The Tribune

AFTER local authorities constantly ignored their complaints that their lives were in danger, five members of the Grand Bahama Human Rights Association turned in desperation to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights with the request that it urge the Bahamas government to “adopt precautionary measures to prevent irreparable harm to their lives.”

After satisfying itself of the facts by its own investigation, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in a November 4 communication to the Bahamas government informed it that five members of Save the Bays were in “a serious and urgent situation since their lives and personal integrity face an imminent risk of irreparable harm”.

The Commission requested the Bahamas government to adopt the necessary measures to protect the lives of these men and their families, to ensure that they could “pursue their work as human rights defenders without being subject to threats, harassment or intimidation, and to agree with the petitioners on the measures to be adopted and to report on investigative actions taken.”

In a terse reply, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration regretted that the IACHR had granted the Grand Bahama Human Rights Association its petition. We can just imagine a fuming Fred Mitchell, nursing his injured pride and boiling with indignation that an outside body should dare demand an accounting from his ministry.

The reply sent from his Ministry to the IACHR said that its review of the allegations made by Mr Fred Smith, QC, “and the other petitioners found they were not properly grounded in facts and were without evidentiary support or legal merit.” The Ministry said it found it especially regrettable that the IACHR made its decision despite periodic communication from the Government that while the matter was under review a formal response was being finalised and would be issued soon.”

What is “soon” in Mr Mitchell’s lexicon of words? Need we remind him that we are still awaiting the results of the behind-closed doors hearings of the Cuban detainees at the Carmichael Detention Centre about three years ago who were allegedly beaten by some of their guards?

On that occasion, the detainees had smuggled out a video, re-enacting scenes of beatings they had had to endure. This video was played over a Miami radio station. It was Minister Mitchell no less who declared it “a fake.” Unfortunately the video was very real.

On that occasion, Mr Mitchell had said that the matter was under investigation.

“I wish to say that no one from the Bahamas government has admitted that there was any abuse of detainees by the Bahamas government,” he said in an August 18, 2013 statement.

One of the detainees, Alexander Vasquez, in his own statement claimed he suffered a punctured lung from two broken ribs and had to be hospitalised. His brother required 17 stitches for a head wound. When the Cubans were repatriated, according to the Miami Democracy Movement that received them, a pregnant woman was in the group. She claimed she had been impregnated by one of her Bahamian guards.

The hearing of this case was to be behind closed doors, but no more has been heard from it, although a panel was appointed to hear it. We don’t believe there was ever a hearing because the Cubans were repatriated so quickly that they were not here to give evidence and we doubt that anyone went to Miami to take their testimony.

Maybe the IACHR would like to add this case to their enquiries to test just how far the truth telling goes in this government.

We also wonder how long Mr Mitchell’s ministry now plans to take in its investigation before it reports to IACHR in this present case and says what protection it plans to give to the complainants. If the Cubans’ case is any example, this too will slip over the horizon if the environmentalists don’t persist in their complaint.

Earlier, Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade had wondered why the Save the Bays environmental group did not come to him earlier about the death threats. This whole ugly dispute has mushroomed out of a piece of Crown land, claimed by fashion designer Peter Nygard, which the environmentalists say belongs to the Bahamian people.

Commissioner Greenslade wondered why the environmentalists had brought in a private investigator instead of coming to him a year ago. Either someone was keeping the Commissioner in the dark, or he was under political pressure, because his behaviour at that time was not that of the fearless Ellison Greenslade that we once knew.

The five environmentalists were forced to bring in a private investigator because they went to our Bahamian police with their complaints, but nothing was done. Hate rallies were organised against them with paid demonstrators and inflammatory placards, one of their law offices was broke into and his home vandalised, there were confrontational attacks in the street and explicit death threats, one of their cars was set on fire, and so the harassment continued, but without any police investigation. That was when the environmentalists brought in a private investigator and decided to conduct their own investigation. They tried to find out who was behind the death threats. Their persistence unearthed two criminals – “Toggie” and “Bobo” – and the two told a story, supported by tapes that would make your blood run cold. That is when these environmentalists knew that they were indeed marked men. If our own police force had taken their complaints seriously, and done the police work that they should have done, they would have made this discovery themselves.

In view of all the evidence that can be verified with photos and tapes, how Fred Mitchell’s Ministry could have told IACHR that its review of the allegations by Mr Smith and the other petitioners found they “were not properly grounded in facts and were without evidentiary support or legal merit,” defies the imagination. “The Ministry,” it added, “finds it especially regrettable that the IACHR made its decision despite periodic communication from the Government that while the matter was under review a formal response was being finalised and would be issued soon.”

We hope that IACHR will not let Mr Mitchell’s “soon” report become like the Cuban video, which, according to Mr Mitchell, never existed.