KINGSTON, Jamaica – Some of the facts established in the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) landmark original jurisdiction decision in the matter Shanique Myrie v Barbados make for uncomfortable reading. Ms Myrie was cursed at, had her phone searched, was held in an insanitary detention facility, then sent back on a flight to Jamaica.
She was never given a chance to shower before boarding that flight, and was escorted to the plane in a manner that made it clear she was being deported. Above all else, she was subjected to an illegal body cavity search in demeaning and insanitary conditions. This was clearly inhumane and degrading treatment – of the type no national court in the region would countenance.
Despite this fact, the CCJ did not rule in her favour on the basis of human rights breaches. The court, from early out, indicated it had no jurisdiction to adjudicate international human rights treaties or conventions, in particular the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as pleaded by Ms Myrie. That the Court could not do so cannot be challenged.
