Amnesty International will be issuing a third report to the government early next week, following up on two other reports, which cited allegations of human rights abuses at the Carmichael Rd. Detention Centre.
While the human rights group was pleased with some aspects of the police investigation into those allegations, it said key areas of concern were still not addressed.
In an exclusive interview with The Guardian from her London office Wednesday, Olivia Streater, Amnesty International’s Campaigner for North America and the Caribbean, said the group was in the process of drafting a “very detailed response” to the police’s findings, which the government should receive in a few days.
She also sought to clear up people’s misconceptions about the group’s role in the world. Some Bahamians continually bad-mouth it on talk shows and in the print media.
Ms Streater said people sometimes get confused about the purpose of Amnesty’s reports and misconstrue them as an attack by the human rights group against a particular entity or country. Amnesty’s reports, she added, are based on compelling allegations, which cry out for an investigation.
Regarding the reported cases of human rights abuses at the Detention Centre, she said, “I must stress that these were allegations, and they were reported to the authorities as allegations.
“We didn’t say that it actually happened. We said that we’d receive credible allegations that it happened, and we asked the government to investigate it.”
Govt probe welcomed
She said the group welcomed the fact that the government initiated the investigation on the charges of ill-treatment of detainees at the Centre fairly quickly.
“We also welcomed the findings around the provision of water and food, saying that it’s basically adequate and the fact that there’s a commitment by the authorities to address those issues. And we also welcomed a commitment to instigate a management review at Carmichael.”
She added that the government report found that medicine was provided at the Centre as needed, but it did not deal with the issue of access to medical professionals, particularly doctor visitations.
Focussing on witness protection, the Amnesty campaigner said the government report did not mention it.
“That is not to say that the authorities did not put in place measures to protect witnesses but there is no information on it,” she said.
“Because obviously, when you have serious allegations in a custodial environment where people are detained, many people who may be giving evidence to the police, may be giving evidence on the action of people who are guarding them.”
In this vein, she said it would have been better if the government had conducted an independent inquiry rather than a police one to address the allegations of inhumane treatment.
“And that’s particularly so given that they (the government) indicated that they’re committed to looking at these issues when they’re raised and having a management review.”
She pointed out that the chief purpose of a police inquiry is to investigate allegations of criminal activity, which is quite different from a broader independent inquiry. She further noted that a police investigation and an independent inquiry do not have to be mutually exclusive but could occur together.
Amnesty’s October report on the Detention Centre highlighted allegations of the ill-treatment of detainees, questioned policies and practices on detention, the use of force and firearms, as well as mandatory detention.
Gun to Cuban’s head
Also in that report, was a charge that Cuban detainees were beaten by guards, and that at least one Cuban man was threatened with a gun pointed at his head.
“We’ve received allegations that that happened in a private investigative room, away from the area where other detainees were,” Ms Streater said. “And we’re going to be seeking clarification on that, because the report found that it couldn’t be corroborated through lack of independent witness accounts.”
Regarding allegations that Cuban detainees were forced to stand in the sun for long hours without water, the human rights activist said the government report merely repeated the substance of the claims, without offering any information on whether they had been thoroughly investigated.
Children in detention
Ms Streater said a final but major issue that had not been mentioned in the government investigation, raised by Amnesty since last year, pertained to the unlawful detention of children. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child defines “child” as anyone under 18.
“Because The Bahamas signed and ratified that convention, it’s obliged to implement it in law,” she said, adding that the treaty stipulates that children should only be detained as a last resort, and if detained, for the shortest possible time.
“We have repeatedly raised our concerns around that fact. And we would like to know whether that issue was addressed in the investigation, and if not, whether the authorities have plans to revisit that issue,” she stressed.
“When we went to Carmichael and released our report in January 2003, our findings then were that The Bahamas was significantly in breach of its international treaty commitments in terms of how children at Carmichael were being treated.”
Importance of Amnesty
Ms Streater also said many people fail to appreciate the importance of Amnesty International until their human rights are violated. She pointed out that the watchdog group’s role is to campaign for human rights worldwide, as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Amnesty has a varied network of members and supporters around the world. At the latest count, there were more than 1.8 million members, supporters, and subscribers in over 150 countries. The group is independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest, or religion. The local Bahamas Chapter is headed by R.E. Barnes. To maintain objectivity, he is not permitted to report on allegations of human rights abuses in The Bahamas.
Mindell Small, The Nassau Guardian
