The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

A GLOBAL human rights watchdog group yesterday delivered several scathing criticisms of the Royal Bahamas Police Force following the deaths of two men in custody.

As the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Jamie Jamico Smith and Aaron Rolle remain shrouded in secrecy, Amnesty International said the incidents have pinpointed an urgent need for greater accountability practices over alleged police abuses.

They want an independent body to be established and sufficiently funded by the government to probe fatalities where there is likely police involvement.

Noting Coroner Linda Virgil’s undertaking of an inquest which is under way, the organisation in a press statement was critical of the process. 

The Tribune contacted National Security Minister Bernard Nottage for a response to the concerns, but none of our calls or text messages were returned. This newspaper also called his junior Minister Keith Bell and Attorney General Allyson-Maynard Gibson. Those attempts were unsuccessful.

“Authorities said the incident,” a statement said, “would be investigated by the Coroner’s Court, a judicial body which suffers from serious backlogs due to lack of resources.

“Their deaths are the latest examples of alleged human rights abuses by police – including similar fatalities in police custody or alleged unlawful fatal shootings – have occurred in recent years. In the vast majority of the cases, those responsible did not face justice,” Amnesty claimed.

Last year, there were six police-involved shootings recorded, according to the RBPF’s 2012 crime statistics. 

An Amnesty International official has also criticised the police for not doing enough during their probes, the statement said.

Javier Zúñiga, Special Advisor said: “The continuous lack of justice for unlawful killings at the hands of the police shows that the authorities are not doing enough to ensure that investigations are thorough, independent, impartial and timely.

“Authorities in the Bahamas should seriously consider the establishment of an independent body to investigate police abuses and provide such an institution with sufficient resources. This would ensure not only greater efficiency in the investigations but would also help restore public confidence in the police force.”

The deaths occurred eight months after 22-year-old Tyronne Saunders was found dead inside a CDU cell one day after being arrested in connection with a murder.

Last Friday 33-year-old Smith in custody at CDU for questioning in connection with a number of criminal matters died. Less than 24 hours later, Rolle, who was 21, died in a cell at the Southern Police Station.

Amnesty also noted two highly publicised cases of police involved killings.  The Desmond Key incident of 2007 when a police officer was found guilty of the death was a rare occurrence they said. 

“(It) was a rare instance of the police being held to account where impunity is the norm. The family of 18-year-old Brenton Smith who was shot dead by police in 2009 have not been so fortunate. A coroner’s inquest found that the police officer charged with his death had acted in self-defence,” the statement said.