By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

JARVIN Green, the disabled Jamaican man seen in a viral video being dragged by plainclothes officers on Shirley Street, is in immigration custody with a head injury and has reportedly been denied proper medical treatment, according to Human Rights Bahamas.

The rights group said Mr Green’s current condition is the result of his “deplorable and unnecessary” apprehension following a Supreme Court order for his release. It warned that his case reflects a longstanding “pattern of abuse” by immigration and law enforcement officials against vulnerable individuals.

“We are further informed that Mr Green is being held in Immigration custody with a head injury caused by his extremely rough treatment, and on Friday, he was said to have been denied access to proper medical treatment,” the organisation said in a statement. “That a man in a wheelchair could be publicly dragged through the streets, his physical condition ignored, his dignity violated, only to languish in custody with a head injury and no access to medical care, suggests a level of inhumanity that is unacceptable in any society governed by the rule of law.”

Mr Green, 43, had just been ordered released from custody by Supreme Court Justice Dale Fitzpatrick on July 23. The judge ruled that his continued detention was unlawful because a deportation order issued in February had expired. Mr Green had completed an eight-year sentence for causing dangerous harm and had been held at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre.

Shortly after the release order, video footage began circulating showing two men dragging Mr Green, who uses a wheelchair, across Shirley Street. A bystander’s audio recording accompanied the video, which has since sparked widespread public outrage.

Newly appointed Immigration Director Stephen LaRoda confirmed that police are investigating the incident. While he declined to comment in detail, Mr LaRoda said: “The use of excessive force will not be tolerated under my leadership.”

Mr Green’s attorney, Martin A Lundy II, called the officers’ actions a violation of basic rights.

“Mr Green’s detention is not in issue here. Fundamental rights and freedoms are owed to everyone in this country, even Lucifer himself,” Mr Lundy said. “Some things speak for themselves. Unfortunately, the fact that Mr Green walked into custody at the Department of Corrections in 2006 and was wheeled out of custody in 2012 is one of those things. The images and videos of Mr Green, a very slight, wheelchair-bound man, being dragged across Shirley Street by two men, are also among those things that speak for themselves.”