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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
 (Jan. 22 Statement) The Grand Bahama Human Rights Association (GBHRA) denounces and condemns, in the strongest of terms, the Bahamas Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ dangerous and unbalanced rant against one of the most recognized and renowned human rights advocates in the world.
We are not sure who the “Mr Kennedy” referred to in the ministry’s unfortunate release is; we do know that Ms. Kerry Kennedy, niece of iconic US president John F. Kennedy and daughter of human rights pioneer Robert Kennedy, published an account in the Huffington Post of her recent experiences in The Bahamas which noted a number of human rights abuses and violations of the principle of transparency and accountability on the part of government.
For the record, the GBRHA wholeheartedly supports and defends Ms. Kennedy’s observations. If anything, she was too kind – the uncomfortable and unwelcome truth is that over the past several years, The Bahamas has become an increasingly hostile place when it comes to civil liberties and fundamental human rights.
In addition, one would think that a ministry expecting to be taken seriously when accusing an internationally respected figure of “errors and exaggerations”, would at the very least have some idea of who they are talking about.
In its febrile and unhinged rush to attack the commentator, the ministry has for some reason assumed that Ms. Kennedy is a man, obviously without bothering to conduct the appropriate research, and thereby embarrassed the country unnecessarily yet again. This at a time when the women’s rights movement is facing one of its most significant global challenges from male chauvinism in the last 50 years.
It would seem that Minister Fred Mitchell will not rest until The Bahamas is viewed as a tin pot banana republic by all and sundry. This from a man who wants a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council. No wonder the country was rejected last year by that august international body!
For Minister Mitchell and his staff’s information, it is totally false, preposterous and delusional to accuse Ms. Kerry Kennedy of being “well known to be associated with a rich individual who is a disgruntled permanent resident” of The Bahamas, and therefore having a vested interest in making false claims against this country.
Ms. Kennedy has been a leading human rights activist for more than three decades. She has led delegations into El Salvador, Gaza, Haiti, Kenya, Northern Ireland, and South Korea and has been involved in causes in China, Indonesia, Vietnam, India, Sudan, and Pakistan – all in the interest of advancing fundamental human rights for all. In its ridiculous denunciation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has echoed the posturing of many of the brutal dictatorships that she has confronted in the past.
She is also the President of the globally respected Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights, the Honorary President of the Robert F. Kennedy Foundation of Europe, the chair of the Amnesty International Leadership Council, and has been published in The Boston Globe, The Chicago Sun-Times, and The New York Times.
The GBHRA has said it before and we say it again: the time is long past for Prime Minister Christie to put an end to our international embarrassment and relieve Minister Mitchell of his Foreign Affairs portfolio. Clearly, he is not capable of projecting to the world the balanced, clear-headed and reasonable image that is necessary to protect the reputation of The Bahamas and facilitate the continuation of our place among peaceful, progressive nations, to the benefit of future generations yet unborn.
© Copyright 2017 by thebahamasweekly.com
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