The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

ATTORNEY Wayne Munore does not expect the long delay for the continuation of the Cuban detainees abuse trial to affect the trial’s proceedings.

He confirmed to The Tribune yesterday that the trial is set to resume early next week, with the remaining Cuban witnesses – who accused Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) officers of abusing them at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre last year – set to return for the trial.

Cubans familiar with the situation told The Tribune recently that Yordan Canter and Alexander Vazcuez have long been eager to have their say in court, but awaited a decision by the Cuban government to determine if they would be allowed to return.

By testifying, they would join Carlos Pupo, the other Cuban who gave testimony about being abused during the trial last year.

The trial to determine if RBDF marines abused Cuban detainees at the detention centre began last November. It has been postponed since early December.

At the height of the controversy, the Miami-based human rights group Democracy Movement staged several protests against the Bahamas, demanding that the government move to address the alleged human rights abuses that occurred at the Detention Centre.

According to documents obtained by The Tribune, a young Defence Force marine admitted last year that on the direction of his superiors, he punched, kicked and beat unresisting Cuban detainees with a stick until they screamed.

He was one of four men that official investigation documents said admitted to directly taking part in the beating.