According to an Embassy press statement sent to The Guardian yesterday, the complaint comes after Haitian Ambassador Louis Harold Joseph’s recent visit to The Detention Centre.
“Concerning the incident which occurred May 2nd, 2006 at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre where a Haitian detainee was physically abused, The Ambassador, upon receiving reports of the incident, went to the Centre accompanied by Embassy Consular Officers to gather information,” the statement read. “A formal complaint to Bahamian authorities will be filed as soon as possible.”
The statement added that Ambassador Joseph had met with Foreign Affairs Minister, Fred Mitchell, and Immigration Minister Shane Gibson yesterday morning. “The Embassy expressed its concerns regarding the situation of Haitian nationals, and in particular, the arrests of its nationals who have been residing legally in The Bahamas, some from 10 – 20 years, and who have been actively contributing to the economy and development of the country,” the statement read.
“The Embassy recognises the right of The Bahamas as a sovereign nation to take appropriate measures to fight illegal immigration,” it continued. “However, in this process, it is important that the rights of Haitian nationals be respected and they be treated with human dignity.”
Meanwhile, pandemonium had broken out at the Detention Centre on Tuesday, after an officer allegedly attacked a Haitian national.
Enraged visitors were forced from the compound, causing visiting hours to be cut short, and officers from The Carmichael Road Police Station had to be summoned to the scene to restore order. The scores of angry Haitians gathered on the outside of the facility demanding an end to the alleged “abuse” of their countrymen.
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Twenty-seven-year old Jason Lionels was reportedly slapped in the chest and beaten with a gun by an officer, as he stood behind the fence talking to a female friend.
“We came here on visiting hours to see him. He was standing up to the gate here talking to me. The officer told Jason he was not standing in the right position to speak to me, so he told Jason to go in the back of the gate.
Jason stepped back, but the officer took his hand and slapped him about three times in his chest with the back of his hand.
“Jason said man don’t hit me I going right now. Don’t push me.
The officer took the gun and he started beating him about the body. He was hit in his head, face, ribs and legs, said eyewitness Carolyn Fatal.
She insisted that the officer’s gun broke during the attack and maintained Jason did nothing wrong to deserve the kind of treatment he report edly received.
According to Ms Fatal; Immigration officers reportedly took Jason, who has lived in The Bahamas all his life, from his Carmichael Road home sometime last week.
By JASMIN BONIMY Guardian Staff Reporter
