Epistemic injustice and institutional ignorance

. The case of Samba Martine

Abstract

In December 2011, Samba Martine, an inmate at the Aluche Foreigners Internment Center (CIE), died of a preventable infection due to not having been properly diagnosed and treated, despite having insistently requested healthcare. Samba's mother, with the support of various social entities, denounces the events and goes to court. Eight years later, in June 2019, the acquittal for reckless homicide of the only person prosecuted was announced. Nine years later, in October 2020, the Ministry of the Presidency, Relations with the Courts and Democratic Memory issues a Resolution in which the claim of patrimonial responsibility for the death of Samba Martine is addressed. Taking this case as a starting point, this work aims to analyze the factors that make it an example of epistemic injustice at three interrelated levels: micro (located in the context of the care relationship), meso (developed within the framework of the CIE and its institutional mechanisms) and macro (linked to the ideological and political background that sustains the previous levels). The relevance of this proposal lies in showing how the abandonment of functions by the Administration and its institutions contributes to generating ignorance. This ignorance, combined with the lack of credibility of the victim's testimony, has as a final result her death. Far from being an anecdote, situations of epistemic injustice such as this are part of the daily life of many undocumented migrants who, after journeys of suffering, end up interned in legal limbos like the CIE.