By Ariana Gordon

PRISONER Dwayne Lewis, the first prisoner to give evidence to the recently-established Commission of Inquiry into the Georgetown Prison riots which resulted in the fiery death of 17 prisoners last week, has said that six canisters of tear gas were lobbed into Division ‘A’ of the Camp Street Penitentiary by unknown sources.Lewis told the three-man Commission, comprising Justice James Patterson, Dale Erskine and Merle Mendonca, that the fire stated in the middle section of the jail though he could not state why it was started and by whom.
“I can’t say why the fire was started,” Lewis said, responding to questions from Commissioner Erskine who led the questioning yesterday.

“LOCK THE DOOR”
Prior to the fire being set, Lewis and other prisoners were instructed to leave Capital ‘A’ division and while he was packing his belongings, he heard someone say “lock the door.”
“When the first set of prisoners came out and they escorted them — is when they pass the order that let them lock the door and let them die in there,” he added.
Lewis could not state who passed the order to lock the door but said the prisoners pleaded with the officers to open the door but identified an officer whose only name was given as “Patterson” as the one who refused to open the door.
Recounting what transpired after the start of the fire, the prisoner said, “It started to smoke up the place, we began to apply for water to control the situation but after that some men was breaking a hole into the wall to separate A and B Division.”
After breaking the wall, the prisoners attempted to control the fire by using water but unfortunately there “wasn’t any water coming to the facility at that time.”
“After that six can with tear smoke was thrown into the building,” the man recounted. Asked how he knows it was six cans, Lewis said he counted the cans.
“After the tear smoke was thrown, it started to burn our eyes and skin, so we run to a small ventilated area and we start calling for help,” he said, noting that the prisoners got no response to their cries for help.
The six canisters of tear gas were thrown into the building through a hole that was five inches by five, Lewis added. The prisoner said there was poor ventilation at the prison facility making it difficult for prisoners to breathe.
“The fire eventually grew bigger and bigger and took over the whole cell causing some of the inmates to be badly burnt up. I eventually ran to the front entrance calling for help.” At that time the door was not open so Lewis ran to the hole in the wall which separates Capital ‘A’ from ‘B’ where he made good his escape though lightly scathed. He received burns to his lower abdomen. “When I came out in the capital ‘B’ division and I walked down the step and I fell down. That is all,” the prisoner recounted.
Lewis, a murder accused, has been imprisoned for eight months at the Camp Street penitentiary. Asked whether there was an attempt by anyone to douse the fire and open the door, the prisoner said, “none of these service was at the time present sir.”
Lewis could not state the number of prisoners who were able to escape through the hole but said, “I was the first person to come out… I was escorted through the front gate.” Approximately twenty-five prisoners remained in the dormitory after the door was locked, he added.
Asked by Commissioner Patterson whether he heard anybody give instructions for prison officers to deal with the fire, the murder accused said, “I could not say sir.”
Lewis noted that he did not observe any attempt by the prison administration to douse the fire. “While in the building I didn’t saw any attempt by the administration sir.”
The prisoner said upon instruction the prisoners, about forty of them, were being “escorted in a peaceful manner.” He was however quick to point out that some of the inmates became rowdy “because a certain officer was harassing prisoners who came out first.” Asked by the Commission to explain what he meant by “harassing”, Lewis replied, “Hitting them with these thing you call baton.” A fellow inmate, Collis Collison was badly beaten, Lewis said and fell unconscious.
“It was a prison warden who was harassing them when they went into the yard,” he said, though he was not in a position to identify the prison officer. “No sir, I couldn’t identify them sir.”
Meanwhile, Lewis in his testimony told Commissioners that the prisoners seemed displeased by the move by the prison officers to seize their mobile devices and other illegal items during a search of the facility on March 2.

CONTRABAND FIND
“I may not know how they felt but you could see it in their face what took place that day,” the inmate said.
He said that around 3:30 pm two large margarine buckets containing illicit items were removed from Capital ‘A’. “They came out with two large margarine buckets…some with cell phones. They were filled with cell phones. Some had cell phones and leaves, seeds and stems suspected to be marijuana.”
The discovery of the contraband was made by prison officers who were assisted by ranks of the Guyana Police Force.
In an effort to justify the displeasure of his fellow inmates, Lewis said mobile phones and marijuana provide a level of comfort for the prisoners. He explained that in the case of the phones, prisoners are denied regular phone calls to their loved ones. They are only afforded that option “when something happens like what happens last week.” “They have to get them cause it wouldn’t be comfortable for them to serve their prison time…,” the inmate said as Commissioners asked him to explain. Asked by the Commissioners to state how phones enter the penitentiary, Lewis declined.
“I can’t say that part sir, even if I want to say that part I would not say that part,” he stated. The prisoner proffered that while mobile phones are prohibited, it is not necessary for the prison officers to seize all. “If you come to search and you find ten cellphone at least you can take six and leave four,” he stated.
Many prisoners, he said, depended on those who had mobile devices to call their relatives and friends on a daily basis.
Asked how often searches are conducted at the Camp Street jail, Lewis said searches are usually done every three months but there was a long delay before last week’s search. He noted that for the past five searches that were conducted ranks of the Guyana Police Force assisted. “The Guyana Police Force would come and join in to give a hand to conduct the search,” he said.

WEAPONS
Lewis added that all weapons were seized on March 2 along with the other illicit items, while noting that there was no fighting by inmates. According to the prisoner, “They had none. I was there all the time, they had no fighting.”
He acknowledged that prisoners were in possession of cutlasses prior to the riots. Asked whether the cutlasses or sharp instruments were “homemade”, Lewis replied, “I won’t call that homemade, I would call it prison-made because it is made in prison.” He said prisoners often arm themselves with cutlasses for protection.
“Sir because you and a man might have a talking and you might feel it finish and when you go to sleep he may inflict injuries so you always got to have yuh thing by your side.”
He said he “never had a chance” to have cutlasses in his possession as he is a “very peaceful person.” Lewis accepted that the searching of the Divisions by the prison authorities is intended to make the environment safe and comfortable. He said too that he feels safe in his Division. “Yes sir, I don’t have time to focus on wrong doing. The only weapon I have is my Quran sir; I focus on God all the time sir.”

CROWDED
Asked to describe the space within the Division, Lewis said it is crowded, noting that there are insufficient mattresses. “When I first go in there I slept about two months on the floor without mattress. My division is so overcrowded eight to nine prisoners sleeping on the floor without mattress,” he added.
He said he secured a mattress after another inmate was removed from the facility. He said several complaints were made to the prison authority about his discomfort sleeping on the floor.
“The first time when I was sleeping on the floor, I made about eight complaints to the administration…I had to wait until an inmate got bail to get a mattress to be comfortable. I had no other complaints after then to make to the administration.”
He said he wishes if the food provided to prisoners would be better prepared. Lewis said it is also his desire to see the cooks properly clad in clean clothing.
“Should be more clean like sir…some of these men working in the kitchen their clothes should be more clean…not a healthy part on behalf of the prison administration.” Meals would often time be served with “black pot” inside of it, he lamented.
He also believes that prisoners should be able to contact their relatives four times a month.
Lewis was placed in the Camp Street facility in August 2015 and was committed to stand trial on February 19 this year.