..Haitians complain about mistreatment at Hugo Chavez Centre
By Svetlana Marshall
Haitian Nationals currently in “protective custody” at the Hugo Chavez Centre for Rehabilitation and Reintegration at Onverwagt, Region Five told their Attorney Darren Wade that they are being treated badly, and have been confined to poor conditions.
Several of the 26 Haitians expressed their distress from within the compound of the Centre during a live Facebook recording on Sunday morning, when asked a series of basic questions by their attorney. A barbed wire fence separated Wade from his clients.
“It is very bad, it’s very bad,” they told Wade, while expressing the hope that he would be able to gain access to the Rehabilitation and Reintegration Centre, to have a firsthand view of the situation.
It was an emotional scene when the attorney finally gained access to the Hugo Chavez Centre for Rehabilitation and Reintegration. An elderly woman, who is among those being held, broke down in tears as she expressed her frustration at the inhumane manner, in which they are being treated.
Speaking to the attorney, through an interpreter, the elderly woman said the situation is extremely bad. According to the woman, she never lived the way she is currently being forced to live.
Wade, who also broke down in tears, told the woman that he was raised by his grandmother, and is deeply saddened by the manner in which they are being treated. “No human being should be under these conditions, nobody,” an emotional Wade said.
Other Haitians complained that they had limited access to food, and as such, Wade purchased a quantity of dry food for them as well as water. Others alleged that ranks of the Guyana Police Force took their money, totaling some US$1000, and their colognes.
In his live Facebook post, Wade made a case for counselling services to be afforded to the Haitians, who reportedly travelled to Guyana as tourists.
Last week, President of the Association of Haitian Nationals in Guyana, Kesnel Toussaint asked the High Court to order the Government to release the 26 Haitians.
The Home Affairs Ministry had said that the 26 Haitians, inclusive of seven children, were part of a Human Trafficking ring, but Toussaint, in rebuffing the claim, said the Haitians were all granted a six month stay upon their arrival in Guyana on November 7, 2020.
Through Attorney Wade, Toussaint filed a writ of habeas corpus ad subjiciendum with the hope of having his fellow Haitians freed.
In his Affidavit, he told the Court that hours after their arrival in Guyana, the Haitians were apprehended by the police. A group was removed from the Bristol and Bristol Hotel, located on South Road, Georgetown, while another group was arrested on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway. He complained that since their detention, three weeks ago, they had been denied Counsel, though several requests were made. It was only on Sunday, that Wade was allowed access.
On Friday, the case, brought against the Commissioner of Police Nigel Hoppie and the Attorney General Anil Nandlall, came up before Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.
Based on a request made, the Court ordered the Attorney General to file an Affidavit of Defense by the end of the month. Through his attorney, Toussaint has until December 2, 2020 to file an Affidavit in Reply. Giveng the urgency of the matter, the High Court is likely to hand down its judgment in the early weeks of December.
