Bahamas Watch

PUBLIC AI Index: AMR 14/001/2009
06 March 2009
UA 65/09 Fear for safety / ill-treatment
BAHAMAS Detainees at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre

A number of recent media reports in the Bahamas have indicated that people being held at the country’s immigration detention centre are being ill-treated. Amnesty International is concerned for their safety. The Carmichael Road Detention Centre, which is located in the capital, Nassau, houses foreign nationals alleged by the authorities to have breached immigration laws, including asylum-seekers, some of whom are believed to be children. A journalist from a local newspaper gained access to the facility on 26 February and managed to speak to ten detainees who described the conditions of their detention. A Dominican national who was detained on 24 February claimed to have been badly beaten by guards who were trying to extract information from him. The beating caused him to cough up blood and he was repeatedly struck on his genitals. Three Cuban men have reportedly been on hunger strike since 25 February in protest at the ill-treatment they have received and their conditions of detention. One of them claimed to have been severely beaten leading him to lose several toenails and fingernails. The detainees claimed that all those held at the Centre, including women and children are marched outside three times a day in order to be counted by heavily armed guards who push them with the butts of their guns. There were also claims that there were severe problems with overcrowding with some detainees forced to sleep on concrete floors. The Bahamian authorities have publicly denied the abuses but said they would investigate. Amnesty International, however, is concerned that any investigation would be conducted internally without independent review and oversight.


BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Asylum seekers and those deemed by the authorities to be irregular migrants, including women and children are currently detained at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre. In most cases they are subsequently returned to their country of origin. There have been frequent reports over a number of years of poor conditions at the Centre, including beatings and overcrowding. There are also allegations that some asylum-seekers have not been granted access to a fair and effective refugee determination procedure. In October 2004 the United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment raised serious concerns about conditions of detention in the Carmichael Detention Centre. This followed the receipt of several allegations of beatings by guards, including that of several Haitians on 9 October 2004 following the escape of a number of them from the centre. While under review at the UN Universal Periodic Review in December 2008, the Bahamas promised to respond “without delay” to concerns raised by the Special Rapporteur on the conditions of detention in the Carmichael Detention Centre.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in English or your own language:

- expressing concern at reports that people being held at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre have been beaten and ill-treated;

- calling on the authorities to provide appropriate medical treatment to those detainees who have been ill-treated;

- requesting an immediate, thorough and independent investigation into these allegations, ensuring that anyone found responsible is brought to justice;

- calling on the authorities to allow independent monitoring of the facility by civil society including human rights organizations;

- urging that no asylum-seeker be returned without access to a fair and effective refugee determination procedure, including the right to appeal to an independent tribunal and access to effective legal assistance, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and interpreters;

- urging the authorities that the detention of irregular migrants and asylum-seekers should only be used as a measure of last resort and to ensure that alternatives to detention are available and accessible, in law and in practice, without discrimination.


APPEALS TO:
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs
The Honourable Brent Symonette
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Goodman's Bay Corporate Centre
West Bay Street
P. O. Box N 3746
Nassau, The Bahamas
Fax: +1 242 356-5990, 328-8212 or 326-2123
Salutation: Dear Deputy Prime Minister


Minister of National Security
The Honourable Tommy Turnquest
Ministry of National Security
Churchill Building, 3rd Floor
P. O. Box N 3217
Nassau, Bahamas
Fax: +1 242 356 6087 or 356 7444
Salutation: Dear Minister


Minister of State for Immigration
The Honourable Branville McCartney
Hawkins Hill
P. O. Box N-831
Nassau, Bahamas
Fax: +1 242 326 0977
Salutation: Dear Minister


COPIES TO:
Newspaper
The Tribune
P.O. Box N 3207
Nassau, Bahamas
Fax: + 1 242 328 2398
and to diplomatic representatives of BAHAMAS accredited to your country.


PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 17 April 2009.

Anthony Williamson in Song

The following videos feature the Rev. Anthony Williamson, one of my former student from Atlantic College. Enjoy!

"Lamb of God"

"Until Then"

Today in Caribbean History

Following the Bahamian election of 10 January 1967, Lynden Pindling of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) brokered a deal with Randol Fawkes' Labour Party to form a black coalition government, thus defeating the white led United Bahamian Party (UBP) and ushering in a new era of Black Majority Rule. As the nation's first black premier and, later, first prime minister, Pindling would remain in power for the next twenty-five years until his party was defeated in the 1992 elections.

