| At the end of March of this year, the plight of seven Cuban Nationals detained in Belize made the evening news.
On February 15, five of the seven Cubans were initially detained on the offense of entering Belize elsewhere other than the approved place of entry. 2 of the women were detained since February 12. They were then detained at the Belize Central Prison for almost 50 days. The case became even more complicated because 2 of the women claimed that they were assaulted and kidnapped in Mexico before they traveled to Corozal.
On March 30, the Immigration Department was making final preparations to deport them back to Cuba, but the Human Rights Commission of Belize made a last-minute intervention via an urgent Habeas Corpus application before the Supreme Court. The presiding judge granted an injunction restraining the immigration authorities from proceeding with the deportation of the seven Cubans until the court could review the matter.
Leo Bradley Jr., the president of the Human Rights Commission, and Cynthia Pitts represented the detainees. Their legal team insisted they were charged and convicted of illegal entry in contravention of the Refugee Act. They asserted that five out of seven paid their thousand-dollar fines for the conviction. The other two did not receive charges, but they were also imprisoned.
The Human Rights Commission also insisted that they screened the seven detainees to review and verify their international protection needs. The attorneys for the detainees emphasized to the court that their "arbitrary" detention at the prison was unlawful and a breach of their constitutional rights to personal liberty and the right to apply for refugee status.
Justice Lisa Shoman, the presiding judge, reviewed the case and found that they failed in their burden and duty to show that they pursued refugee status or asylum in Belize.
In her written judgment, dated June 13, 2022, Justice Shoman said, quote, "It was made clear to this court by affidavit evidence and testimony… that they did not wish to return to Cuba… that they either wanted to be deported to Mexico, where... each says that they can get safe... passage to the border with the United States, or to Guatemala, where they can each claim to have been, albeit illegally, prior to their admitted illegal entry into Belize." End quote.
The judge also pointed out that all seven detainees knew that their extended detention at the Belize Central Prison was due to their adamant refusal to be returned to Cuba.
The judge also found that the Immigration authorities handled the detention as best as possible, informed them of their rights, and provided them with all the necessary accommodations, such as a court interpreter who could provide Spanish translations of the English court proceedings.
After carefully reviewing the case, the judge said, quote, "I do not find in all the circumstances that the Applicants' deprivation of liberty by the respondents was in breach of their Constitutional Rights. I find that the detention by the State was lawful and in pursuance of the applicable sections of the Immigration Act. She also dismissed their claim for damages.
At this evening's Prime Ministerial press conference, Immigration Minister Eamon Courtenay was asked about the positive outcome of the case, and here's what he had to say:
Eamon Courtenay - Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade & Immigration
"It's an abuse of the process, and I'm very happy with the decision. And I quite easily, because I have been in touch over it, happily say I am happy that Agassi and Samantha were victorious in that case. We have no issues, professionally. In that particular case, what you have are people who do not qualify for refugee status in Belize. You cannot apply for refugee status and say, 'I am fleeing from Cuba. I want refugee status in Belize so I can go to the states.' You have to claim refugee status and stay in the country that grants up to you. On their face, on their application, and in their evidence to the court and said that they don't want to stay here. They want to go. So what is it that they are trying to do? They're caught. They are prosecuted. Some smart lawyer says, 'Claim asylum. I will get you to go to Help For Progress. There will be no security.' And overnight you run and leave. We would be tacitly facilitating human smuggling. Let me say this to you. A year ago, I took to Cabinet a paper asking to allow Haitians to come to Belize without visas because that is required under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. We were in breach. That has been approved. Without going into the details, there is a significant number of Haitians who are all of a sudden coming to Belize: one-way ticket, no hotel reservation, but they say they are tourists. I can send you an article from Yahoo! News yesterday that explains the corrupt and abusive mafia that is using charter flights out of Haiti to smuggle Haitians. We have taken a decision this week, and I informed Cabinet yesterday, that we have requested over the next six weeks for a number of flights to come, Charter, Haiti -Belize. In collaboration with civil aviation, we are not going to allow them to land. And, if we have to reverse the provision of Haitians coming into Belize without a visa, we are going to do so. Why? Because these people are abused by smugglers. They are trafficked by smugglers. And we will not allow it to happen through Belize, as long as we can stop it. In the case of the Cubans, it's a difficult situation. It's a difficult situation because we cannot deport them to a third country. We have to send them back to Cuba. There are no direct flights. There is no bus. There is no boat to Cuba. So, we are actively talking to friends about how we can get that done in relation to this one."
For this habeas corpus case, the Government of Belize was represented by the two crown counsels from the Attorney General's Ministry. They are Assistant Solicitor General Samantha Matute-Tucker and Agassi Finnegan.
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