Selwyn Strachan, one of the “Grenada 17” In 1983 the United States of America (USA) led an invasion of Grenada which removed from power the government of the island. In 1986, fourteen former members of the Government of Grenada and three soldiers were convicted for the 19 October 1983 execution-style murders of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and several others. Fourteen of those convicted were sentenced to death by hanging while the other three were sentenced to lengthy terms of imprisonment. Those imprisoned have subsequently come to be known as the Grenada 17.
Selwyn Strachan was imprisoned for 26 years, nearly five of which were spent on death row. Amnesty International worked on his case. In an interview in Amnesty magazine Wire (Sept/Oct 2013 edition) Selwyn said “Amnesty never wavered in it’s relentless campaign against the death penalty in my case. Amnesty called for my freedom, and the freedom of my former deathrow inmates, since we had been incarcerated for years based on a trial which did not meet internationally accepted human rights standards. Amnesty’s role in helping to save my life contributed a great deal to my present day activism against the death penalty”
