Report IACHR. Case No. 12.480 (Barbados)

• Submitted Date: 14 January 2006
• Respondent State: Barbados
• Case Type: Cases in the Court
• Court: Inter-American Comission of Human Rights
• Alleged Victim: Lennox Boyce, Jeffrey Joseph, Fredrick Benjamin Atkins y Michael Huggins (Boyce y otros)

ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES

Inter-A.ican Commission on Human R.s

Application to the Inter-A.ican C. on Human R.s

in the case of

L.B., J.J., F.B.A.

and M.H.(. et al.)

(C. 12.480)

against B.

DELEGATES:

P.S.P., C.

.

....S.A.C., E. Secretary

ADVISERS:

A..E..D.

.

.V..M..B.

.

.B..T.

.

.M..C..R.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

D. 14, 2006

1889 F Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C., 20006

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

I. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 1

II. PURPOSE OF THE APPLICATION ................................................................................. 2

III. REPRESENTATION ..................................................................................................... 3

IV. JURISDICTION OF THE COURT.................................................................................... 3

V. PROCESSING BY THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ................................................. 3

VI. CONSIDERATIONS OF FACT .......................................................................................7

A...R. domestic legislation and jurisprudence .................................................. 7

B. Facts regarding L.B. and J.J.............................................. 11

C. Facts regarding Frederick Atkins...................................................................... 13

D. Facts regarding Michael H. ..................................................................... 14

E. Treatment while in Prison and effects of reading warrants of execution ............... 15

VII. LEGAL ARGUMENTS ................................................................................................ 17

A...V. of A.es 4 (1) and (2), 5 and 8 of the A.ican Convention, in

conjunction with A.e 1 (1) of the Convention, due to the M.N.

of the Death Penalty ...................................................................................... 17

B...V. of A.e 5 of the A.ican Convention, in conjunction with A.e

1(1) of the Convention, due to conditions of detention and the reading of

warrants of execution ....................................................................................24

C...V. of A.e 1(1) of the A.ican Convention with respect to the reading

of warrants of executions to the victims while their complaints were pending

before the inter-A.ican human rights system................................................. 28

D. Incompatibility of Section 2 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1994 and

Section 26 of the Constitution of B. with A.e 2 of the A.ican

Convention ................................................................................................... 30

VIII. REPARATIONS AND COSTS...................................................................................... 33

A...O. to repair and measures of reparation ................................................. 33

B. Beneficiaries ................................................................................................. 35

C. Costs and expenses....................................................................................... 35

IX. CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................................ 37

X. DEMANDS............................................................................................................... 37

XI. EVIDENCE ............................................................................................................... 38

XII. DATA ON THE ORIGINAL COMPLAINANTS, THE VICTIM AND THEIR

FAMILY MEMBERS................................................................................................... 39

APPLICATION OF THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

BEFORE THE INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

CASE 12.480

LENNOX BOYCE, J.J., F.B.A.

.

A.M.H. (BOYCE ET AL.) AGAINST BARBADOS

I. INTRODUCTION

1. The Inter-A.ican Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter the “Inter-A.ican

Commission”, “the Commission”, or “the IACHR”) submits to the Inter-A.ican C. of Human

R.s (hereinafter “the Inter-A.ican C.,” or “the C.,”) an application in C. 12.480 of

L.B., J.J., F.B.A. and M.H. (hereinafter “the

victims”) versus the Republic of B. (hereinafter “the S.,” or “Barbados”), in keeping with

the terms of A.e 51 of the A.ican Convention on Human R.s (hereinafter “the A.ican

Convention” or “the Convention”).

2. The Inter-A.ican Commission asks the C. to determine the international

responsibility of the S. of B., which has incurred in the violation of A.es 4 (1) and (2)

(R. to Life), 5 (1) and (2) (R. to Humane Treatment), and 8 (R. to a Fair Trial), in

conjunction with A.e 1 (1) (Obligation to Respect R.s) and A.e 2 (Domestic Legal Effects)

of the A.ican Convention on Human R.s (hereinafter “the A.ican Convention” or “the

Convention”) to the detriment of Messrs. L.B., J.J., F.B.A.

and M.H..

3. A. of the victims were convicted of murder and sentenced to death on February 2,

2001 (M.B. and A.), J. 21, 1999 (Mr. A.), and J. 19, 2001 (Mr. H.)

pursuant to B.’ Offences Against the Persons Act 1994, which prescribed capital punishment

as the mandatory punishment for the crime of murder. As a consequence of a “savings” clause in

the Constitution of B., the domestic courts cannot declare these mandatory death sentences

to be invalid even though they violate fundamental rights protected under B.’ Constitution

and the A.ican Convention. In addition, during the course of their criminal proceedings and

following their convictions, the victims were held in the G. prison in Bridgetown, B.

under deplorable conditions and the S. read warrants of execution to each of the victims while

their complaints were pending before the inter-A.ican system. M. recently, on May 31. 2005,

the death sentences of M.B. and J. were commuted to life imprisonment by the

B. C. of Appeal. H., the S. has appealed this decision to the Caribbean C. of

Justice and at the time of the filing of this application, the appeal is pending. With respect to Mr.

A., he passed away in a hospital in B. on October 30, 2005 from causes that are as yet

unknown.

4. The present case has been processed pursuant to the A.ican Convention and is

submitted before the C. according to A.e 33 of the Rules of Procedure of the Inter-A.ican

C. of Human R.s (hereinafter “the Rules of Procedure of the C.”). A., a copy of report

03/06 prepared in compliance to A.e 50 of the Convention1 is attached to this application, as

Annex E.1. This report was adopted by the Commission on February 28, 2006 and was transmitted

to the S. on M. 23, 2006, with a period of two months for it to adopt the recommendations

contained therein. The S. replied on May 22, 2006, denying that it had violated any of the rights

stated in the report. Considering that the S. did not adopt its recommendations and according to

1 S. Annex E.1, IACHR, Report 03/06, L.B., Jeffrey J., F.B.A. and M...

.

H., B., adopted February 28, 2006.