I Like Ike

"I like Ike" might have been a spiffy sounding campaign slogan during the U.S. presidential elections of the 1950s. But mention the name "Ike" today and you’re more likely to invoke images of Haitian peasants carrying their meager belongings on their heads while wading through waist deep flood waters, residents of the Florida Keys anxiously boarding up their homes and businesses while evacuation buses make their rounds, or Dr. Steve Lyons giving the latest hurricane update on the Weather Channel.

It’s hard to believe that less than a week ago the Bahamas was threatened by three major storms lining up to take aim at us: Hanna, Ike, and Josephine. Compared to Ike—a very dangerous category 4 storm—Hanna and Josephine were child’s play and so the prospect of Ike’s imminent arrival quickly became our main focus of concern as we began our hurricane preparations.

By Thursday afternoon, most folks were prepared for the worst. But the worst would have to wait. Hanna—a "mere" tropical storm—was first in queue and, as it turned out, it made its northward journey just to the east of the Bahamian archipelago, leaving us with only a smattering of light rain and occasional gusty winds. When we woke up to clear skies and sunshine the next morning, we also learned that Tropical Storm Josephine—which had been trailing along behind Ike—had fizzled out midway across the Atlantic. So far so good. Two down, one more to go.

Then we waited. And we waited some more. For three days we meticulously studied the incoming hurricane updates while the sweltering tropical sun baked us inside our boarded up apartment building. But due to a high pressure system, Ike continued on a steady westward trajectory, totally bypassing the central and northern Bahamian islands and leaving us with not so much as a single drop of rain and only an occasional minor gust of wind.

Our neighbors to the south were not so lucky.

Early Sunday morning, Ike made its first landfall on the British owned Turks and Caicos Islands, destroying over eighty percent of the homes, leveling trees and utility poles, leaving the local hospital without a roof, and inflicting severe damage on the already overcrowded prison. Inagua, the southernmost island of the Bahamas, was next in line where, amongst other things, Ike ripped the hurricane shutters off two local storm shelters and caused the roof to collapse on another. Nearly two days later there are still, unbelievably, no reported fatalities from either locale.

Yesterday, the Cuban mountains put the brakes on Ike, slowing it down to category 1 hurricane. Though, that may be of little comfort to those in western Cuba who were left homeless following Hurricane Gustav’s visit just a little over a week ago. Of course, we can’t forget the Dominican Republic and, especially, Haiti, both of whom were already saturated with flood waters from Hurricanes Fay, Gustav, and Hanna and didn’t really need to experience their fourth major storm in just three weeks.

As hard as it may be to believe, we are both very disappointed and greatly relieved that Ike never made it to Nassau. Given all the hard work that goes into preparing for a hurricane and, then, all of the sitting around and waiting that comes after that, how could one possibly not be disappointed? Yet as we look at the destruction that has followed in the wake of Ike and recognize the inadequacy of even our best preparations in the face of such a powerful storm, we are greatly relieved that we did not have to live through such a terrifying experience, let alone its aftermath.

But with relief also comes guilt as we struggle with our own version of the age old question, "Why does God allow the innocent to suffer?" Why was our island spared while other islands (or entire countries) with greater poverty and fewer resources continue to be hit over and over and over again? Even a cursory glance at the map makes it clear that if a hurricane misses us, it’s almost impossible for it to slip through without striking elsewhere. Thus, our salvation comes at the expense of someone else.

But spared we were, at least for now. Meteorologists predict that there will be seven more named storms during this year’s Atlantic hurricane season. Three of those storms will be hurricanes and one of those three will be a category 3 storm or higher. Since hurricane season is not over until November 30th, there’s still a good possibility that Nassau may be hit. And if it doesn’t happen this year, there’s always next year or even the year after that. The hurricane calculus is really quite simple. It’s not a question of if we’ll be hit but when. So for us, Hurricane Ike was a sobering wake up call—a call to be better prepared the next time around.

This article originally appeared in News from Daniel and Estela Schweissing on 9 September 2008.

Hurricane Memoirs: Frances (2004)

We watched in awe as the powerful 140mph winds flipped cars down the street like tumbleweeds, tore plywood off of windows like scotch tape, and snapped palm trees and utility poles as if they were nothing more than cheap #2 pencils. Hurricane Frances was finally making its long awaited landfall in Palm Beach, Florida.

