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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
 (GBHRA Statement) The Grand Bahama Human Rights Association (GBHRA) is calling on immigration officers to cease and desist from their efforts to harass and intimidate Grand Bahama homeowner Bruno Rufa.
The GBHRA said despite his recent vindication in the courts, Rufa has continued to be unlawfully targeted and persecuted, officers once again descending on his home this week to question the Canadian citizen and demand that he produce his travel documents.
“The Immigration Department must back off immediately,” said GBHRA president Fred Smith, QC. “They have no right to target this man, whom the courts have declared innocent of the bogus charges that were brought against him in an effort terrorize and hound him out of the country.
“At 9.40am on Monday, three officers were once again at his door demanding to see his passport. They suggested that, like a criminal out on bail, he must continually appear at Immigration’s offices to seek extensions allowing him to remain in the country. This when they know full well that he has been granted 150 days from November 23, in accordance with the wishes of the Supreme Court of The Bahamas.”
Smith said the encounter was but one example of the “bully tactics” that Immigration has been using to try and strike fear into Rufa over the past several years –a strategy that he said, unfortunately, seems to be working.
“Bruno and his partner are now living in fear. They believe officers are just looking for a reason to arrest and detain them on more trumped up charges. It is an awful thing to have to spend the holiday season looking over your shoulder all the time. I think it is safe to say that their Christmas is now ruined.”
Smith said he believes officers are drawing encouragement for this behavior from the example set by Foreign Affairs and Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell – who on the very same morning Rufa was interrogated, delivered an ominous presentation in Parliament, in which he referred to the Canadian homeowner by name.
“Responding to the recent ruling upholding Bruno’s rights and declaring that Immigration does not have the power to simply detain and deport people arbitrarily, Mitchell claimed the granting of natural justice in immigration cases, as enshrined in the constitution, would cripple the country’s immigration laws as currently applied,” Smith said.
“Instead of recommending that his department's practices be brought into line with the constitution and judicial precedent, he actually had the audacity to suggest the law could be changed to give officers even more arbitrary power. It was a slap in the court’s face.
“Mitchell’s casual disregard for people’s fundamental human rights and the authority of the courts is becoming quite frightening. His claim that this ruling and others like it are case-specific, and do not apply generally, is totally unbelievable – particularly coming from a trained lawyer.
“He should – and we are we are convinced, does –know better. If his personal fondness for dictatorial power prevents the minister from keeping his officers within the bounds of the law, we call on the prime minister to intervene before this half-baked recklessness causes any further damage to our international reputation.”
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