The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

LAZARO Seara Marin says he remembers the deafening screams of the three men who were allegedly beaten by Royal Bahamas Defence Force marines with PVC pipes and sticks in the early morning hours of June 13, 2013, at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre.

He said the screams of “pain and agony” lasted until the sun rose several hours later.

Another Cuban who was detained at the time, Carlos Pupo, has said the beatings he encountered were the most terrifying moments of his life.

The men have also alleged they were severely beaten while detained in prison, with Mr Seara Marin insisting that one alleged beating put him in bed and unable to move for two days.

Both men said they are afraid to remain in the country, petrified that they will have to face the men they claim abused them at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre and the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services as they try to live normal lives.

Last week, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Isaacs freed both men after their attorney Fred Smith, QC, argued for their immediate release, saying they were jailed for three years unlawfully.

The men were at the Detention Centre before being transferred to the prison in 2013.

Yesterday Mr Seara Marin, who spoke of his experiences in this country and also translated for Mr Pupo who is not fluent in English, said he did not understand why Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Fred Mitchell has named them national security threats.

Mr Seara Marin insisted that in his opinion the Bahamas government was treating them like “terrorists”.

On Friday, Mr Mitchell said in a statement that the Department of Immigration took the position that these individuals are national security risks. He said border forces have been notified of this “potential risk.”

He added that he also asked for an investigation into how a court was persuaded that two people the government believes with cogent evidence are a security risk, were released into the general population of the Bahamas.

Mr Seara Marin said: “Yes we are very scared to be here because the officers (who beat us) are on the road too. The government still (hasn’t) closed the case and I testified against the officers.

“I wish we can speak to him (Mr Mitchell) about the background of him saying that we are national security risks. We don’t have no problems nowhere. We are regular people. We are not terrorists. They are trying to paint us as being the worst in the world.”

Asked to describe what he experienced while in prison, Mr Seara Marin said the men lived through horrible conditions. He and Mr Pupo carried out a hunger strike in 2014 for 32 days while living in remand quarters and were eventually placed on two separate blocks in maximum security.

He said they were made to urinate in plastic jugs and were only allowed to shower three times a week for just five minutes each time.

“I got beating so bad in jail I was in bed for two days and we never got medical assistance. Pupo was shot on December 9, 2014 in jail and I was beaten also,” he claimed.

“They didn’t give us medical attention because they said I didn’t have any broken bones. We would complain all the time about getting mistreated in prison and they would always say ‘Yea, boss we’ll look into it.’

“You know we used to live on remand together but then in March 2014 we went on (a) hunger strike for 32 days. They took us to the hospital and then afterward they sent us back and put us on maximum. We lost everything when they moved us.

“They separated us and make us eat so we wouldn’t be together making plans so the other didn’t know when the other started to eat.”

Regarding the incident at the Detention Centre nearly three years ago, Mr Seara Marin said he remembered that three Cuban men were allegedly beaten by marines to discourage them from trying to escape the facility as another Cuban man had done.

Five RBDF marines have been accused of the abuse and a hearing into the matter has been ongoing at the RBDF Base in Coral Harbour since late 2013.

The men have maintained their innocence and are represented by lawyer Wayne Munroe, QC.

Yordan Cantero, Alexander Vascuez, and Mr Pupo are the three Cuban nationals who claimed to have been beaten at the facility.

When contacted for a response yesterday to Mr Seara Marin’s claims, Mr Mitchell said he had already announced his plans to make a report in parliament soon on the situation and would make no comments beyond this.