COVID-19 in Guyana’s Jails: the management approaches of the Guyana Prison Service and criminal justice system

This article explores the findings of research on the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in Guyana’s jails, for the period March 2020 to March 2021. Historicising the response as constrained by the ongoing use of colonial-era infrastructure and regulations, it opens with an examination of the human rights context in Guyana. It then draws on interviews conducted with frontline prisons personnel and members of the judiciary to evaluate the pandemic response. Overall, it finds that the cautious and pragmatic approach during the early months of the pandemic impacted on prisoners’ access to justice and rehabilitation, and increased tensions. Later on, digital technologies enabled the resumption of trials, though at a cost of enhancing inequalities for some sectors of the population.