National Security Minister Dr. Bernard Nottage said yesterday that the government would make an announcement early next week with regard to the release of a report into the alleged abuse of Cuban detainees at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre.

"We are going to make an announcement early next week which will fully inform you of the bits and pieces that you seek," Nottage said at a press conference.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell has said a probe into the allegations is being conducted and should be concluded at the end of September.

However, a copy of the report on an investigation conducted by the defence force was leaked to the media.

According to witness statements from defence force marines and detainees at the facility, Cuban detainees were severely beaten after they attempted to escape from the center back in May.

According to one of the marines, Cuban detainees were beaten for almost two hours and one even appeared to have temporarily lost consciousness as a result of the abuse.

The Miami-based activist group Democracy Movement staged protests against The Bahamas after a video aired on a Spanish language TV station in Miami purporting to show Cubans being abused by Bahamian officers.

The government has called the video a fake.

Detainees claim that the video was a reenactment of an earlier beating.

Ramon Sanchez, a spokesperson for Democracy Movement, said the group remains cautious concerning The Bahamas, but is ready to put this incident behind it.

He has called on Prime Minister Perry Christie to take action against the guards responsible for allegedly abusing Cuban detainees.

Mitchell vowed that justice will be done in relation to reports of abuse at the facility.

Mitchell said he plans to release the previous reports conducted during the Ingraham administration into allegations of misconduct and conditions at the detention center.

Mitchell has said he has no problem with making the report being completed public, but the decision rests with Prime Minister Perry Christie.

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