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TITLE: THE BAHAMAS HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE: FEBRUARY 1995
THE BAHAMAS
The Commonwealth of the Bahamas is a constitutional,
parliamentary democracy and a member of the Commonwealth of
Nations. Queen Elizabeth II, the nominal Head of State, is
represented by an appointed Governor General. Prime Minister
Hubert A. Ingraham's Free National Movement (FNM) has
controlled the Government and Parliament since 1992.
The police and the small Bahamas Defence Force answer to
civilian authority and generally respect laws protecting human
rights. However, there continued to be credible reports that
police occasionally abuse detainees.
The economy depends primarily on tourism, which accounts for
over two-thirds of the gross domestic product. Financial
services, particularly offshore banking and trust management,
are also a major source of revenue. While some Bahamians
enjoy relatively high average income levels, overall
unemployment is estimated to exceed 20 percent; there is
considerable underemployment and some poverty.
Bahamians enjoy a wide range of democratic freedoms and human
rights. As in past years, the principal human rights problems
were police abuse of detainees, harsh and overcrowded
conditions at the only prison, the slow pace of justice,
intolerance toward non-Bahamians, and violence against women
and children. The Government investigates charges of abuse and
brought some perpetrators to trial, winning manslaughter
convictions against two police officers. Citizens also brought
two successful civil suits against the police on grounds of
misconduct.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
There were no reports of politically motivated killings by the
Government or domestic political groups. However, police
officers occasionally committed extrajudicial killings.
In May a detainee died while in police custody. A Coroner's
Court jury later determined that the police were negligent
because they failed to provide necessary medical care. A civil
suit in the matter is pending. In October the authorities
charged an off-duty police officer with murder after he
allegedly shot at five men during an altercation, killing one.
The courts convicted and imprisoned two of three police
officers charged with manslaughter in the 1989 beating death of
a suspect.
b. Disappearance
There were no reports of disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment
The Constitution prohibits torture and other cruel and
degrading treatment or punishment, but human rights monitors
and members of the general public expressed concern over a
pattern of police abuse against criminal suspects. Many of the
charges of abuse involved beatings in order to extract
confessions. Some alleged victims claimed that police officers
threatened them after they had filed a complaint.
The police Complaints and Discipline Unit, which reports
directly to senior police officials, is responsible for
investigating allegations of police brutality. Police
officials reportedly disciplined or dismissed some police
officers as a result of these complaints; however, the
authorities did not publish any results of investigations of
abuse. The courts convicted an immigration officer charged
with beating a Jamaican attorney at Nassau international
airport and sentenced him to prison for assault; the case is
currently under appeal.
Despite some recent improvements, conditions at Fox Hill, the
Bahamas' only prison, remain harsh and overcrowded. The men's
prison, originally built in 1953 to house about 500 inmates,
holds over 1,100 prisoners. Male prisoners are crowded into
poorly ventilated cells which generally lack running water and
adequate sanitation facilities. Facilities for women are less
severe and do have running water. Most prisoners lack beds,
many sleep on concrete floors, and most are locked in their
cells 23 hours per day.
Prisoners reported that guards beat them and arbitrarily
revoked privileges. The prison has no formal mechanism for
reporting, investigating, and acting on prisoner complaints.
Local and international human rights groups visited the prison
during the year. Organizations providing aid, counseling
services, and religious instruction have regular access to
inmates. Despite fiscal constraints, prison officials
continued modest but measurable steps to improve prison
conditions and begin prisoner rehabilitation programs.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
The Constitution prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention. The
authorities conduct arrests openly and, when required, obtain
judicially issued warrants. Serious cases, including those of
suspected narcotics or firearms offenses, do not require
warrants where probable cause exists. Arrested persons appear
before a magistrate within 48 hours (or by the next business
day for cases arising on weekends and holidays) to hear the
charges against them. They may hire an attorney of their
choice. The law requires the Government to provide legal
representation only to destitute suspects charged with capital
crimes.
