Inmate is refusing to consume solid food
An inmate at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre who is refusing to eat solid foods is on constant medical watch in solitary confinement, an official confirmed this morning.
Photo by Whitehorse Star
Dan Cable
An inmate at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre who is refusing to eat solid foods is on constant medical watch in solitary confinement, an official confirmed this morning.
Tricia Ratel, director of corrections, said the inmate is monitored constantly.
He has been offered medical and counselling services, but corrections aren’t able to interfere with his rights to choose not to eat solids.
For privacy reasons, Ratel said, she’s not able to discuss his medical condition, release his name or his age, nor could she say off the top of her head how long he’s been refusing to eat solids.
She did confirm the inmate has lost weight, though she would not say how much.
“Of course, we have to respect his right to do that,” Ratel said. “We cannot interfere with that, medically or otherwise.
“He is making informed decisions, but we are monitoring his health.”
A nurse, she said, has been assigned to check on the inmate four times a day.
“Sometimes he agrees to see the nurse and sometimes he doesn’t,” Ratel said. “He is consuming fruit juice, water, tea, Tai tea, kelp tea, and we have recently got him organic blueberry and cranberry juice, at his request.”
The director said the inmate volunteered to be moved into solitary confinement, away from the general population where inmates are relatively free to leave their cells and move about freely in the common area.
At this point, however, he would not likely be allowed to return to the general population automatically upon his request, because of the health risks associated with not eating solid foods for so long, she said.
Ratel said at this point the monitoring required should the inmate begin eating solid would be more difficult if he were permitted to return to the general population.
Up until recently, officials with the Department of Justice have been unwilling to either confirm or deny information coming out of the jail about the so-called hunger strike.
Justice spokesman Dan Cable said Thursday it was decided recently to discuss the matter publicly to some extent, given the information coming out through social media, some of which is being circulated by the inmate himself.
Mark McDiarmid has been in contact with the Star over the last couple of months, describing his case and the reasons behind his solid food protest.
The 34-year-old McDiarmid maintains he has been treated unjustly and harshly by the Yukon’s system of justice, from before his arrest on a charge of assaulting an RCMP officer in Dawson City through to his ongoing confinement at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre.
A handful of others who know of the situation through direct contact with McDiarmid, or who have family or friends who’ve served time at the jail, have also contacted the Star to express how serious they believe the matter is.
Mostly recently, a letter from McDiarmid’s family and friends pleads for assistance for their son and brother.
“To any news agency, reporter or lawyer that is willing to help financially, legally and anyone interested in helping to get the below information out to the public,” reads the opening sentence in the two-page letter.
The letter goes on to describe McDiarmid’s view of the case. By law, the Star is limited in what it can publish.
The court has ordered the standard publication ban on evidence pertaining to several criminal charges McDiarmid is facing.
The family letter, however, says McDiarmid also started fasting on Oct. 27, 2012 – a year to the day that he was shot and arrested by the RCMP – to protest conditions at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre.
Among the concerns raised by the family was an issue with heating – or the lack of.
At one point during December’s cold snap, the letter contends, the temperature in McDiarmid’s cell was between 12 and 14 C.
The director of corrections acknowledged this morning there is a problem with the heating system at the new $70-plus-million correctional centre
Ratel said she could not be more specific because the matter is being dealt by the Department of Highways and Public Works.
Cable said inmates are provided with additional sweaters and blanketing when required.
Communication staff with Highway and Public works were still pursuing information this morning regarding the heating system at the correction centre.
garry tuckey
Feb 8, 2013 at 7:20 pm
I spent some time with this individual at Whitehorse corrections. I believe there is a real mental health issue that needs to be observed here. Just my opinion.