Prison Commissioner prevented from transferring Muslim officers

A HIGH COURT judge has granted injunctions to two Muslim prison officers who have sued the State for alleged victimisation, punishment and breaches of their rights to practise their religion because they were not allowed to grow their beards.

The injunctions prevent their transfer to the Port of Spain prison and carry a penal clause with notice that any breach of the order will be considered contempt of court punishable by imprisonment, a fine or confiscation of assets.

Both officers – Sherwin Ramnarine and Javed Boodram – say within weeks of issuing pre-action protocol letters, they were transferred in February to the Port of Spain prison.

Before the transfer, Ramnarine was assigned to the Claxton Bay Correctional Facility. Boodram was posted at the maximum security prison in Golden Grove, Arouca.

The injunctions, granted on Monday by Justice Margaret Mohammed, say they must be allowed to report for duty at the two facilities until their lawsuits are determined.

Mohammed is also hearing a third lawsuit filed by another Muslim prison officer, Arshad Singh, who has alleged he is not being promoted because of his beard.

Attorneys for the two had asked for the judge to hear all three matters, since their claims raise the same issues.

The two, who are represented by a team of attorneys led by Senior Counsel Anand Ramlogan, are asserting their transfers were a result of their taking legal action despite being warned by the prison administration. They view it as a form of punishment and victimisation to “teach” them a lesson.

However, they claim it is the “infliction of a penalty under the guise of a transfer.”

“This will have a chilling effect on litigants and can be weaponised by the State as a strong deterrent to discourage litigation against the State for the breach of fundamental human rights,” their applications said.

Ramnarine, 47, who joined the prison service in May 2002, said he converted to Islam in 2007 and his personnel records were updated to reflect this.

“I take my spiritual development very seriously as I see it as part of the essence of my identity and human dignity,” his affidavit in support of his lawsuit said.

Both men said they wear a beard in adherence to the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah (the traditions and practices of the holy Prophet Muhammad).

Prison rules do not permit officers to wear a beard unless they have a medical exemption.

Ramnarine said when his beard grew, he was told to shave it and was reprimanded by his seniors.

“I have always felt very intimidated by officers more senior in rank to me and felt unsettled and would unwillingly comply with instructions to clean shave my beard.”

Ramnarine said his religious beliefs and conscience stop him from taking advantage of an “unwritten understanding” for Muslim officers to get medical exemptions for their beards.

“This artificial arrangement has worked for some, however, I find it to be a deceptive practice.”

At the start of the pandemic, Ramnarine said he was able to conceal his beard under a full balaclava mask while on duty, but when the mask restriction was lifted, his N95 mask did not fully cover it and he was warned he could be charged.

However, Boodram said he has a legitimate medical reason for wearing his beard, as he has a skin sensitivity and has been advised not to shave his face to avoid cysts from developing. He said he has been accused of faking his condition to receive “a false exemption.”

Boodram says he cannot grow his beard to the appropriate length of three inches, as dictated in Islamic practice. He also said was unable to keep his ten-day fast for the holy month leading up to Eid-ul-Adha, and was penalised by being sent on 53 days of vacation leave, in July 2020, while ridiculed and told he could grow his beard “to the ground” during his vacation.

“I felt as though I was being maliciously and calculatingly targeted.

“...I have had to constantly explain and justify myself for growing a beard, even though it is a short one. I feel as though the prison administration is almost resentful towards me that I have a medical exemption so that I do not have to shave my beard clean.”

Boodram also said he was warned to withdraw his intended lawsuit and views his transfer as a form of punishment which will also affect him financially, as he will not earn overtime.

“I consider my abrupt and inexplicable transfer to be a premeditated act of malice and victimisation. It is as if the prison administration is taking revenge and has retaliated with full force to persecute me for standing up for my constitutional rights.

“It is not a genuine transfer but rather a form of punishment under the pretext of a transfer that is designed to teach me a lesson and send a strong message to other Muslim officers in the prison service and prisons officers in general that they must ‘bat in their crease’ and simply shut up and maintain the status quo or else they will feel the full wrath and fury and might and muscle of the Commissioner of Prisons.”

Both men say they were not given a warning of their transfer, as public service regulations dictate.

Boodram says, “It is a cruel irony that Muslim prisoners are allowed to grow their beards in accordance with their religious belief and practice, but Muslim prison officers are denied this right.”

Both also say their colleagues are allowed to practise their religion, and also provided “expert” testimony from the chairman and principal of the Darul Uloom, an Islamic institute, Wazim Khan, who quoted from books on Islamic law which say it is essential for men to wear a beard.

“There is no doubt that the consensus among all jurists and Islamic scholars, from the past and present, is that wearing a beard is essential for a Muslim male and shaving it is sinful.”

Also representing the men are attorneys Natasha Bisram, Jayanti Lutchmedial, Kent Samlal and Sheldon Sookram.