The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

THE Bahamas government has been accused of putting “salt in the injuries” of Cubans mistreated at the Detention Centre by claiming a video purporting to show the abuse was a forgery.

Ramon Saul Sanchez, 58, president of the Democracy Movement, a Cuban exile group based in Miami, said his group plans to hold another protest against the Bahamas in Miami on Friday.

Protesters will perform a hunger strike and travel in vessels displaying large signs with messages such as “Bahamas Be Beautiful Again, Respect the Human Rights of the Undocumented Migrants” when the cruise-ships leave Miami ports.

Meanwhile, Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell, speaking from Singapore, again repeated the government’s official response to the claims.

He said: “The Bahamas government has again learnt with regret that demonstrations are to be held in Miami.

“The anger of the protesters is misdirected and unfortunate.

“We do not intend to get into any back and forth with them over this.

“The Bahamas does not support inhumane treatment of people detained in its facilities. It does not condone or support the abuse of detainees. Where there are specific allegations of abuse then those matters are investigated and adjudicated.

“We ask these protesters to desist in defaming our country. In the meantime we will continue to work to resolve the larger issue of Cubans illegally entering The Bahamas and breaching our borders.”

In an interview with The Tribune, Mr Sanchez painted a dire picture of the living conditions of undocumented Cubans in the Bahamas.

He said: “Children have been made to drink from toilets. A detainee suffered a punctured lung and is totally impaired because of being kicked and having a plastic bag placed over his head.

“This Friday, the protesters in Miami are going to wait till the cruise-liners come out the ports and that’s when we will protest. By then we need to be already assembled, ready to go. We are not protesting against tourists, not against Bahamian people, not against cruise-liners. This is our way to express concerns about human rights in the Bahamas.

“We are going to have a hunger strike and protests right here in Miami until the Bahamas decides to sit down and talk about these issues and modify how they treat not only Cubans, but people from other Latin American countries as well. We’re going to go with big signs and a message: stop violating human rights of undocumented persons,” he said.

As for the video, entitled “Exclusiva: golpiza contra cubanos en centro de detenci�n de Bahamas”, which was uploaded to YouTube after being aired by a Miami TV station, Mr Sanchez said claims by Bahamian government officials that the video was forged are offensive.

While declining to make an on-record comment on how he was able to verify that the video was authentic, he said: “The video is a real video of real situations. People have verified the video is true. Not only that, but women and men sewed their lips to protest the abuses.

“It is well known and well documented that the Bahamas has a history of beating the undocumented people so when they go back to their country they could tell their people don’t go to the Bahamas or this is what they will do to you.

“We did protest a few years ago and had a boycott years ago and now they have gone back to the same kind of habit of beating up people.

“I sent a letter to the parliament and governor general requesting they investigate the abuses that have already happened and discipline those guilty especially if they were guards. “Secondly, I requested that they commit to a policy of respect to human rights; thirdly, that they abide by international governance or agreements on the rights of people.

“We haven’t had any response from the government of the Bahamas.”

He added: “We do love the Bahamas. We do not want to hurt the Bahamian people. The Bahamian people are a very hardworking people. Our communities here enjoy travelling to the Bahamas. As much as we love you, we need you to refrain from abusing people and please commit to a respectful policy when dealing with migrants.”