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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
 (GBHRA Statement) Claiming it would somehow prove his nonsense claim that Save The Bays (STB) is working to “destabilize the government”, Minister Jerome Fitzgerald proceeded to read and table the environmental group’s confidential emails in Parliament.
In doing so, he also revealed that government’s access to citizens’ private correspondence goes far beyond STB to include the emails of other activist groups, parliamentarians and even the leader of Her Majesty’s Official Opposition –a fact which should strike fear and trepidation into all right-thinking members of this society.
Among the emails tabled by Fitzgerald was a communication between the Grand Bahama Human Rights Association (GBHRA) – an entity that has nothing whatsoever to do with the work of STB –and then Senator and FNM chairman Michael Pintard. Also copied was FNM leader Hubert Minnis.
Some obvious and quite terrifying questions arise:
If they are reading the GBHRA’s emails and those of senior FNMs, who else’s private correspondence is in the hands of the Christie administration – and for what purpose do they intend to use this information?
What was a senior minister of government doing with the emails of local human rights workers in the first place? More to the point, what on earth was he doing with the emails of senior members of the Opposition?
Students of history will remember that in the United States, an attempt to gain access to the confidential documents of political rivals led directly to the Watergate scandal and the fall of the Nixon presidency. In The Bahamas, we cannot stand idly by while the rights of our citizens and the very foundations of our democracy are compromised by this administration.
In the case of the GBHRA, we fear this gross violation of privacy will have severe implications on our work and may have set back the cause of human rights in The Bahamas by decades. Victims of abuse and discrimination will now fear their private and extremely sensitive correspondence with human rights defenders has been compromised and they will be understandably be reluctant to reach out for help in the future.
Such fears would appear justified, as the one GBHRA email that we know for certain was obtained by the government (no doubt one of many) directly relates to the harsh new immigration policy launched in 2014. How many victims of this policy who reached out to the GBHRA in confidence may now be ‘known to the authorities’? Will agents of the government use this information to victimize them further?
As far as the government’s political rivals are concerned, both the FNM and DNA should be shocked and outraged by the staggering implications of what has occurred. All of their internal plans and strategy discussions may now be known to the PLP. In this regard, are very surprised and extremely disappointed that the leader of the Opposition has remained silent in the face of this scandalous revelation concerning his own privacy and that of a senior party member.
The GBHRA hereby calls on all members of the FNM and DNA; all NGOs and members of civil society; and all right-thinking Bahamians who value their privacy and fundamental rights under the Constitution, to vocally condemn the actions of the Christie administration.
We must demand that they come clean on how they have been able to access the private emails of upstanding citizens of this country, and whether or not they are planning further underhanded measures against individuals and groups who challenge their actions in the name of the public interest.
– The Grand Bahama Human Rights Association
© Copyright 2016 by thebahamasweekly.com
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