Christmas may be a long way off, but political activist David Comissiong has already started his wish list for Barbados.
On the top of that list are two important items.
One is the need for the start-up in Barbados of a human rights watchdog organization that deals only with local issues. The other is construction of a modern-day detention facility where the Immigration Department can house people in a non-punitive environment as they await flights back home, deportation or probable political asylum.
Thoughts of the list have magnified over the last three weeks, since 57-year-old refugee Raul T. Garcia started a hunger strike in an effort to be moved from Her Majesty’s Prisons at Dodds, to anywhere but the maximum security facility, or to any country willing to take him in.
Comissiong, an attorney-at-law and head of the Clement Payne Movement, has been one of this country’s staunchest supporters of human rights causes, so it was no surprise he eventually joined in the Garcia saga, which has put Barbados squarely under the microscope of the international community.
Since Garcia started his hunger strike January 17, call-in programmes have been bombarded by Barbadians with their take on the issue, bloggers have gone crazy on the Internet, and the story has even been carried on the world-renowned Cable News Network.
Garcia’s case is a unique one. Born in Cuba, he moved with his family to the United States at four years old, and eventually started a life of crime. His exploits took him to Colombia, and he eventually ended up in Barbados, where he was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to 20 years in jail.
That sentence ended in March 2010, and Garcia is legally a free man, but he remains incarcerated simply because the Immigration Department, whilst waiting for any country to accept him, has no facility to house him.
Garcia is virtually stateless, since he cannot re-enter Cuba, having violated its immigration rules, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) of the United States has no intention of letting him come back there.
That is the hand that has been dealt Barbados’ Ministry of Home Affairs and, by extension, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
But that is where Comissiong comes in. Usually the optimist, he however does see light at the end of the tunnel.
“If he has lost his right to return to Cuba, has lost his right to return to the US, and Barbados thus far has not accepted him, that would amount to a situation of statelessness. And there is an international convention relating to the status of stateless persons, which could aid officials here in making a decision,” he said in an interview with the SUNDAY SUN.
He noted that Barbados was a signatory to a 1954 United Nations Convention and under Article 7 contracting states shall accord to stateless persons the same treatment meted out to aliens.
“What this means is that if a stateless person lands in your country, you must give them the same rights as any non-national who lives in your country,” Comissiong explained. “That article goes on to say that stateless persons should be treated no less favourably than nationals, that is, our own citizens, when it comes to rationing, housing, public education and public relief.”
The United Nations convention also stipulates that such persons should not be expelled from the country except on grounds of national security or public order.
“If Mr Garcia does in fact qualify as a stateless person, under the UN convention he would have certain rights within Barbados,” the attorney added.
He also noted that under the country’s Immigration Act, Garcia, having been convicted as a drug trafficker, had become a prohibited alien and could be prevented from residing here, unless the minister with responsibility for immigration exercises his discretion and grants permission.
“The difficulty now is how do we reconcile these two instruments in the case of Mr Garcia,” said Comissiong.
He has even mentioned the UN convention to Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, with whom he spoke on the matter last Wednesday.
“We may very well find that Mr Garcia is entitled to be set free on the streets of Barbados. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs needs to take a serious look at this, because [it is] the Government department that would deal with United Nations conventions,” Comissiong said.
According to Comissiong, an input from the Faculty of Law of the University of the West Indies would also be welcome since there were experts with vast knowledge of international law within Barbados’ reach.
Comissiong visited with the ailing Garcia at Dodds last Thursday, and said he was humbled by what he saw.
“This is a man of great dignity and character,” the lawyer commented. “He is resolved to continue the hunger strike until he is moved, or until his death.
He is demanding his dignity as a human being. He is actually seeing his life slipping by, and wants his final days to be with his family.”
He said Garcia wanted no special treatment, since he understood no special exemptions could be made in a maximum security facility.
Comissiong noted that Garcia felt once he was removed from the prison and housed elsewhere in an environment where he could remain in contact with his sister and parents who live in Miami, Florida, his dignity would be restored.
“He had no difficulty being treated as a criminal when he was serving his sentence, but having paid his dues, it offends him that he should continue to be treated in the same way as if he was serving a sentence,” Comissiong said. “Most Barbadians have understood the human aspect of this story. We need to put ourselves in his position.”
The Clement Payne chief said society should not continue to hold against Garcia that he was previously involved in drug trafficking when nabbed 17 years ago.
“We have to give him the benefit of the doubt that after 17 years as a model prisoner, and accepting his fate, that he has paid his penalty and is a reformed man . . . . What he’s asking for is nothing that he doesn’t deserve. He’s willing to remain in Barbados if Barbadians will accept him.”
Comissiong said his conversation with the Prime Minister had been a productive one. “I was impressed with the manner in which Mr Stuart listened to what I had to say, the way he engaged, and the human empathy he showed.
I am looking forward to seeing the outcome of the meeting he would have held with his Cabinet.”
Meantime, Comissiong is on a personal mission in trying to identify a non-punitive facility in Barbados where Garcia could be housed until a final decision is made by Government.
But there is still the issue of Barbados’ human rights standing and policies in this saga, as well as some public outcry regarding if Garcia should be allowed to remain in Barbados.
“If Barbadians were exposed to the man I met at prison, I have no doubt we would readily accept him in our midst. This is a man three weeks into a hunger strike, and who is prepared to pay through his cause the ultimate price of his life. That is not the behaviour or characteristic of a common criminal,” Comissiong said.
“I got the sense this is a man who has gone through a purging period. Anyone who is really familiar with Dodds knows being kept there is not an easy thing, and he readily accepted 17 years between Glendairy, Harrison’s Point (after a riot and fire forced a move there) and Dodds, and never complained or misbehaved. He said to me, ‘I know I’ve done wrong, and I paid the price’.
“As best as I could judge the situation, I was seeing a reformed man.”
Comissiong said that should Barbadians still be concerned about letting Garcia enter their society, there were professional ways to assess his rehabilitation and allow him to live here only if such an assessment proved he was worthy to do so.
Comissiong noted that Barbados, which is considered a relatively advanced and sophisticated country, had been found wanting, without a proper facility for housing immigration detainees.
He also bemoaned the lack of a locally based human rights watchdog organization.
He noted he had received phone calls from lawyers in other jurisdictions who were in shock that no local human rights watchdog bodies existed in Barbados.
“The story that is going out there is here is a man in Barbados who has gone on hunger strike because Barbadian authorities continue to imprison him even after he has finished his sentence. That does not reflect well on Barbados from a human rights perspective, even though there are extenuating circumstances,” Comissiong remarked.
