The Tribune

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS 

Tribune Staff Reporter 

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

ATTORNEY General Ryan Pinder said his office will appeal two recent Supreme Court rulings in which a man and a woman were collectively awarded $2.6m for the challenges they endured.

However, Mr Pinder noted that both are old cases involving activities that preceded the Davis administration.

He said a Detention Centre Working Group, which meets weekly, was established to ensure compliance with the law and to implement human rights protocols that protect detainees’ dignity.

“This group has been instrumental in monitoring the status of migrants and ensuring compliance with the law and statutory timeframes,” he said.

He said the group, chaired by the civil litigation section of the Office of the Attorney General, includes representatives from the Detention Centre and Refugee Unit of the

Department of Immigration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the International Cooperation Unit of the Office of The Attorney-General.

The Tribune reported on Monday that Matthew Sewell, a Jamaican man who endured sexual assault and beatings while unlawfully detained in prison and the detention

centre for nearly a decade, was awarded a record $2m.

Mr Sewell’s experiences, which included being beaten, raped, and living in unsanitary conditions, led to his schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder. He was falsely imprisoned for nine years and nine months, during which he was placed in cells with people serving life sentences and had to defecate in a bread bag.

Human Rights Bahamas praised the $2m award to Mr Sewell, saying the ruling highlights the unacceptability of such severe injustices and violations of fundamental human rights.

“HRB sincerely hopes the authorities learn from this and other rulings, prioritising fair, humane, and lawful treatment of all individuals. We hope these rulings reinforce respect for the fundamental rights enshrined in The Bahamas Constitution, regardless of race, class, gender, nationality, or background,” HRB said.

The group noted that compared to other notorious cases of inhumane treatment of falsely detained people, the judge described Sewell’s as “the absolute worst of the worst.”

In addition, Justice Ruth Bowe-Darville also awarded Dahene Nonord $575,000 after the Department of Immigration took six years to address her application for Bahamian citizenship.

Ms Nonord, whose parents are Haitian citizens and legal residents of The Bahamas, was initially granted a Certificate of Identity on April 4, 2011, which expired in April 2016. She applied for Bahamian citizenship on September 16, 2013, under Article 7 of the Bahamas constitution. Throughout the application process, she provided the required documents, was interviewed, and was told by an immigration officer she would be contacted later about an oath of allegiance date.

Six years later, in 2019, she was registered as a Bahamian citizen. As she waited, she suffered verbal and emotional trauma and faced significant hardships, including being unable to work, travel, open a bank account, or pursue higher education.