Three US Congressmen have sent letters to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and US Ambassador John Rood requesting an investigation into the beating of an American reporter at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre.
The letter came as several dozen Cuban Americans protested in front of the Bahamas Consulate in Miami yesterday.
Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell during an appearance on ZNS news last night advised Bahamians travelling to South Florida to exercise caution during this “tense” period.
Copies of the letters sent to The Tribune from the office of US Congress Member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen expressed concern over the incident and called for Secretary Rice and Ambassador Rood to ensure that the “perpetrators of this violence be held accountable for their actions.”
“We have received information regarding the detainment and aggression against several members of our community’s local media who travelled from Miami to the Bahamas following the story of several Cuban nationals detained in the Bahamas. “We have been informed that the group of reporters travelled to the Bahamas to film and obtain information regarding several Cuban refugees that are currently detained on the island. We understand that while they were filming the detention centre they were attacked and injured by several guards at the facility, some have been admitted to a hospital for emergency treatment while others were taken into custody.
“We are respectfully requesting that you investigate this situation and ensure the safety of all these members of the media. We also ask that the detainees be given humane treatment and that perpetrators of this violence be held accountable for their actions,” the letters read.
Mario Vallejo, a reporter with Univision, a South Florida Spanish-language news channel was taken to hospital after, according to witnesses, being hit in the face with a baton while he was using a pay phone.
He. was treated at Princess Margaret hospital where he received seven stitches and was later released.
Mr Vallejo was covering the reunion between seven Cubans rescued last week from Elbow Cay and their Miami relatives who flew to New Providence. Cameraman Osvaldo Duarte, also of Univision, was arrested, along with Telemundo reporter and cameraman Lazaro Obreu. The men were eventually released.
The Tribune caught up with the reporters and cameramen at the Carmichael Road police station where some of them were detained for about two hours following the incident.
Mr Tavares told The Tribune that while standing outside the gates to the centre, his cameraman and several others were told by the guards to stop filming.
When the cameraman failed to comply, a guard walked out of the compound and punched the cameraman in his back, the foreign reporter said.
He said that at this point, Mr Vallejo, tried to use a cellular phone to inform his superiors
but his cellular, phone and camera was confiscated and he promptly thrown out of compound.
Witnesses told The Tribune that Mr Vallejo then walked over to the pay phone installed on the outside of the centre while being cursed at by officers.
“He was using the phone, then this short, dark, thick officer walked out and started shouting at him when he was on the phone. I don’t know what he said back to the officer but he wasn’t shouting and he didn’t raise a hand to the officer, but the guard took his club and split his face right open,” said one woman on the outside waiting to see a relative.
Witnesses said that Mario fell to the ground and was brought back into the centre by the guards and was later transferred to an ambulance, accompanied by another colleague.
US Embassy spokesm Mike Taylor confirmed yesterday that the men returned the US safely.
“I spoke to Univision in Miami, obviously they are upset about what happened to their reporter. We hope Ministry of Labour and Immigration’s investigation will determine what went wrong, how this type of incident can avoided,” he said.
Labour and Immigration Minister Vincent Peet told The Tribune that the investigations are still continuing and no determinations have been made as yet.
“We are trying to get as much information as possible so once that is completed we will able to share the results of our investigation,” he said.
By RUPERT MISSICK Jr Chief Reporter
