Please allow me space to add commentary to the recent debate regarding irregularities in our justice system and the attendant rise in criminal activity.
While Psalm 106:3 states: “Blessed are those who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right,” those who study scripture know that a national failure to ensure this God-ordained standard also implies the consequence of a national curse.
The Referendum of 2002 in which then-Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham proposed Constitutional changes that would have affected non-negotiable issues such as: the sacredness of Bahamian citizenship; introduced the ungodly proposal of ‘gender neutrality’ under the guise of gender equality, masked by other non-issues, was unanimously rejected by the Bahamian people.
Incidentally, no changes were proposed for the antiquated Bail Act, nor how persons accused of murder were to be charged in cases of demonstrated remorse, and no mention of time standards attached to execution of the death penalty.
Our failure to correct these and other judicial system deficiencies coupled with the American government’s imposition on our courts to quickly extradite citizens has severely overburdened our judiciary to the point of total dysfunction.
The American government’s recent public relations exercise seems designed to create the perception that they have stemmed the flow of narcotics from South America while painting The Bahamas as a non-cooperative jurisdiction in the fight against money laundering and drug-trafficking.
Our government’s attempt to comply with these unreasonable demands has resulted in an already backlogged legal system totally ignoring its regular scheduling while monopolizing a disproportionate number of law enforcement personnel to ensure high level security.
Bahamians shall not soon forget the lead story in the Tribune of Saturday June 01, 2002 captioned “Bush Sanctioned Ninety,” nor the second prong of that subtle attack which appeared on page 11 of The Tribune of that same date under the caption “No III Effects for Bahamas if Ninety Extradition Fails.”
Rather than issuing veiled threats to the potential negative consequences, if their extradition attempt fails, perhaps the US President and his Ambassador would investigate ways and means to truly help us in our developmental objectives.
Our joint Drug Action Task Force initiatives should be aimed at improving the crime detection skills and expanding the supply of high-tech surveillance equipment of the local constabulary in order to legitimately arrest, convict and rehabilitate our misguided young people.
Our youth are not disposable waste to be discarded in the ‘trashcans’ of the American prison system to serve lifetime sentences. Because Jesus is Lord of our Bahamas, then just as many former “free-basers” were delivered, set free to reclaim honourable lives, so too we are praying for the salvation of all our criminals and the speedy reform of our antiquated penal institution.
Ours is a system of laws based on the premise that the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty, while the American legal system has terms such as ‘Conspiracy’, a charge from which I have never seen anyone so accused obtain an acquittal.
Our people will need to determine whether we wish to change our laws to reflect these foreign American values or whether we wish to maintain our own standards while improving our capacity of detection, indictment, and prosecution.
In order to facilitate enlightened discussion we will need the answer to questions like why are no Israeli nationals ever tried in any other jurisdiction (including America)? In addition, are Bahamian citizens the children of a lesser God?
The previous government’s disregard for the administration of the order of the law and their open violation of established procedures is just one of the many reasons that their services were terminated without notice, or severance pay, by the majority of the Bahamian people.
The days of the Bahamian Parliament being used as a rubber-stamp for the enforcement for U.S. policy are over. In addition, since the name “BLANKENSHIP” never appeared on the ballots in the recent general election he therefore has no authority to make demands, or to behave in a manner disrespectful to Bahamian law and traditions.
Gore Vidal, now 76 years old, has spent a lifetime critiquing America’s imperial impulses and in his latest book titled: ‘Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace: How We (Americans) Got To Be So Hated’, Vidal writes: “It is a law of physics that in nature there is no action without reaction. The same appears to be true in human nature – that is history.”
The “reaction” Vidal refers to is nothing less than the handiwork of Osama bin Laden. A man enraged by the U.S.’ reckless assaults upon other societies and who was, therefore, “provoked” into answering with horrendous violence.
Vidal posits that while the American people did not deserve the September I I incident in which 3,000 civilians were killed, they are equally undeserving of the sort of government they had for the past 40 years. “The number of military strikes we have made unprovoked, against other countries, since 1947 – 48 is more than 250. These are major strikes from Panama to Iran. Americans are either not told about these things or are told we attacked them because…well…Noriega is the centre of all world drug traffic and we have to get rid of him.
“So some Panamanians are killed in the process. Actually quite a few are killed. And the U.S. Air Force was brought in for effect. Panama did not have an air force. However, it looked good to have the Air Force blowing up buildings. Then, Noriega, a former CIA man who worked loyally for the United States is kidnapped, arrested and tried in an American court that has no jurisdiction over him. He is locked up and nobody knows why.”
I cite the commentary of Mr. Gore Vidal to underscore the fact that Americans and Bahamians receive much disinformation from the media and other official places. Most have no idea of the extent of U.S. mischief.
Why did the Ingraham-led Free National Movement government proceed to dispose of Batelco (our most valuable national asset) in preparation for joining the FTAA without prior consultation with the Bahamian people?
Was it not clear that the FTAA is the greatest interventionist pursuit of national self-interest in the history of the United States of America? Despite the removal of our U.S. Convention Tax Exemption Status, why did former Prime Minister Sir Lynden 0. Pindling refuse to sign the Caribbean Basin Initiative?
We have legislators in place, who MUST defend the Bahamian people against the “Big Brother” strong-arm tactics pronounced by the present US Ambassador. His rude utterances must be viewed as acts of aggression by a nation whose historical record in the Caribbean has raised much apprehension about the high-handed way that “Colossus to the North” conducts its diplomatic relations.
While Bahamian political sovereignty hangs precariously in the balance, our economic sovereignty has not yet freed itself from the web of dependent poverty which confmes the spirit of the Bahamian people, while creating serious obstacles to social change for the better and full human development.
We are unable to determine our own priorities, to articulate them fearlessly and to accept the full consequences of our actions. After 30 years, we do not yet fully demonstrate the stuff on which genuine independence thrives. An individual’s right to work remains contingent on their political allegiances – a reality I have personally endured these past 10 years.
However, our survival inevitably requires the art of confronting various forms of econonuc, social and political bondage. That Bahamians continue to thrive in the face of these realities, and to maintain a distinctive set of human characteristics, is almost beyond explanation.
But, for our Constitutional commitment to Christian values, the mounting tide of satanic forces would surely have destroyed our little nation of 300,000-plus souls. Nevertheless, we shall overcome all our present obstacles, for we did not reach this point of our national development without divine intervention and guidance.
Along the way we have had our scarred psyches caressed with the optimistic oratory of great leaders like Sir. Lynden 0. Pindling, Sir Randol Fawkes, and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, who once said: “We the black people, the most displaced, the poorest, the most maligned and scourged, we have the glorious task of reclaiming the soul and saving the honour of the country. We, the most hated, must take hate in our hands and by the miracle of love, turn loathing into love. We the most feared and apprehensive, must take fear and by love, change it into hope. We, who die daily in large and small ways, must take the demon death and turn it into Life.”
Sincerely,
Phillippa Russell
Letter To The Editor, The Nassau Guardian
