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News : International : Organization of American States (OAS) Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM


Bahamas Foreign Affairs Minister addresses OAS Regular Session
Jun 6, 2014 - 5:15:34 AM

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ASUNCION, Paraguay (June 4) -- Published reports that the National Security Agency (NSA) of the United States is secretly intercepting, recording, and archiving the audio of virtually every cell phone conversation in The Bahamas were bought to the attention of Organization of American States (OAS) today by Bahamas Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Fred Mitchell in his address to the 44th regular session of the General Assembly of the OAS currently being held in Asunción, Paraguay, from June 3 to 5, 2014.

“The Bahamas wishes to underscore the most worthy principles of this Organization, as expressed in the OAS Charter: that international law is the standard of conduct of States, the primacy of sovereignty, maintenance of territorial integrity, freedom from undue external intrusion and influence, safeguarding the rights of our citizens, and a reaffirmation of the importance of good faith for relations,” Mr. Mitchell told fellow delegates, adding that it is “this framework and mutual respect for these tenets which allows for a hemisphere to coexist peacefully and progress together and which helps to avoid moral double-mindedness and selective application of these principles, which can unnecessarily hinder harmony amongst states and in the multilateral sphere.”

 

Noting that delegates “will be aware of the challenge The Bahamas faces now where our citizens are questioning what these high ideals of territorial integrity, sovereignty and respect for the rule of law actually mean in practice,” Mr. Mitchell made direct reference to the alleged spying scandal.

 

“On 19th May, news reports across the globe reported that an action occurred which violated the rights of Bahamians and visitors to our shores to their privacy,” Mr. Mitchell said. “Indeed The Bahamas is not the only country who has suffered this alleged activity. We have engaged at a bi-lateral level to determine the truth or accuracy of these reports, and continue to do so.  Cooperation in international fora requires an interdependent context.  Whether we are large or small, rich or powerful, we depend on each other.

Declaring that The Bahamas has also brought the matter to the attention of our sister CARICOM Member States, Mr. Mitchell said it is already in the public domain and the public has called for an explanation.

“In order to avoid any misperceptions about our friendship, there should be an explanation,” The Bahamas Foreign Minister said.  “There is a justifiable expectation that a full and frank explanation will be forthcoming; that the ideas and norms to which we all espouse will be supported.  All of us are bound by the charter of this organization which speaks to the fundamental right of each of our citizens to the protection of their privacy.”

Mr. Mitchell told fellow delegates that it would not be right to dismiss the encroachment on the right to privacy as the way things are done in a modern world.

“For now and in this forum, it is sufficient to challenge those who espouse these high ideals to live up to the ethical standards which are touted throughout the world as the desired norm,” Mr. Mitchell said. “The truth must come out. We are sworn on behalf of our citizens to live up to the ideals which we set for ourselves.

Mr. Mitchell said that should the need arise, The Bahamas “will endeavour to use the appropriate mechanism of the Organization to apprise Member States of related developments.”

Reports that NSA was secretly intercepting, recording, and archiving the audio of cell phone conversation in The Bahamas were based on documents provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, which claimed that the surveillance was part of a top-secret system – code-named SOMALGET – that was implemented without the knowledge or consent of the Bahamian government.

NSA reportedly used access legally obtained in cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to open a backdoor to the country’s cellular telephone network, enabling it to covertly record and store the “full-take audio” of every mobile call made to, from and within the Bahamas – and to replay those calls for up to a month.

In a statement prior to his departure for Paraguay, Mr. Mitchell foreshadowed at a press conference that he intended to bring the matter up at the OAS meeting, adding that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is gathering “all the pertinent information that we can about the history of this matter and the facts as we know it.”

“Following the OAS meeting and my return to the country, it is my expectation that I will be in position to brief Parliament by the time I am to speak on the Budget debate,” Mr. Mitchell said at his press conference.

Mitchell says issue of inclusive development is central to Economic and social objectives of Bahamas Government

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Fred Mitchell, Bahamas Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration, addressing the 44th regular session of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States in Asunción, Paraguay, on Wednesday, June 4, 2014.


PLENARY REMARKS

BY

THE HONOURABLE FREDERICK MITCHELL, M.P.
FOREIGN MINISTER OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS

AT THE 44th REGULAR SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES (OAS)

3RD – 5TH JUNE, 2014

ASUNCION, PARAGUAY


“DEVELOPMENT WITH SOCIAL INCLUSION”







Excellencies

ALTHOUGH SOME OF THE TEXT MAY NOT BE DELIVERED FOR TIMING REASONS THE BAHAMAS STANDS BY THE TEXT

1.    I wish to begin by extending thanks on behalf of the Government and People of The Bahamas to the Government and People of Paraguay for the excellent arrangements and kind hospitality shown to me and my Delegation during our time here in Asunción.  

