THE US Embassy in Nassau says it has not confirmed the truth of a video allegedly showing abuses against Cuban detainees in the Bahamas.
Neda Brown, embassy spokesman, said yesterday the United States takes allegations of detainee abuses ‘very seriously.’
“As a matter of policy, we fully support initiatives to ensure that detainees are treated humanely in accordance with international human rights standards and the laws of the Bahamas.
“The US Embassy has not confirmed the veracity of video showing abuses against Cuban detainees.”
On Friday, the Bahamas deported 24 Cuban migrants including eight involved in filming a cell-phone video apparently showing an alleged guard at the Detention Centre in Carmichael Road kicking several detainees on the ground. Florida legislator Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said later on Friday: “Bahamian government officials told US State Department officials in the Bahamas that the video of the abuses against the Cuban refugees was accurate.”
Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell said over the weekend: “No one from The Bahamas government has admitted that there was any abuse of detainees by the Bahamas government. The Bahamas has not admitted to the authenticity of the video which the protesters themselves have admitted is a fake. This is contrary to an assertion made by a legislator in the United States.”
Ms Brown told The Tribune: “We are aware of an alleged incident at Carmichael Road Detention Centre that took place in June and have been assured by the Bahamian government that an investigation is underway. We await the results of that investigation.”
Yesterday US Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said: “The Bahamian government has a long record of mistreating freedom seeking Cubans. It is my sincere hope that such abuses are in the past and that Cubans and other refugees will henceforth be treated in a respectful and decent manner.”
Asked specifically whether Bahamian government officials told US State Department officials in the Bahamas that the video of the abuses against the Cuban refugees was accurate, the US Embassy didn’t reply by the time The Tribune went to press and the US State Department said it did not generally comment on Congressional correspondence.
Comments
rory 11 years, 2 months ago
If those retards did not lie about that video, then maybe I would give a crap - well now I don't. They are all collectively responsible for inciting hatred and racism against ALL Bahamians.
concernedcitizen 11 years, 2 months ago
i,m sure the U/S and Bahamian goverments gave a collective sigh of relief that you don,t give a crap ...
proudloudandfnm 11 years, 2 months ago
How can the US Embassy confirm or not? The video was so obviously a fake. For God's sake why is that point still in contention? The Actor's were not Bahamian, period, end of discussion. Damn how do things like this keep going? The second the video came out it should have been shot down as a fabrication. Instead these Cubans in the US are collecting millions in donations from it. They are using us as the goat for their scam to take American dollars from people dumb enough to believe this video is real. Our reputation is being hurt and Americans are being conned to give up their money. It is so obvious. All they really have to do is investigate this farce organization "democracy movement" and see how much they have collected from this fake video...
concernedcitizen 11 years, 2 months ago
yes the video was a fake ,but do you know for a fact that no detainees were beaten ,,sh#t our law enforcement beats us its own 'brothers " ,how do you know RBDF officers didn,t get pissed at difficult detainees that escaped and embarassed them and beat the crap out of them ,,??????????????
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