AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL RENEWS CALL FOR DETENTION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 NASSAU 002407

SIPDIS

NORTHCOM AND SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/22/2008
TAGS: SMIG PREL PGOV CU BF
SUBJECT: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL RENEWS CALL FOR DETENTION
CENTER FIRE INQUIRY

REF: A. A) NASSAU 2335


B. B) NASSAU 2355

Classified By: Political Chief Michael P. Taylor, Reasons 1.4 b and d

SUMMARY
--------------


1. (C) 37 Cuban nationals remain in detention in The Bahamas
after a December 9 fire at a Nassau immigration facility
following a disturbance initiated by detainees. Amnesty
International continues to call for an independent inquiry
into the fire and accompanying melee, in which 11 Royal
Bahamian Defence Force guards and 9 detainees were injured.
Both Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell and The Bahamas'
Ambassador to the U.S. have reportedly reached out to the
Cuban-American community, which has been sharply critical of
the Bahamian Government's actions and treatment of detainees.

END SUMMARY.


2. (U) Charge d'Affaires and Political Chief met with Peter
Deveaux-Isaacs, the Acting Permanent Secretary at the
Ministry of National Security, on December 21 to discuss a
range of topics, including an extended discussion of the
December 9th incident and fire at the Carmichael Road
Detention Center (reftels). Separately, Political Officer
visited the detention center the morning of December 21.


Cubans Remain at Detention Center and Prison
--------------


3. (SBU) As of December 21, 4 adult Cuban women and 15 adult
Cuban men remain at the Detention Center. Eighteen other
adult Cuban males thought by the Bahamians to be directly
involved with the December 9 fire were transferred from the
Detention Center and are being held at Her Majesty's Prison
at Fox Hill. They face possible arson charges arising out of
the incident.


4. (C) All nine members of the "Partido Democratico 30 de
Noviembre Frank Pais" group who have applied for political
asylum remain in The Bahamas: Two or three of the group who
were not involved with the incident/fire are still at the
Detention Center; six or seven others members of this group
whom Bahamian authorities have under investigation as
principals in the December 9 incident have been transferred
to the Fox Hill. An immigration officer at the Detention
Center informed Political Officer that the Bahamian
government, through its standard asylum process which
involves a review of asylum applications by the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees, has determined that the members of
this group are economic refugees, and so has privately
decided not to grant them political asylum in The Bahamas.


5. (C) Bahamian authorities the morning of December 21
re-captured the one Cuban escapee who had remained at large
since December 9. He is currently being held by the police
for questioning. The Acting Permanent Secretary indicated to
Charge that the escapee was captured in Nassau in the general
proximity of the Detention Center, in an area in which
evading notice and detection for this length of time --
without outside assistance -- would normally be unlikely.
Deveaux-Isaacs said that the detainee had been arrested in a
house and this strongly suggested to authorities that the
individual had received assistance in evading re-capture.


Amnesty Again Calls for Independent Investigation
-------------- --------------


6. (SBU) Amnesty International on December 20 sent a third
letter to the Minister of Immigration again calling for an
independent investigation into the conditions of detention
for asylum-seekers and other migrants in The Bahamas,
specifically referencing the December 9th fire and the use of
force and firearms by detention center personnel. Acting
Permanent Secretary Deveaux-Isaacs believes that this third
letter was sparked by a Jamaican national who on December 17
made public allegations that he had been abused while at the
Detention Center. In its letter, Amnesty International
welcomed the prompt investigation by the Bahamian Government
to its earlier request for an inquiry into the incident that
the investigation was conducted by an independent entity, and
that the results of the investigation were promptly made
public and debated in parliament. In its follow-up letter,
however, Amnesty requested that the scope of the
investigation be broadened to examine overall conditions at
the Center and include recommendations to alleviate any
shortcomings that might be discovered.


7. (C) The Superintendent of the Detention Center, however,
told Political Officer that the Jamaican in question is
married to a Royal Bahamian Defense Force officer, has been
detained three times, and was personally escorted out of the
detention center by the Superintendent in good physical
health. The Acting Permanent Secretary at National Security,
on the other hand, suggested that there might be some truth
to the Jamaican's allegations, even if exaggerated. He also
believed that AI reacted quickly to the Jamaican's
allegations because in the past the Bahamians have responded
to Amnesty's queries by pointing out that no detainees other
than Cubans have made similar complaints.


8. (SBU) The Bahamian Cabinet reportedly discussed the AI
letter at its regular Tuesday meeting on December 21,
although the Permanent Secretary at National Security doubted
there would be any substantive response.


