The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

THE Grand Bahama Human Rights Association (GBHRA) has urged two international human rights organisations to “do anything and everything in their power” to raise alarm over the “unlawful access” of a highly confidential email which was tabled in Parliament.

The local organisation further suggested that the newly-formed National Intelligence Agency (NIA) might have played a part in the government obtaining its private information.

In a letter to Amnesty International partners and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the GBHRA stressed that the violation of its privacy will have severe implications for its work, setting back the cause of human rights in The Bahamas by decades.

Victims of abuse and discrimination, the GBHRA argued, will inevitably fear their private and extremely sensitive discussions with human rights defenders may have been compromised by the state.

The organisation also raised concerns that based on the actions by the government, victims of discrimination on the basis of gender, gender identity, sexual orientation and nationality in this country - who communicate with the GBHRA - will lose confidence in the organisation.

“We write to report a most disturbing development in The Bahamas which we believe will have grave and far-reaching implications for the work of all local human rights defenders in this country,” the letter sent to both organisations read.

“In April, the Grand Bahama Human Rights Association (GBHRA) wrote to raise awareness of attempts to by the state to intimidate and threaten environmental activists living and working in The Bahamas. This included the reading aloud in Parliament, by senior members of government, of the private and confidential emails and financial information of a group called Save The Bays (STB), which works to promote environmental awareness, ecological conservation, good governance, transparency and accountability in The Bahamas.

“It has now come to our attention that the private correspondence of the Grand Bahama Human Rights Association (GBHRA) has likewise been unlawfully accessed, with one highly confidential email tabled in Parliament by a senior government minister.”

The letter continued: “We fear this gross violation of the GBHRA’s privacy will have severe implications for the our work, setting back the cause of human rights in The Bahamas by decades. Victims of abuse and discrimination will inevitably fear their private and extremely sensitive discussions with human rights defenders may have been compromised by the state.”

The GBHRA pinpointed that the government has repeatedly refused to explain how it came to be in possession of private emails, saying concerns exist that there might have been involvement from the newly-founded NIA.

“In this regard, it is instructive that the tabled email in question regarded the GBHRA’s communication with members of the official Opposition regarding the state’s controversial new immigration policy, which was the subject of a hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in March 2015. Haitians, Bahamians of Haitian descent and individuals of other nationalities who have spoken to the GBHRA in confidence about alleged abuses under this harsh new policy would now, in our opinion, be more than justified in fearing exposure and even reprisals.

“The state has repeatedly refused to explain how it came to be in possession of the private correspondence of local NGOs, and concern has been expressed that there may have been involvement by the recently founded National Intelligence Agency (NIA), which, despite the oft-repeated concerns of civil society and members of the Official Opposition, continues to operate in secret, without any legal or regulatory framework to govern its actions and with no system of accountability or independent oversight in place.

“This latest revelation, coming on the heels of repeated threats by senior members of the state to prosecute and imprison human rights defenders and other activists, has only heightened concerns about the safety of human rights defenders and the victims they seek to protect.”

The GBHRA said the non-governmental organsation (NGO) community in The Bahamas is growing increasingly apprehensive in the face of this heightened and sustained animosity on the part of the state.

It said many harbour very real fears for their safety and liberty. The atmosphere for advocacy in the country has never been bleaker, the GBHRA said.