Fortunately for us, we were not eyewitnesses to this destruction. But as we nervously watched it transpire on CNN from the safety of Estela’s sister’s home in the Dominican Republic over 1000 miles away, we couldn’t help but wonder how our own home had fared as Frances had spent the previous forty-eight hours crossing over the Bahamian archipelago.

A few days later, our arrival at the American Eagle terminal in Miami was greeted with an eerie silence. The normal hustle and bustle of passengers boarding shuttle buses to catch their planes, fidgety children, loudspeaker announcements, whining babies, and blaring televisions was mostly absent. What would normally be a miserable three-hour layover turned out to be a pleasant evening. As we walk around the terminal and checked the locations of the outgoing flights, all but one—Nassau—were destinations within Florida. While Miami International Airport was theoretically open, the destruction left behind by Frances meant that most folks had evidently decided to cancel their vacation plans to Florida and the Bahamas—leaving us to enjoy the quiet of an empty terminal.

After catching a forty-minute flight back to Nassau on a half-empty plane whose passengers were mostly returning Bahamian nationals, we were relieved to see the city lights of Nassau from the air as our plane prepared for landing. During the taxi ride home, we asked our driver about the hurricane. How long was the electricity out? Three days. Was there a lot of damage? No, not really. How much flooding was there? What do you mean there wasn’t hardly any rain? Hmmm . . . don’t believe everything you see on television.

Upon entering our house, our first surprise was that everything was basically intact, exactly as we had left it. Glass windows remained unbroken. Pictures were still on the walls. Curtains hung in front of open windows, seemingly undisturbed. And even an old pair of flip flops sat untouched on top of the propane gas tank on our patio. Truly amazing, though, was how much dirt and debris the hurricane strength winds were able to push through the window screens while leaving everything else unscathed.

We were lucky. It only took about two days to clean up all the dirt in our house. Our fellow Nassauvians, who make up two-thirds of the population of the Bahamas, were also lucky. Overall, damage was minimal. Sure, there were plenty of downed fences, trees, utility poles, and traffic lights. And the trees that are still standing are mostly leafless. Tap water was rust colored for a few days and water pressure is still low. The Ministry of Education canceled classes for the first week of school so people could clean up after the hurricane. But in a few more weeks, everything will basically be back to normal.

Apparently, storm conditions are not uniform in all areas affected by a hurricane. While other Bahamian islands were being whipped around by 140mph gusts, wind speeds in Nassau never exceeded 115mph. The most dangerous thing about Frances was the rain, especially after its winds slowed down significantly over the Florida peninsula. In many places, flood related water damage was much more serious than anything the wind destroyed. Yet ironically, Nassau remained mostly dry throughout the entire episode.

Other Bahamian islands were not so lucky. The Bahamas’ 700 islands are spread out over an area the size of the state of California so each island was affected differently. The hardest hit were heavily populated Grand Bahama and Abaco in the northwest as well as more sparsely populated San Salvador in the southeast. In Abaco alone, over 600 homes were destroyed. Grand Bahama was worse. Airports, phone lines, electricity, and water were totally disabled on both islands. And while limited services have been restored in high priority areas, such as hospitals, during the past week, most people will have to wait for weeks, or even months, before things get anywhere close to normal.

On Sunday morning, we attended worship at Emmaus Baptist Church. For the most part, we found that the members of Emmaus—not unlike members of other local churches we’ve been in contact with—managed to survive the hurricane with minimal damage. One exception is Mme. Dolean Joseph, a member of Estela’s women’s group, and her husband. The roof of the house that the Josephs share with two other families was seriously damaged during the hurricane. In order to make repairs, the landlord has asked all three families to move out by this coming Saturday. Although the Josephs have spent the week looking for another rental, they’ve not been able find anything they can afford. In the meantime, the members of the women’s group are brainstorming ways that they can help out. Even though storm damage was minimal here in Nassau, there are undoubtedly many exceptions like the Josephs who are in need of help.

The islands that suffered the worst damages, Abaco and Grand Bahama, both have large Haitian communities. While we don’t work directly with churches in either of those communities, we have been in contact with the Haitian Ambassador who plans to visit both locations early next week and assess the damage. Even though substantial relief efforts are now underway on both islands, we are concerned that Haitians may be underserved or even overlooked altogether. Meanwhile, we await more information.