Police sometimes deviate from prescribed procedures, however,
and act arbitrarily. The Government respects the right to a
judicial determination of the legality of arrests. In two
cases, persons successfully sued the police for incidents that
occurred several years earlier involving false arrest and
imprisonment, malicious prosecution, and a breach of
constitutional rights. The amount of damages awarded, over
$200,000 in each case, was unprecedented in Bahamian legal
history.
Judges generally grant bail only to Bahamian suspects, since
the authorities consider foreign offenders likely to flee if
released on bail. Judges sometimes authorize cash bail for
foreigners arrested on minor charges but generally prefer to
levy fines in exchange for guilty pleas. The Government
tightened bail provisions to prevent suspects with prior
convictions for serious offenses from gaining release on bail.
The authorities detain illegal migrants, primarily Haitians and
Cubans, at the Carmichael Road Detention Center until
arrangements can be made for them to leave the country.
Illegal migrants convicted of crimes other than immigration
violations are held at Fox Hill and remain there for weeks or
months, pending deportation after serving their sentences,
unless they can arrange private means for their repatriation.
A few illegal Haitian migrants have been detained in Fox Hill
but never charged with a crime.
Exile is illegal and is not practiced.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The justice system derives from English common law. The
judiciary, appointed by the executive branch on the advice of
the Judicial and Legal Services Commission, has always been
independent. However, a controversy arose when the Ministry of
Justice refused to pay the travel expenses of an expatriate
judge of The Bahamas Court of Appeal to return to Nassau in
order to conduct a hearing. The judge resigned, and members of
the legal profession, the opposition party, and the public
accused the Ministry of tampering with the independence of the
judiciary.
Trials are fair and public; defendants enjoy the presumption of
innocence and the right to appeal. However, an overburdened
judicial system must handle a steadily increasing caseload,
which results in excessive pretrial detention and delayed
justice for victims. In some criminal cases, it can take
several years from time of arrest to eventual trial. There
were even further delays in mid-1994 when higher court rulings
sent several hundred preliminary inquiries back to lower courts
because of procedural errors. The Supreme Court, where many
serious criminal cases are heard, began its term with no
criminal cases before it because lower courts were correcting
errors and rehearing preliminary inquiries. The Government
continued to open new courts and appoint new magistrates in an
effort to reduce the case backlog.
There are no political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
The Constitution prohibits arbitrary entry, search, or
seizure. The law usually requires a court order for entry into
or search of a private residence, but a police inspector or
more senior police official may authorize a search without a
court order where probable cause of a weapons violation
exists. Such an official may also authorize the search of a
person (which extends to the vehicle in which the person is
traveling) without a court order should probable cause exist
for drug possession. The Government neither censors mail nor
restricts receipt of foreign correspondence or publications.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The Government respects the constitutional provision for the
right of free expression, and the political opposition
criticizes the Government freely and frequently. Two daily and
several weekly newspapers, all privately owned, express a
variety of views on issues of public interest, including
varying degrees of criticism of the Government and its
policies. Foreign newspapers and magazines are readily
available.
Two new radio stations, both privately owned, compete with a
government-run network and include lively political debates in
their programming. The country's sole television station, the
state-owned Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas, presents a
variety of views, although opposition politicians claim with
some justification that their views do not receive as extensive
coverage as those of the Government. Coverage was more fair in
1994, however, than in past years.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The Constitution provides for the rights to free assembly and
association, and the authorities respect these rights in
practice. The law permits private associations, but groups
must obtain permits to hold public demonstrations. The
authorities grant such permits almost without exception.
c. Freedom of Religion
The Government respects in practice the constitutional
provisions for freedom of religion.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
The Government respects the rights of citizens and legal
residents to both domestic and foreign travel.
Increasing numbers of Cuban rafters arrived on remote,
uninhabited islands in the southwestern Bahamas near Cuba.
