NASSAU, The Bahamas (CMC) – The Bahamian Supreme Court has awarded US$25,000 to a woman born in The Bahamas to undocumented Haitian parents, after it determined that her constitutional rights were breached when she was detained for 30 days in 2018 without charge, court appearance or deportation order.

The 47-year-old woman, Sonette Joseph, had spent much of her life in Haiti but returned to The Bahamas in May 2017 to apply for Bahamian citizenship. During an immigration raid on July 6, 2018, she was arrested at her home despite presenting her original Bahamian birth certificate to officers.

Acting Registrar Renaldo Toote found that the detention of Joseph violated Articles 17 and 19 of the Constitution of The Bahamas, describing it as “unlawful from the outset and in breach of constitutional safeguards”.

Joseph was brought to the Carmichael Road Detention Centre and held there for 30 days before being released through a habeas corpus application. She was not charged, brought before a court or presented with a deportation order.

The court held that Joseph’s detention lacked legal basis and was conducted without due process with the registrar saying that “detaining someone without charge, without a court appearance and without confirming their immigration status is a clear breach of the constitution”.

The Bahamian Supreme Court ruled that even if a person’s status is unresolved or documentation incomplete, constitutional protections require that detention be reviewed within 48 hours, as set out in the Immigration Act and Article 19(3) of the constitution.

Joseph, through a court-appointed creole interpreter, told the court that during detention, she was slapped, pushed, verbally abused, denied access to legal representation and basic hygiene items, and made to stand in the sun for long periods.

She also testified that the dormitories were cleaned only once during her 30-day stay and that she experienced emotional distress, embarrassment and reputational damage.

However, many of these claims were challenged by the defendants and ultimately rejected by the court due to inconsistencies and a lack of corroborating evidence.

Joseph had sought US$270,000 in compensation, including US$125,000 for compensatory and vindicatory damages, US$40,000 for assault and battery, US$30,000 in aggravated damages, and US$75,000 for constitutional breaches.

But the court awarded her US$20,000 in general damages for unlawful detention and US$5,000 in aggravated damages to reflect the emotional distress caused by the nature of her arrest and lack of procedural safeguards.

No award was made for exemplary damages, with the registrar saying “there is no proof of deliberate misconduct or systemic abuse by the authorities”.

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