(GBHRA Statement: July 22nd, 2015) Medical evidence has validated our assertion that, contrary to official claims, 27-year-old Jean-Mary Justilien was shot from behind while running away from an immigration raid in Eleuthera on June 9.
The Grand Bahama Human Rights Association (GBHRA) now urges a full and transparent investigation of this matter – from the circumstances of the shooting itself, to the question of possible criminal charges against the officers involved, to how the facts came to be so grossly misrepresented by multiple law enforcement agencies.
The report, compiled by doctors at the Princess Margaret Hospital, asserts that Justilien was shot in the back of the neck, with the bullet exiting his left cheek. As such, it represents an utter refutation of the account given by both the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) and the Immigration Department – and raises some very serious questions regarding probity and accountability in law enforcement in The Bahamas today.
Immediately following the incident, the RBPF issued a statement claiming that “an unarmed Haitian man who attempted to disarm an immigration officer was shot in the cheek”. Soon after, the Immigration Department claimed it was a police officer that Justilien allegedly attacked, and that “the alleged assault resulted in the accidental discharge of the service revolver of the police officer causing injuries to the face and shoulder of the suspect.”.
All along, civilian eyewitnesses maintained that all Justilien did was run away when armed officers burst into the house where he was – a perfectly reasonable reaction given the increasingly aggressive and unlawful manner in which our immigration laws are being enforced under the current government – only to be chased down and shot from behind after he stumbled and fell to the ground. Now, it seems their version of events has been justified and the official account completely debunked.
Meanwhile, this young man remains on remand at Fox Hill Prison, without proper medical treatment for his very serious and painful wound. And despite the claims Justilien attacked officers, he has been charged with nothing more than immigration violations – a fact that raises further suspicion about the government’s claims, given the circumstances.
In light of the above, the GBHRA asks:
• How did both immigration and police officials come to diverge so significantly from reality in their official accounts of this incident?
• How did both agencies manage to make the same material error, namely the claim that Justilien was shot in the face when he quite clearly was not?
• Was their any collusion or joint attempt at a cover-up involved in the drafting of these official responses?
• Can either agency prove the claim that there was a struggle, altercation or attempt to disarm an officer? In light of the clear misrepresentation of other facts, how can this claim be trusted?
• Why is there no assault charge if an assault did indeed occur?
We demand immediate answers. The government should consider itself forewarned: we will not hesitate to take Justilien’s case before the Inter-American Human Rights Commission (IAHCR), the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) and other international bodies if full disclosure is not forthcoming.
The GBHRA will not stand idly by while those in official positions continue to play games with people’s lives. Justice, fairness and basic decency demand that we take action.
– Fred Smith, president
Grand Bahama Human Rights Association