By the time it’s over, 2004 will definitely be on the books as a record breaking hurricane season. Just three weeks before Hurricane Frances’ visit to Florida and the Bahamas, Florida was hit by Hurricane Charlie. As we write, Hurricane Ivan heads through the Gulf of Mexico to the southern U.S., already having left serious damage behind in Grenada and Jamaica. In the meantime, Tropical Storm Jeanne is picking up speed as it heads towards the Bahamas and will likely be reclassified as a hurricane within the next twenty-four hours.

Dan often says that he’d much rather deal with one of Colorado’s annual hundred-year record breaking blizzards than live through another hurricane. Hmmm . . . maybe next year we can try to break some more records by asking God to send us some snow to the Caribbean.

This article originally appeared in News from Daniel and Estela Schweissing on 14 September 2004.

Amnesty on Haitian Rights in the Bahamas

This week Amnesty International released its annual report on the state of human rights around the world. Below, I have posted a summary of the section of the report on the Bahamas that deals specifically with Haitian migrants.

Treatment of migrants has been a constant theme in Amnesty’s evaluation of The Bahamas. Its review of things that transpired in 2007 was no different.

"The authorities continued to deport migrants, the vast majority Haitians, in large numbers," the report noted of The Bahamas.

Amnesty reported specifically on the May 4 shooting of a Haitian migrant by a member of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force during an operation carried out in New Providence. It said the court found that there was no evidence that the man had resisted arrest and the Defence Force had no legal authority to conduct such an operation without immigration officers present.

The latest repatriation figures released from the Department of Immigration show a slight increase in the first four months of 2008 compared to the same period last year.

According to the statistics compiled, between January and April 2008, 2,388 Haitians were returned to their homeland compared to the 2,361 returned during the previous period.

Bahamian Converts to Non-Christian Religions

The following article from the Nassau Guardian profiles three Bahamians who have converted from Christianity to Buddhism, Islam, and Rastafarianism. While Christianity is by far the most prevalent religion in the Bahamas, accounting for well over 90% of the population, the reality is that non-Christian religions such as those profiled below are making inroads into the Bahamian religious landscape. Undoubtedly, this is a trend that will continue--albeit slowly--in future years. In the meantime, pastors and churches would do well to ask themselves why a growing number of Bahamians are dissatisfied with Christianity and, likewise, what they are finding in other religions that is not being offered by the Christian church. While I suspect that the answers to these questions are complex and multifaceted, my initial response would be that increasing legalism, nominalism, emphasis on the "get rich quick" ethos of prosperity theology, and the huge disconnect between what the church preaches and actually practices are all major factors that have encouraged a growing number of Bahamians to embrace alternatives to Christianity.

Owning your religion

By Nadine Thomas-Brown
Guardian Lifestyles Reporter
nadine@nasguard.com

If Bahamian religion could be seen as a fabric it would probably be Androsia cotton with little if any room for Gabardine or Kente Cloth. Usually when one thinks of religion in The Bahamas, Christianity with its variant denominations is the only one that comes to mind. However several faiths call The Bahamas home.

Among them, Buddhists, Muslims and Rastafarians. Though many people do not wear their religion on their sleeves, some faiths have no choice due to their doctrines, but to sport some tangible proof as evidenced by a Muslim's clothing and a Rastafarian's dreadlocks. Unfortunately these characteristics of their religion label them and at times make them outcasts in their own country.

James Rolle, 35, (name changed) is one in what may be a growing number of practicing Buddhists. However it is difficult to ascertain the exact numbers that practice the religion here in the country. Rolle does not want to be identified for personal reasons pertaining to his religion. He explained that in his faith, Buddhism, while aiming to eradicate suffering, is about looking at and thinking about one's own life. It shows how to understand one's self and how to cope with daily problems.

Though brought up between the Anglican and Catholic denominations of Christianity, Rolle says he was formerly introduced to Buddhism seven years ago, shortly after meeting a relative who had practiced it for many years. "It just seemed to be the most practical thing for me because I am still wary of what religion does to people and families and it overwhelms you when it is supposed to be a unifying element, but it creates division and that part of it has always made me apprehensive," he said.