Bahamian authorities regularly declared their inability, due to
a shortage of operational craft, to assist these stranded
rafters. In the first part of the year, the authorities did
not interview Cuban migrants who reached populated islands to
determine any claim to refugee status; they allowed them to
leave with the tacit understanding that the Cubans would make
their own arrangements to migrate to the United States. When
the U.S. Government changed its policy toward Cuban migrants in
August, the Bahamian Government began to detain Cuban migrants,
under austere but livable conditions, at the Carmichael Road
Detention Center. The Government allows representatives of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to
interview Cubans to determine whether any have claim to refugee
status.
The presence of an estimated 40,000 Haitian migrants in The
Bahamas remained a sensitive social, economic, and political
issue. Several international human rights organizations
visited during the year to observe the conditions and treatment
of Haitians in the Bahamas. The Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights report praised The Bahamas for accepting many
Haitians and for providing them a wide range of social
services. However, it expressed concern over procedures for
determining the refugee status of the Haitians and the extent
of due process afforded them during repatriations.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change Their Government
The Bahamas is a constitutional, parliamentary democracy with
two major political parties and general elections at least
every 5 years. An elected Prime Minister and Parliament
govern. The political process is open to all elements of
society, and citizens 18 years of age and older are eligible to
register and vote; voting is by secret ballot. In the 1992
elections, slightly more than 92 percent of registered voters
cast valid ballots. The two principal political parties are
the ruling Free National Movement and the opposition
Progressive Liberal Party (PLP). The PLP led the country for 6
years of internal self-government from 1967 to 1973, and held
power under Prime Minister Sir Lynden O. Pindling from
independence in 1973 to 1992.
The FNM holds 32 of 49 seats in the House of Assembly, and the
PLP holds 17. Both the ruling party and the opposition name
members to the upper house, the Senate, in compliance with
constitutional guidelines. Although it does pass legislation,
the Senate is primarily a deliberative body that serves as a
public forum to discuss national problems and policies to
address them. The Parliament has four elected female members,
including the deputy speaker of the House, and three appointed
female Senators, including the government leader in the Senate.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
of Human Rights
Individual human rights monitors, several local human rights
groups, as well as representatives of international human
rights organizations operate freely, expressing their opinions
and reporting their findings on alleged human rights violations
without government restriction. The Government allows them
broad access to institutions and individuals.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
Disability, Language, or Social Status
The Government generally respects in practice the
constitutional provisions for individual rights and freedoms
regardless of race, place of origin, political opinion, creed,
or sex. However, both the Constitution and the law
discriminate against women in several respects.
Women
The Constitution discriminates against women by not providing
them with the same right as men to transmit citizenship to
their foreign-born spouses. Additionally, the law makes it
easier for Bahamian men with foreign spouses to confer
citizenship on their children than for Bahamian women with
foreign spouses. Some inheritance laws also favor men over
women. For example, when a person dies without a will, the
estate passes to the oldest legitimate son, or in cases where
there is no son, the closest legitimate male relative.
Women participate fully in Bahamian society and are well
represented in the business and professional sectors, as well
as in the judiciary and the Government. The Ministry of
Justice and Immigration includes a Women's Affairs Unit.
Domestic violence against women continued to be a serious
problem, with independent women's support groups reporting that
many women sought shelter at the private, but government-
supported, crisis center in Nassau. A new domestic court
opened in the fall and deals exclusively with family issues
such as spousal abuse, maintenance payments, and legal
separation. The Government opened this court to reduce the
usual several months' delay in these often time-sensitive
cases. At the plaintiff's request, the court will hear cases
in closed session. The courts can impose various legal
constraints to protect women from abusive spouses or companions.
Children
The Government places priority on maintaining adequate
expenditures for child welfare and education. However, child
abuse and neglect remain serious problems. The law requires
that anyone having contact with a child they believe to be
sexually abused must report their suspicion to the police. The
same reporting requirement does not apply to cases of physical
abuse, which nonetheless are increasing. The police refer
reported cases of sexual and physical abuse to the Department
of Social Services, which investigates them and can bring
criminal charges against perpetrators. The Department may
remove children from abusive situations if the court deems it
necessary.
