facilities.It stated however that although precinct jails were intended to serve only as pretrial holding areas, some suspects were detained there as long as two years, awaiting judicial action on their cases.It was pointed out that prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were permitted religious observance.Prison chaplains representing the major faiths in the country were appointed to all prison facilities.Prisoners and detainees are able to submit complaints to judicial authorities without censorship and to request investigation of credible allegations of inhumane conditionsThe report stated that while the constitution provides for the appointment of an ombudsman who may investigate any action taken by any government department or authority in relation to the administrative functions of that department or authority, the position has been vacant since 2005. “There was no indication that the government declined to permit independent monitoring of prison conditions, but there were no known monitoring visits during the year.”The report also pointed out that inadequate training,Cheap Hockey Jerseys, poor equipment, and acute budgetary constraints severely limited the GPF’s effectiveness. Public confidence in, and cooperation with, the police remained low and there were reports of corruption in the police force.It was pointed out that although the law providescriminal detainees prompt access to a lawyer of their choice and to family members, in practice these rights sometimes were not fully respected. The state provides legal counsel for indigent persons only when such perso