Jury recommendations in Lucia Jimenez death include self-harm proof rooms

By

BURNABY (NEWS1130) – A coroner’s inquest jury has made several recommendations after the suicide death of Lucia Jimenez while in CBSA custody. The Mexican national at YVR facing deportation was found hanging in a shower stall by border guards. Among the recommendations include a dedicated holding centre for detainees that are within a 30 minute drive from the airport. The detention centre should be staffed by border guards, not a hired security company. The jury says detainees should also have access to lawyers, NGOs and family. Other suggestions border guards should monitor holding cells by video, bathroom and sleeping rooms should be made self-harm proof immediately, as well as creating a civilian led body to investigate CBSA incidents.

These recommendations are all necessities of life according to Nancy Trigueros with the group Mexicans Living in Vancouver. “Unfortunately, it has to come all the way to someone dying that these things are to be considered to be basic, and have to be finally taken into consideration.”

She hopes the border agency will be held accountable. “One thing we want to see is that these are not filed, that these are not put in the drawer of a bureaucrat, because they’re only recommendations….we’re not part of the inquest but definitely we’re going to be following this and we’re hoping the CBSA is going to really agree with having us at the table.”

One of the lawyers intervening in the coroner’s inquest says he is happy with the recommendations. Phil Rankin with the Canadian Council for Refugees says people like Lucia Jimenez weren’t treated like immigrant detainees. “Shackled as criminals, guarded as criminals, and now the jury has said they have to stop treating them as criminals. They are immigration detainees, they are not criminals, we have to have a new system and a new relationship with CBSA and I think we’re going to improve the relationship.”
He says not everything will be implemented but is hopeful the changes that are made can prevent future deaths.

Neil Chantler lawyer for the BC Civil Liberties Association is also pleased with the jury’s conclusion. He says it’s a nationally relevant case. “This is something that all Canadians should care about, the CBSA patrols our borders across the entire country, this is not a local issue, this is something at all Canadians should care about.”

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today