2.    This is the second time that I have had the opportunity to visit this city and country. I and my entire delegation are impressed by the level of development and growth which have taken place in the intervening years. We congratulate your countrymen and women and wish them well.

Social Inclusion in The Bahamas

Mr. Chairman,

3.    For The Bahamas, the issue of inclusive development is central to the economic and social objectives of the Government, particularly given the lingering effects of the global recession which left as vestiges significant unemployment and underemployment across the hemisphere. We are aware that a narrow obsession on simply growing the economic pie is counterintuitive to the equality demanded by our citizenry and that such tunnel-vision often produces externalities that offset the gains of increased economic growth. Our focus, therefore, has been on growing the economic pie alongside ensuring that as many of our citizens benefit from this growth. The Bahamian Government continues to work to institute a social and economic floor, buttressed by a responsive safety net, through which no Bahamian can fall, by means of, amongst other things, the development of conditional cash transfer programmes and a national health insurance scheme. Additionally, our goal is to ensure the broad availability of and accessibility to development prospects across the archipelago of Islands. The current administration has sought to further this goal with the creation of the Bahamas Agriculture Marine Science Institute on our largest island, Andros, which we hope will be a springboard to greater food security and employment prospects for all Bahamians, including our youth.

4.    Of particular concern for The Bahamas are the issues related to the inclusion of youth in the social and economic life of the Country. We have been particularly seized with the challenge of youth unemployment, a challenge shared across the Hemisphere, and we are of the view that recent developments in the production of a draft national youth policy and investments in the soon-to-be University of The Bahamas will assist with ensuring our youth take their rightful place as citizen stakeholders.

5.    The Bahamas is also making concerted efforts at targeting at-risk youth with the introduction of the Government’s Urban Renewal Programme, the brainchild of Prime Minister Perry Christie, recognized as a regional best practice, and which serves as a comprehensive approach to crime, antisocial behavior, and community safety through the integration of efforts and resources by a wide range of agencies and the community at large to target poor housing conditions, joblessness, illiteracy, homelessness, and other social ills that contribute to crime and anti-social behavior.

6.    Let me emphasize here, Mr. Chairman, that, often forgotten in the list of groups facing exclusion in the modern day Americas, are our young men, who are falling behind our women in the areas of higher education and employability. Sadly too many end up in criminality and lack a general sense of belonging and ownership of their respective societies. Ending the downward spiral that has begun for many of our young men has to be a central focus of any efforts towards inclusive societies.

7.    So while the fight for justice, equality an inclusion for women rightly continues, special focus must be given the development of boys and men.

Social Inclusion in the Americas

Mr. Chairman,

8.    In the area of Inequality, as is true across many fronts, the hemisphere has made tremendous strides over the past decade. Research from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) indicates that the gap between the rich and the poor shrunk in the majority of our Countries, greater percentages of our populations are earning more and access to early child hood, primary and secondary education across the Americas has increased considerably.

9.    However, there is much more that must be done regarding poverty and inequality, and certainly in the area of youth unemployment, before we can proclaim ‘mission accomplished’. The Bahamas strongly believes that creating a reasonable economic and social floor through which none of our citizens can fall has to be the policy framework which underpins decision-making across the hemisphere.

10.    Financing for development is still a key to the onward success of our country and our sub region.  We again say that we must translate into actual policy, the general rejection of GDP per capita as the key indicator of whether financing for development is available in small states where GDP per capita is not an adequate measure of the wealth and development of that country.
11.    Ambassador Eugene Newry, has coined the term “carilateralism” to speak of the value added that can be obtained from enhancing intra-regional trade and closer cooperation on development through focusing on maximizing each State’s comparative advantages and learning from each other’s best practices. It is through this convergence, this intentional focus on synergy of policy focus across the hemisphere, that we will truly unleash the potential of the Americas for the mutual benefit of all States.

12.    In everything that we do, we must be people focused.

13.    The true beauty of the Americas lays in the rich demographic, linguistic and cultural diversity. Our hemisphere is amongst the most diverse regions on Earth, and the mandate this diversity provides for us should make possible ever-increasing multiculturalism, tolerance and non-discrimination without any exceptions made for neat, often prejudicial distinctions and categories as fundamental universal values which apply to all people.

Mr. Chairman,

14.    The OAS provides the key mechanism for facilitating convergence for our sub region, as it is the primary hemispheric body for political dialogue. This Organization’s role, above all, must be to continue to deepen the functional cooperation of Member States; to foster working together to collectively maximize and attain the full utility of development results across the Americas.

15.    Just as democracy is an important catalyst and precursor for inclusion in our Countries, the Organization has a responsibility to ensure that its evolution adequately reflects the consensus of all member States, particularly as the Organization moves into a period of greater introspection on its mandates and strategic vision. Democratic inclusion at the OAS also necessitates that the Secretariat adequately and equitably reflect the rich diversity of the Americas, particularly amongst the professional positions, and that we work to strengthen the work of the National Offices, which provide a cost-effective and visible presence for the OAS in respective Member States.