Although all children, regardless of legal status, are eligible
for free public education, there were reports that some public
schools on islands other than New Providence denied entry to
children of illegal Haitian immigrants, because of limited
school facilities.
People with Disabilities
Although the 1973 National Building Code mandates certain
accommodations for the physically disabled in new public
buildings, the authorities rarely enforce this part of the
code. Private buildings are also not routinely accessible.
The Disability Affairs Unit of the Ministry of Social
Development and National Insurance works with the Bahamas
Council for the Disabled, an umbrella organization for groups
offering services for the disabled, to provide a coordinated
public and private sector approach to the needs of the
disabled. A mix of government and private residential and
nonresidential institutions provides a range of educational,
training, and counseling services for both physically and
mentally handicapped adults and children.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The Constitution provides that labor unions have the right of
free assembly and association. Private sector and most public
sector workers may form or join unions without prior approval.
Members of the police force, defense force, fire brigade, and
prison guards may not organize or join unions. Bahamian
workers exercise the right of association extensively, with
almost one-quarter of the work force (and one-half the workers
in the important hotel industry) belonging to unions.
The country's two major umbrella labor organizations, the
National Workers Council of Trade Unions and Associations and
the Trade Union Congress (TUC), and individual labor unions all
function independent of government or political party control.
All labor unions have the right to maintain affiliations with
international trade union organizations.
The Industrial Relations Act requires that, before a strike
begins, a simple majority of a union's membership must vote in
favor of a motion to strike. The Department of Labor must
supervise the vote. The Minister of Labor, Human Resources,
and Training may also refer a dispute involving employees of an
"essential service" to the Industrial Relations Board for
settlement, if the Minister determines that the public interest
requires such action.
The country's largest labor union, the Bahamas Hotel Catering
and Allied Workers Union, conducted a number of work stoppages
and strikes at resort hotels during the year.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
Workers freely exercise their right to organize and participate
in collective bargaining, which the law protects. Unions and
employers negotiate wage rates without government interference.
The Constitution and the Industrial Relations Act prohibit
antiunion discrimination by employers. The Act requires
employers to recognize trade unions. The Industrial Relations
Board mediates disputes between employees or unions and their
employers. Mechanisms exist to resolve complaints, including
filing a trade union dispute with the Ministry of Labor or
bringing a civil suit against the employer in court. The Act
requires the reinstatement of workers fired for union
activities. Employers may dismiss workers in accordance with
applicable contracts, which generally require some severance
pay. The Government enforces labor laws and regulations
uniformly throughout the country.
The Bahamas has two small free trade zones. Labor law and
practice in these zones do not differ from those in the rest of
the country.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
The Constitution prohibits forced or compulsory labor, and such
labor does not exist in practice.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
The law prohibits the employment of children under the age of
14 for industrial work, work during school hours, or work at
night. There is no legal minimum age for employment in other
sectors, and some children work part-time in light industry and
service jobs.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
The Fair Labor Standards Act limits the regular workweek to 48
hours and provides for one 24-hour rest period. The Act
requires overtime payment (time and a half) for hours beyond
the standard. The Act permits the creation of a Wages Council
to recommend the setting of a minimum wage. To date, however,
The Bahamas has not established such a council or a minimum
wage.
The Ministry of Labor, responsible for enforcing labor laws,
has a team of inspectors who conduct on-site visits to enforce
occupational health and safety standards and investigate
employee concerns and complaints, but inspections occur only
infrequently. The Ministry normally announces inspection
visits in advance, and employers generally cooperate with
inspectors to implement safety standards. As such inspections
appear inadequate, the Ministry of Labor, Human Resources, and
Training formally requested help from the U.S. Department of
Labor in December to develop a technical training proposal to
improve occupational safety, health, and welfare.
The national insurance program compensates workers for
work-related injuries. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires
employers to find suitable alternative employment for employees
injured on the job but still able to work. The law does not
provide a right for workers to absent themselves from dangerous
work situations without jeopardy to continued employment.
(###)
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