The rules governing the Carmichael Road Detention centre should be reviewed in light of the repeated abuse claims levelled by detainees said Edwin Culmer, the newly appointed head of the facility.
At the announcement of his appointment on Sunday, Mr. Culmer said the first thing he would do on assuming the position would be to look at the rules governing the facility and “see if they correspond with Amnesty and other human rights laws”.
Yesterday Mr. Culmer said he thought the review was necessary because of the recent and repeated claims of physical abuse by guards at the centre.
The claims first surfaced when the human rights group Amnesty International condemned the centre and called for a full investigation of the allegations.
The Amnesty statement alleged that detainees were subjected to beatings and torture at the hands of the Defence Force officers.
On December 9, one day after Immigration minister Vincent Peet announced that his investigation found no evidence of abuse, Cuban detainees rioted and set fire to the Detention Centre.
The riot was quelled using rubber bullets. A number of Defence Force officers and detainees were injured during the incident.
The riot was followed by a number of demonstarions by Cuban Americans outside the Bahamas Consulate in Miami.
The demonstartors called for a boycott of the Bahamas for alleged human rights violations.
Last month, a report in the Miami Herald revealed more claims of physical and psychological abuse of Cuban detainees at both the Detention Centre and Fox Hill Prison.
Mr. Culmer said he is not yet in a position to form an opinion on whether there is any truth to the claims, as he has not yet had a chance to look into the matter.
Source: Paco Nunez, The Tribune
