Covering events from January - December 2002

COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS
Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by Dame Ivy Dumont
Head of government: Perry Gladstone Christie (replaced Hubert Alexander Ingraham in May)
Death penalty: retentionist
International Criminal Court: signed

A new government committed itself to improving prison conditions, but they remained harsh. A suspected extrajudicial execution by police was reported, as well as cases of ill-treatment of detainees by police. Death sentences continued to be imposed by the courts; no executions were carried out. There was continued concern that asylum-seekers were returned to their countries of origin without access to a full and fair determination procedure.

Background

In May, the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) won general elections, ousting the Free National Movement.

Death penalty

At the end of 2002 there were 30 people on death row. No executions were carried out.

Prison conditions

In February prison officers protested against the risk of contracting infectious diseases from their work. In May the incoming PLP government committed itself to improving prison conditions, and in October it established a Prison Reform Commission to recommend reforms.

In August an AI delegation which visited Fox Hill Prison found evidence of conditions constituting cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Reports of serious diseases and of inadequate medical treatment continued. Children were detained with adults. Although a new block for unconvicted detainees was opened subsequently, overcrowding remained severe.

  • The authorities were unable to provide information as to the status of an investigation into the alleged rape of a 17-year-old detainee by adult prisoners in August 2001.
Asylum-seekers

Asylum-seekers from countries including Haiti and Cuba continued to be forcibly returned without access to a full and fair determination procedure, in violation of international law. The government indicated to AI that it did not intend to enact the provisions of the 1951 Refugee Convention. Asylum-seekers and unauthorized migrants were detained without access to any judicial procedures, in harsh conditions. Some detainees were reportedly beaten by Royal Bahamas Defence Force personnel.

Suspected extrajudicial execution

On 5 December, Jermaine Alexander Mackey was killed by police in circumstances suggesting that he was extrajudicially executed. Police stated that he was shot following an encounter with mobile reserve officers. Witnesses claimed that he was stopped by police then, when he ran away, shot several times in the head and chest. Some witnesses were allegedly threatened and forced to lie on the ground with guns to their heads. Forensic evidence was reportedly tampered with. AI had received no response to its request for information about the status of the investigation into the shooting by the end of 2002.

Police ill-treatment

There were several reports alleging ill-treatment of detainees by police officers.
  • In June, Earl Meadows was allegedly beaten and kicked by several officers on a police bus in Nassau. An officer allegedly placed a gun against his head and threatened him. An inquiry had not concluded by the end of 2002.
Flogging

In September the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the highest court of appeal for the Bahamas, ruled that a sentence of flogging did not violate the Bahamas Constitution, despite constituting inhuman and degrading punishment. The Privy Council sent back to the Court of Appeal a decision as to whether the cat-o'-nine tails (a whip of several knotted cords) or the rod should be used.

In August, the Minister of National Security stated that she supported flogging with the cat-o'-nine tails as a punishment for rape. In October a man sued the government on the grounds that he had been flogged before his conviction for rape was overturned on appeal.

Discrimination

In February, a referendum on various constitutional amendments rejected a provision for equality between men and women before the law.

AI country visits

An AI delegation visited in August. Delegates met government ministers and others and visited Fox Hill Prison, the Carmichael Detention Centre and a number of police stations.

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