Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) have sent a letter to the United Nations (UN) asking for an investigation into the continued harassment and beatings of Cuban detainees at the Carmichael Road Detention Center in Nassau, Bahamas. The South Florida Congressmen also sent letters to the U.S. Chargé d'Affaires in the Bahamas and to the Bahamian Ambassador in the U.S. with a video provided by a local Miami TV station that depicts a Bahamian guard despotically taunting and kicking Cuban detainees. A recent article in The Miami Herald states that the Bahamian authorities are disputing the video but the Congressmen insist this has been going on for many years. Statement by Ros-Lehtinen:
"It is disappointing that after all these years, this abuse against Cubans in detention continues unabated and in fact, seems to gradually be getting worse. These human rights violations cannot be ignored and these individuals deserve an opportunity to live in freedom. The latest abuse by a guard who is brutally taunting and kicking Cuban detainees has been caught on a video that was provided to my office by a local Miami TV station but we insist that similar abuses have been talked about for years."
"We request that the UN, the U.S. Chargé in the Bahamas, and the Bahamian Ambassador in the U.S. act immediately to stop this inhumane treatment. These Cuban migrants only want to reach shores of freedom and democracy and for this they are harassed, beaten, and incarcerated at Bahamian Detention Centers. This is unacceptable and must end now."