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