Amnesty International's Urgent Action Network provides an effective and rapid response to urgent situations involving prisoners of conscience, human rights defenders and other individuals and communities whose human rights are at risk. Members of the Urgent Action Network compose and send appeals to government officials who have the power to stop the human rights violations.

Amnesty International USA receives Urgent Action alerts from all over the world. Once the Urgent Action Network responds with letters, emails, calls, faxes and texts, relevant authorities quickly realize that their actions are witnessed by an international audience deeply concerned about the case's outcome.

Each Urgent Action has multiple targets including names, email addresses, phone numbers, postal addresses, and other important contact information. Each of the targets is tactically chosen to have to greatest impact on the individual or community at risk.

The Urgent Action in the Justilien case can be found here: http://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr14/3004/2015/en/

(Statement Dec. 3) The Grand Bahama Human Rights Association calls upon its local and international partners to join us in advocating for the immediate release of Jean Mary Justilien, whose name has been cleared by the courts but who remains in custody of the Bahamas authorities unlawfully and who we have reason to believe may be in danger of reprisals.

On Tuesday, Magistrate Andrew Forbes ruled that the charge of illegal entry brought by the Bahamas Immigration Department against Justilien was without merit. He was found innocent and faces no other accusations of wrongdoing, yet he continues to be held at Her Majesty’s Prison or some other location in violation of his fundamental human rights.

Justilien has been falsely imprisoned since June, when he was shot in the back of the head during an immigration raid on the island of Eleuthera. The authorities claimed at the time that he had attacked and tried to disarm officers, being accidentally shot in the face during the struggle. However, an official medical report confirmed that he was indeed shot from behind as claimed by witnesses on the scene.

While in custody, Justilien was subjected to cruel and inhuman conditions, as well as assault and battery at the hands of officers. Based on recent comments by law enforcement officials, the GBHRA believes he may be in real danger of reprisals from certain officers as long as he remains incarcerated.

His current treatment is a gross violation of the fundamental tenets of our legal system, which holds that individuals are innocent until proven guilty and that the state cannot detain people without cause. We urge you to join us in demanding the immediate release of this innocent man in the strongest and most urgent of terms.