Death sentences were imposed by the courts. No executions were carried out. Detained asylum-seekers and migrants, the majority black Haitian nationals, were held in harsh conditions and reportedly ill-treated. Reports of police abuses continued.

Death penalty

The courts continued to pass death sentences. No executions took place. At the end of 2005, there were at least 39 prisoners on death row. Numerous people, including the Commissioner of Police, called for the resumption of executions in reaction to an increase in violent crime.

In April, 12 prisoners on death row at the Fox Hill Prison staged a three-day hunger strike to protest at their "inhumane" conditions. Inmates alleged inadequate sanitation, food, water and medical care. In October a new prison building was commissioned, for completion in 2007.

Police abuses

There were continued reports of police brutality.

  • In January a riot erupted in Nassau Village after police allegedly abused Haitian women and shot a young man aged 19 in the face. A police investigation had not concluded by the end of 2005.

Asylum-seekers and migrants

There were continued reports of abuses against asylum-seekers and other detainees at the Carmichael Detention Centre. Inmates were reportedly beaten and received inadequate medical attention, food and water. Asylum-seekers were forcibly returned to countries including Cuba and Haiti without access to a full and fair determination procedure.

Hostility increased towards Haitian immigrants, unofficially estimated at 60,000 out of a population of 300,000. In 2005, according to the Department of Immigration, 5,543 irregular immigrants – 4,504 from Haiti – were forcibly returned to their countries of origin.

AI country visits

In May, AI sent a police expert to provide human rights training to members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

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