Tension at Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre ... advocate calls for urgent intervention

There's an urgent call for the authorities to quickly intervene to prevent the outbreak of disorder at the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre in Kingston over rising tensions between inmates and correctional officers.

Rights advocate Carla Gullotta, has issued the warning over the hospitalisation of two inmates and allegations that team of correctional officers has been abusing inmates. 

According to Gullotta, there is now fear among inmates at the overcrowded Tower Street facility where prisoners are said to be routinely beaten by officers. 

Meanwhile, Gullotta says the medical reports on the two injured inmates show that they suffered serious injuries, with one now awaiting a scan to determine the extent of internal damage.

The Independent Commission of Investigations, INDECOM has started a probe into the coordinated abuse of inmates at the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre. 

Gullotta, who heads the rights group Stand Up For Jamaica says it's a welcome move.

Stand Up For Jamaica has been working prisons for almost a decade.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner of Corrections Joyce Stone has confirmed that an inmate was involved in an incident, but would not say if he was beaten by correctional officers.