16.    We as Member States, as shareholders of the Organization, have a similar duty, however, to ensure that these deliberations not be “business as usual” and that the OAS be reformed in a manner that ensures its relevance for the 21st Century Americas.  Key to this will be ensuring that we get function right before being overly concerned with form and that amongst the competing priorities of development, democracy, security and human rights of the Organization there be an understanding of the interdependency of the key pillars for ensuring holistic development.

17.    Mr. Chairman, We celebrate this year the International year of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), a group amongst which my Country is counted. Given the preponderance of Members States which meet the characteristics of SIDS, the OAS can play a unique role as an international institution in leading the charge for the recognition of the vulnerabilities of Small Island Developing States and incorporation of this recognition and the overall post-2015 Development Agenda into tangible mandates of the Organization.

18.    Mr. Chairman, The Bahamas wishes to underscore the most worthy principles of this Organization, as expressed in the OAS Charter: that international law is the standard of conduct of States, the primacy of sovereignty, maintenance of territorial integrity, freedom from undue external intrusion and influence, safeguarding the rights of our citizens, and a reaffirmation of the importance of good faith for relations. It is this framework and mutual respect for these tenets which allows for a hemisphere to coexist peacefully and progress together and which helps to avoid moral double-mindedness and selective application of these principles, which can unnecessarily hinder harmony amongst states and in the multilateral sphere.

19.    Delegates will be aware of the challenge The Bahamas faces now where our citizens are questioning what these high ideals of territorial integrity, sovereignty and respect for the rule of law actually mean in practice.

20.    On 19th May, By way of apprising Member States, recent news reports across the globe reported that an action occurred which violated the rights of Bahamians and visitors to our shores to their privacy. Indeed The Bahamas is not the only country who has suffered this alleged activity.

21.    We have engaged at a bi-lateral level to determine the truth or accuracy of these reports, and continue to do so.  Cooperation in international fora requires an interdependent context.  Whether we are large or small, rich or powerful, we depend on each other.

22.    We have also brought this matter to the attention of our sister CARICOM Member States.

23.    The matter is already in the public domain, the public has called for an explanation.  In order to avoid any misperceptions about our friendship, there should be an explanation.  

24.    There is a justifiable expectation that a full and frank explanation will be forthcoming; that the ideas and norms to which we all espouse will be supported.  All of us are bound by the charter of this organization which speaks to the fundamental right of each of our citizens to the protection of their privacy.


25.    It would not be right to dismiss the encroachment on the right to privacy as the way things are done in a modern world.

26.    For now and in this forum, it is sufficient to challenge those who espouse these high ideals to live up to the ethical standards which are touted throughout the world as the desired norm. The truth must out. We are sworn on behalf of our citizens to live up to the ideals which we set for ourselves.

27.    Should the need arises, we will endeavour to use the appropriate mechanism of the Organization to apprise Member States of related developments.

Conclusion

Mr. Chairman,

28.    If you were to ask a random person in The Bahamas what does the Organization of American States do, you would be hard pressed to get an answer. Those who can answer will likely think of the scholarship programme, which the OAS offers and now is under threat of cutbacks.  

29.    We have that job to do, to educate our citizens about the high ideals and the necessity of the work of this organization.

30.    For a small nation, the efficiencies of the conduct of our relations in a multi-lateral forum such as this should be obvious but in today’s “in your face” culture, nothing is obvious.  The Bahamas is not in a position to place diplomatic missions with Ambassadors and Counsellors/Consuls in cities across the globe.  The OAS provides a forum for the inter face with countries and leaders whom we would not ordinarily get to meet and with whom we would not ordinarily be able to trade and exchange ideas, good and services.

31.    That is one of the reasons we are committed to the OAS. I am to reaffirm that commitment here today.

32.    Paraguayan writer, Augusto Roa Bastos’s observation that “the things that have come into being change continually” speaks to the truism of the need for persons, Governments, Countries, regions and institutions to take stock, evolve, adapt, and capitalize on the new challenges and opportunities presented to them. As the oldest regional organization in the world, the OAS is a credit to the shared and interwoven histories, cultures and aspirations of this hemisphere but the Organization also has the eternal task of seeking to match the dynamism of the hemisphere that it seeks to assist to shape. It also has an uncompromising responsibility to remain relevant and to undertake its activities in a manner that adheres to international norms, practices and standards. The Bahamas is invested in a strong OAS, that is respected globally and internationally and that delivers for the citizens of our respective Countries.  It is we as Member States, however, who must steer this evolution, the evolution of the OAS and the broader transformations of our hemisphere, solidified in a commitment to the building up of a strong, united, prosperous and free Americas, where no citizen is left behind.

I thank you.

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