By DANA SMITH

Tribune Staff Reporter

dsmith@tribunemedia.net 

AGAIN refusing to comment on the release date for the report into Cuban detainee abuse claims, Foreign Affairs and Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell insisted there has been no fallout for the Bahamas’ reputation due to the controversy.

He was asked about potential repercussions to the country, resulting from continued press coverage of the Detention Centre abuse investigation and fervid protests from The Democracy Movement, a Florida watchdog group.

“My judgment is that has been no impact and there is no fall-out. This is a matter that is largely confined to Dade County and Broward County in Miami,” Mr Mitchell said.

“It is driven in part by the continued fascination which the local press appears to have for this matter and are really giving these people more light than they deserved.

“They have engaged in what appears to be economic blackmail of this country and we simply can’t support it on that basis and those are just the facts.”

However, when asked specifically about the report, Mr Mitchell would not give a time-line for when it will be released.

He earlier said the matter will be turned over to a retired judge and a senior clergyman appointed by the government/ However, he did not say why such a step was necessary.

But yesterday, deflecting further questions on the topic, he said the matter is now one “for the National Security Ministry.”

In recent weeks, Mr Mitchell has repeatedly refused to comment on the issue, referring to the ongoing investigation.

However, when the claims were first made he was quite vocal, first claiming that no abuse of detainees takes place in the Bahamas, then later, that the government does not condone such abuse.

Two weeks ago, Dr Bernard Nottage failed to fulfil his promise to release details of the investigation a few days later.

Prime Minister Perry Christie has since assured the press that the report will be produced “soon”.

For his part, Mr Mitchell has now denied that he promised to release the entire report, along with a report into the detention centre conducted by the former government in 2009.

Yesterday, Mr Mitchell was speaking at the Lynden Pindling International Airport’s Diplomat Lounge to announce that a delegation was leaving the Bahamas yesterday en route to New York for 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

There, he said, will be “high level dialogues” on migration and there will be “a number of meetings” with UN agencies responsible for migration matters – including the International Organization for Migration (IMO) and the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHCR).

Mr Mitchell explained the UNHCR is responsible for “the resettlement of migrants who come to this country who are judged to have asylum status.” The IMO, he continued, is “able to employ resources” to support how the impact of migration on various countries can be ameliorated.

“So there are two important agencies. We hope, first of all, to make the case of the Bahamas’ continued problems with this issue,” Mr Mitchell said. “The Cuban issue on the one hand, the Haitian issue on the other hand, and the need for us to employ international resources to help solve the problem.

“And secondly, our concern about the procedures with UNHCR and the fact that there is too much delay in making sure that these claims are adjudicated on a timely basis and so we’d like to raise that issue as well.”

Mr Mitchell said he will be heading the delegation until Prime Minister Perry Christie arrives on Friday when, for the first time during his tenure as prime minister, Mr Christie will deliver the country’s national statement to the UN general assembly.

That address is scheduled for Saturday at 3pm, Mr Mitchell said, also noting that Social Services Minister Melanie Griffin will be playing a role as part of the delegation.

Tomorrow, at UN headquarters, Mrs Griffin will sign a UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, on behalf of the Bahamas.

“The Convention will be a precursor to the enactment of Disability Legislation in The Bahamas that is expected before the end of the year,” Mr Mitchell said.