The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune News Editor

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

JEAN Rony Jean-Charles, the soft-spoken, Bahamas-born child of Haitian parents whose legal case became a flashpoint in the fight about citizenship and immigration practices, was killed on Wednesday night, according to his family and lawyers.

Relatives who visited the Central Detective Unit yesterday said he was stabbed.

Police officers, however, declined to confirm he was killed, saying their identification process won’t be completed until this morning.

“It is with great sadness that we attempt to come to terms with the senseless death of Jean Rony JeanCharles, whose resolute fight for justice became a beacon of hope for so many young people facing discrimination and brutality because of their ethnic background,” Human Rights Bahamas, the Fred Smith-associated group that represented Mr Jean-Charles during the twists and turns of his extraordinary case, said yesterday.

“Jean Rony’s bravery in confronting the hurdles placed in front of him and demanding that his fundamental rights be upheld was exemplary.

 “The executive and membership of Human Rights Bahamas wish to offer our sincere condolences to his loved ones, who displayed amazing courage, commitment and perseverance in ensuring that Jean Rony was returned to his homeland after being so cruelly and unjustly expelled. Though he is gone, Jean Rony’s shining example will always light the way for those who are called to fight oppression and injustice in the name of a more fair, decent and humane future for The Bahamas.”

 Mr Jean-Charles, 41, did not apply for citizenship when he was between the ages of 18 and 19, as he was entitled to do under article seven of the constitution. Immigration officials apprehended him on September 18, 2017.

 They deported him to Haiti on November 24, 2017, citing his alleged failure to produce documents that confirmed his identity. He was deported even though authorities did not charge him with an offence, take him to court or secure a deportation or detention order. He had also reportedly never visited Haiti. 

 Supreme Court Justice Gregory Hilton later dismissed a habeas corpus application Mr Smith filed for Mr Jean-Charles after finding that the man was not in the state’s custody when the writ was filed.

 However, he granted the applicant constitutional relief.

 He ordered authorities to issue him a travel document so he could return to the country at the government’s expense. The judge ruled that his detention and expulsion were unlawful and that he was falsely imprisoned and deprived of his liberty. He also ordered the government to give him legal status no later than 60 days after he returned and applied.

 Former Attorney General Carl Bethel said at the time that the man’s case placed the government in a position uncovered by law or the constitution and exposed a significant and far-reaching legal challenge over the verification of birth certificates.

 Attorney Fred Smith travelled to Haiti, found Mr Jean-Charles and brought him back to The Bahamas.

 When Mr Jean-Charles arrived back in the country on February 3, 2018, immigration officers arrested and detained him, but Justice Hilton ordered his release two days later. Pending the appeal of his ruling, the judge stayed the parts of his order that required the government to grant Mr Jean-Charles status so he could seek gainful employment. The parties ultimately agreed to let him remain in the country without interference and without being prevented from working until the completion of the appeal process.

 The Court of Appeal later overturned Justice Hilton’s ruling. Sir Michael Barnett said the judge should not have initially granted leave for the writ of habeas corpus to be filed and that he should not have considered Mr Jean-Charles’ motion for constitutional relief once he had dismissed the writ.

 He said the judge should have required Mr Jean-Charles to initiate new proceedings to seek such relief. He also said the judge should not have considered the application for constitutional relief because of uncertainty over Mr Jean-Charles’ identity.

 In December 2022, the Privy Council concluded there was “procedural unfairness” in how Justice Hilton handled the application of constitutional redress, which harmed the government side. However, the appellate court also found little substance to the government’s claim that Mr Jean-Charles’ identity was uncertain.

 The court said “it is not clear” that an investigation into Mr Jean-Charles’ background and identity would assist the government in “asserting the legality of the arrest, detention and removal of the appellant” from the country.

 The court ordered that the case be remitted to the Supreme Court to reconsider the application for constitutional redress.

 However, the matter did not arise at the Supreme Court before Mr Jean-Charles’ death.

 Over the years, Mr Jean-Charles sometimes struggled.

 In 2019, he told The Tribune he failed to hold a steady job and spent his time doing odd jobs or being unemployed.

 “He didn’t ask for this notoriety,” his lawyer, Mr Smith, said at the time. “He was an ordinary person like many thousands of others born in The Bahamas who have committed no crime except the original sin of being born to foreign parents.”