As many as 160 inmates at the Toronto South Detention Centre have refused a lockdown and mounted a protest this week, according to an inmate.

Now Sayd Jaweed said the inmates are “going through hell” as a punishment.

“There was a standoff and they brought the crisis intervention team in and they got rough with everybody,” said Jaweed.

According to the 31-year-old, on Thursday evening inmates refused to return to their cells for a lockdown and instead sat peacefully in the prison’s yard as a demonstration against what he called “inhumane conditions” because of frequent lockdowns.

Jaweed couldn’t be sure how many people participated in the protest, but said he was told everyone on the third floor took part — with four units of 40 inmates each, that means as many as 160 could have been involved.

Jaweed said he was on his way back from court when the demonstration took place otherwise he would have been locked up as well.

“It’s horrible,” he said during a phone interview Friday night. “The guards are telling us ‘You’re lucky you’re not upstairs right now because they’re going through hell.’ ”

Late Friday evening Andrew Morrison, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Community Safety, issued a statement saying, “The Toronto South Detention Centre was locked down last night after some inmates refused to return to their cells.”

Morrison was unable to provide a figure for the total of inmates involved, but noted the facility “resumed routine operations” on Friday morning.

Monte Vieselmeyer, corrections division chair of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, explained it was a “peaceful protest” where “inmates refused to be locked up” had taken place.

“Everyone was put back in their cells after a period of time and there were no injuries to inmates or staff,” he said, adding that he wasn’t sure why the inmates were protesting.

Jaweed said the reason for the demonstration was frustration with the frequent lockdowns inmates have endured.

“It’s all about lockdowns,” he said. “We don’t get phone calls, we don’t get showers. They don’t let us out for days.”

Jaweed said he’s been incarcerated for 16 months. In that time he’s counted 240 lockdown days.

“We’re for sure locked down four days each week and it’s sometimes more,” said Jaweed.

The total number of lockdowns across Ontario’s provincial jails have risen dramatically from 259 in 2009 to 900 last year.

Inmates at Toronto South, in particular, have complained about being frequently confined to their 12-by-8-foot cells, during lockdowns that can last a few hours or drag on for days.

While locked down inmates don’t have access to showers, yard time or visits from family or lawyers.

This isn’t the first time prisoners at the Etobicoke super jail have resorted to protests in order to have their voices heard.

Last summer inmates refused meals for three days in an effort to draw attention to their situation.

Vieselmeyer explained that although the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services is going through a “big hiring phase” prisons across the province often have to declare lockdowns because of staffing shortages.

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“We’ve been referencing it as a crisis in corrections,” he said. “There are many lockdowns where inmates are locked in their cells for longer periods of time than would be normal.”

Meanwhile, at Toronto South, Jaweed said he was told inmates who participated in the demonstration were being punished.

“The guards are tearing the whole place upside-down, taking everyone’s stuff, their clothes and leaving them all in their shorts,” he said. “They take their mattresses and leave them in their cells with the hatches closed. TVs are off, no phone, no showers for God knows how many days.”