Root Causes: Lack of Capacity and Cuban Reticence
-------------- --------------


9. (C) In meeting with Embassy officials December 21, the
National Security Acting Permanent Secretary told Charge that
he believed the Detention Center problems have two core
causes. First, he stated that the Immigration Department
lacks the capacity to effectively manage and administer the
center. Defense Force officers are used as custodial guards
at the facility, a duty for which they receive a limited
amount of special training. Overall, however, Defense Force
personnel do not see a Detention Center assignment as
attractive or career-enhancing. The Center has three nurses,
five Creole speakers, and four Spanish speakers on staff,
although these personnel are not always present at the
Center. At peak times in 2004 the Center has housed over
five hundred migrants pending repatriation, an overwhelming
number which taxed the Center's modest resources.


10. (C) Second, the Acting Permanent Secretary believes that
the process for evaluating and repatriating Cuban nationals
is excessively slow, leaving detainees, including children,
in Bahamian custody for months at a time. The political
asylum process for Cubans goes in multiple stages. First the
migrants are given a series of questionnaires to fill out.
Some of the "30 de Noviembre Frank Pais" members were
reportedly hesitant to provide information until they spoke
to their lawyers. Next, a Bahamian immigration officer uses
the information from the questionnaire to conduct an asylum
interview. Following this interview, the officer's
assessment and recommendation is then forwarded to UNHCR for
review. An immigration officer at the detention center
claimed that the assessment must be sent to UNHCR within two
weeks of the migrant's detention. UNHCR reviews the
assessment and if the recommendation is to grant political
asylum, the decision-memo is forwarded to the Bahamian
cabinet for a final decision. Detention Center personnel
emphasized that UNHCR rarely if ever disagrees with the
assessment the immigration officer first makes. If the
Cabinet decides to refuse political asylum, Bahamian
immigration and MFA officials must then contact the Cuban
government in Havana to begin the repatriation process.


11. (SBU) The repatriation process is further delayed once
the case files on the interdicted migrants are forwarded to
the Cuban Government. Reportedly, the Cuban government
conducts a case-by-case review to determine the background of
the potential returning Cuban national before deciding
whether or not to accept the repatriation. Bahamian
officials have told the Embassy that they often wait for
months to get approval from the Cuban government to proceed
with a repatriation. (A group of twenty-eight Cubans,
including all of the detained children, was accepted for
repatriation on December 15, less than one week after the
fire, following the intervention of the Cuban Consul in
Nassau, Felix Wilson.) Commenting on the cases in which the
Bahamian Government did grant political asylum to Cuban
migrants, the Acting Permanent Secretary complained that even
if asylum is granted, the released detainees leave The
Bahamas and "usually end up in the U.S. within a week."


Bahamian Government Reacts to Allegations
--------------


12. (U) Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell, Bahamian Ambassador
to the U.S. Ambassador Joshua Sears and Consul-General in
Miami Alma Adams have reportedly all been reaching out to
Cuban-American groups and leaders in Washington and Miami,
respectively, in an effort to smooth relations with the
Cuban-American community in South Florida. Reportedly, they
have been exasperated at the fragmented nature of different
segments of the community in their out-reach effort. This
effort was in response to both the December 9 incident as
well as to a group of Cuban-Americans who arrived to Nassau
on a cruise ship last week and who very publicly refused to
leave the ship in a protest against what they called a
"shameful island" which was an "extension of tyranny's grip"
and "somewhere Cuban oppression finds its best ally."


13. (SBU) In a further indication of the GCOB's sensitivity
to charges of mistreatment at the Detention Center and its
impact on tourism, the Bahamian MFA also sent the Embassy a
diplomatic note on December 17 seeking "urgent clarification
regarding highly provocative remarks purportedly made by
Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart," specifically quoting the
Congressman's statement that the Bahamian government is
"corrupt and cowardly." The MFA Note queried whether this
allegation represented the view of the U.S. government.

COMMENT
--------------


14. (C) The Bahamian government is sensitive to its
international reputation and the impact of unfavorable
publicity on its chief industry -- tourism. It generally
attempts to avoid controversy whenever possible. As one of
the world's oldest democracies (its parliament just
celebrated its 275th anniversary as a functioning body),it
has been stung by charges alleging that it is little better
than "Castro's gulag." Limited resources, a tight budget,
and international controversy have all combined to make the
Bahamian government work overtime during what is normally an
extended period of holiday celebration.

WITAJEWSKI