The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

IMMIGRATION Minister Fred Mitchell said the government is addressing issues relating to the well being of people held at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre based on an analysis from its own probe into the matter.

Mr Mitchell was responding to a question by The Tribune yesterday about whether the government has chosen to adopt the precautionary measures set out by the Organisation of American States’ (OAS) human rights commission over the allegedly poor conditions at the centre.

In its report sent to the government on February 13, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) gave the government two weeks to adopt its recommended precautionary measures.

The recommendations called for immediate action to ensure that the physical integrity of people held in detention is preserved and to curb the allegedly inhumane conditions such as extreme overcrowding and a lack of appropriate medical attention.

Mr Mitchell declined to comment on whether the government will follow the OAS’ recommendations.

“The next time I will comment on that will be if or when there is a formal legal presentation at the hearing which takes place on the 20th (of March),” Mr Mitchell said. “Generally we are addressing the issues which have been raised by our own examinations into the matter.”

While the Christie administration enjoys considerable support from Bahamians over its efforts to clamp down on illegal immigration, the government has been on the defensive since a policy requiring that all people living in the country have a passport of their nationality came into effect last November.

Mr Mitchell has repeatedly countered criticisms from local and international human rights organisations that threaten to mar the country’s human rights record.

Just last week, Mr Mitchell made his first appearance at the high level segment of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, where he expressed concern about international reports which he said seek vilify the country.

The IACHR noted in its recent report that it will accept various allegations about human rights at the Carmichael Road facility until the allegations are proven false.

The IACHR’s report pointed to allegations that detainees are “given insufficient food with poor nutritional value, are deprived of access to clean drinking water, are not provided with clean clothes, are consistently denied adequate medical care and are held in dormitory buildings that are infested with mosquitoes, cockroaches, mice and rats.”