Buddhism has brought him peace and comfort. But says his biggest fear as a practicing Buddhist is that of being ostracized. "I am always fearful because anyone knows that the worst thing that you can talk about is religion. It always ends up as an argument." Rolle says that the conversation often positions you in opposition to Christianity which is not the case. "I just believe that people, particularly in Buddhism, believe that we try to take responsibility for ourselves in the environment in which we are in".

As the father of a toddler, Rolle says that he will expose his child to both Christianity and his Buddhist beliefs (his wife is not Buddhist). "I would never force him or anyone to follow my beliefs."

As far as future conflicts for his child because of his religion, Rolle says that so far he has not heard of anyone being subjected to religious persecution because for the most part a Buddhist's faith is not something public per se.

This is not the case for 39-year-old Abdul Hakim, a Bahamian who converted to Islam while living in the United States. His faith, which has been made very public through the years because of it's association with the civil rights movement and 911, has made Muslims the victim of religious bias and persecution.

Hakim says that he became a Muslim because of his disillusionment with Christianity. "After experiencing Christianity and seeing that there was a lack of connection to the creator and the attributing of the creator to other things, I did some research on Islam which brought me to the understanding of our purpose here as humans beings and our relationship with the creator and how we should worship him," he says. Hakim says he chose the religion because he found that it was the closest thing to anything in any other religion as far as worship to the creator was concerned.

While living in the U.S. before 911, Hakim said that he had no problems with prejudice pertaining to his religion. However he said that post 911, attitudes have changed significantly both in The Bahamas and abroad. "They will say that you are worshipping Iraq or something other than the creator," he said. The attitudes are fostered by the media, according to him.

Hakim says that his family and he have gotten accustomed to the name calling and the dirty/curious looks because of the way they dress — the women are covered up, their faces and hands are the only exposed parts of their bodies. Men wear the kufi — a small knitted skull cap.

"My family and I do not go out that often but when we do we get different comments," he said. " Because we know it's an obligation upon us as Muslims we don't let it bother us." While the community of Muslims is not a large one, according to Hakim, it is growing.

Another religious group that is well known in The Bahamas are the Rastafarians — a group which just like the Buddhists, the Muslims and the Christians is made up by varying sects, each with their own way of doing things.

Dwayne Wilson, 26, is Bobo Shante a branch of the Rastafarian faith, which according to Wilson. Bobo Shante is the Ethiopian word for "royal Ethiopian". "This is how we see ourselves," he says.

According to Wilson, the teachings of Bobo Shante originated in Timbuktu, Alexandria, which is in Africa and was brought to Jamaica at Ten Miles, Bull Bay by King Emanuel Charles Edwards.

Wilson said that though he was from a predominantly Christian family, he was led to the faith by certain facts in the Bible which he studied.

"Many faiths come about by people's deciphering of Bible verses," he said. "I had a firm belief in Christianity and 'clean-hearted Rasta' who wants to get away from drinking and smoking usually join up with the Bobo Shante," he said.

Rastafarians are largely misunderstood according to Wilson. "I have experienced a lot of discrimination from friends, family members and others," he said. He said that a lack of acceptance and tolerance also plays a part in the way that Rastafarians are perceived.

Wilson is the father of a child. Though the child is not yet wearing the trademark dreadlocks which would mark him as Rastafarian, his father plans to remedy this soon. "Dreadlocks is the nature and is a sacred pledge between God and the individual," explains Wilson on the significance of the hairstyle in his religion. Wilson said that while he has apprehensions about his son's inevitable interaction with society (his son is a toddler), he has learned and has been prepared through the struggle of other Rastafarians with the system to raise his son.

Even though people may look upon these religions as being vastly different from Christianity and each other, one unifying thread runs throughout each. They say they are striving for peace, love and enlightenment.

Rolle believes that even though he is Buddhist his faith does not preclude his respect for the fact that the society is predominantly Christian. "The rhythm of the society is Christian and is dictated by the Christian calendar and the holidays and the whole mentality. So you need to be flexible, you need to be respectable and you need to say this is where I am. But if I have a belief or conviction strong enough for me to want to adopt a different faith or to believe something different then you have to take it. It's not shocking that the average person of a different faith is going to look at you and go oh you are crazy."

"We worship the same God as Abraham did," Hakim says.

As for Wilson he says that the Bobo Shante believe in the Bible and practice the teachings of the Bible. However he believes that "the only way you can see God is through one another."