Santo Domingo. – Ezri Hajiune, an American citizen between 18 and 22 years old, died last Monday, June 23, while in custody at the Vacacional de Haina Detention Center. Days before her death, she left a written call for help in which she denounced torture, institutional abandonment, and fear of being returned to the United States.
The notes, which De Último Minuto had access to, were handwritten in English and reveal the state of vulnerability the young woman was in. In one of the messages, Hajiune states: “Help. Not safe. Emergency.” (“Ayuda. No estoy segura. Emergencia”), and details that she suffers from a serious allergy, that she was a victim of war and that she cannot communicate with American personnel, whom she accuses of torturing her.
Also expresses having “severe autism with serious symptoms” and manifests an intersex identity.
“I am being tortured by American people here. They are holding me unjustly. They won’t let me speak to non-American workers. I can’t go back to the United States. It’s illegal for me,” she wrote.
The complaints of Hajiune coincide with what was expressed by human rights lawyer Carlos Sánchez, who took on his defense after receiving reports about the inhumane conditions in which he was found.
Faced with this situation, he filed a habeas corpus action, which was heard by the Second Criminal Chamber of the Court of First Instance of San Cristóbal on May 19th.
In that hearing, according to the record, Judge Wilma Cuello ordered the General Directorate of Migration to conduct medical evaluations and allow contact between Ezri and his lawyer, in addition to imposing a fine for each day the judicial decision was not executed.
However, a month later, on June 23, the young woman was found dead.
Meanwhile, the manuscript left by Ezri remains as the final testimony of his outcry.
