CONCLUSIVE evidence has emerged that the remains of former Prime Minister of Grenada Maurice Bishop were removed by the United States during the 1983 invasion, campaigners have said. 

The Committee for Human Rights in Grenada (CHRG) claims that the Grenadian government has been aware of this for some years. 

It points to a document held in the Library of Congress that details a visit to Grenada by diplomat Charles Anthony Gillespie on November 4, 1983, just 10 days after the US invasion of the Caribbean island. 

Towards the end of the interview, Mr Gillespie discusses “the forensic examination of Maurice Bishop’s body” by a team from the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. 

The CHRG says this “is conclusive evidence that the US forces had [Mr Bishop’s] body” earlier than previously claimed. 

“We consider that it is reasonable to believe if Mr Gillespie was able to point this out on November 4, it is clear that the body/bodies had been discovered by the US forces much earlier than November 9 when they subsequently claimed [to have done so],” the group said. 

“The body must therefore have been whole, which is contrary to what the jury were told by the prosecution in the trial of the Grenada 17 [held responsible for killing Mr Bishop],” the group argues.

Leaked documents show that in 2007 Washington promised Prime Minister Keith Mitchell that it would “search US files and determine the location of the bodies of the former Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and members of his Cabinet.”

The CHRG says that this proves the government of Grenada knew that the US had Mr Bishop’s body but kept it secret from the public. 

Mr Bishop was among nine revolutionary leaders executed by firing squad at Fort George on October 19 1983 ahead of a US invasion that sought to oust the progressive government of Grenada. 

The whereabouts of and what has happened to their remains have been a matter of controversy ever since. 

Their families, together with individuals and organisations inside and outside Grenada, have been struggling for decades to uncover the truth. 

Campaigners said that families of those killed have the right to closure and to give the bodies of their loved ones a decent burial. 

“CHRG is therefore calling on the Grenadian government to demand the immediate return of the remains of Maurice Bishop and the others, and to explain to the people of Grenada what actions they have taken in the past to secure the return of the remains,” the group said.