Grand Bahama Human Rights Association (GBHRA) president Frederick Smith called for the resignation of Prime Minister Perry Christie and his Cabinet on Sunday, accusing the Prime Minister of giving his Cabinet ministers, “A License to Rape.”
Mr. Smith, a prominent attorney, alluded to the investigation into the allegation of rape by a 47-year-old female against Works and Utilities Minister Bradley Roberts, stating that it was bias and unfair.
First and foremost, he said had an “ordinary” citizen been accused of such a violent crime they would have been interrogated by the police immediately instead of three weeks later, as was the case with Mr. Roberts.
Mr. Roberts, he said, was given preferential treatment because of his status, adding that a double standard has been set in which those in high places are treated diffrently than those who are not.
No woman in The Bahamas, Smith added, should feel confident or safe enough to report a rape to the authorities.
“Who can a woman confidently or safely now turn to for protection?” Mr. Smith asked. “The rule of law? Due process? The police? The courts? The attorney general? The minister of justice? The Cabinet?
The Prime Minister?
“No! A resounding no. They have all abandoned women rights in The Bahamas and sacrificed them at the altar of political corruption and ministerial worship. The Cabinet has sent a clear message to all women in The Bahamas: You have no rights!”
Attorney General Alfred Sears decided last Tuesday not to prosecute Mr. Roberts after the woman who had accused him of rape withdrew the charge.
In a letter to the Attorney General, the woman is quoted as saying, “My decision to withdraw my allegation is not based or due to any payment made to me or any offer to pay me in the future. My decision is made of my own free will without any pressure, duress or undue influence.”
Police Commissioner Paul Farquarhason admitted that police didn’t interrogate Mr. Roberts until three weeks after the rape allegation, but maintained that at no time was Mr. Roberts given preferential treatment.
But Mr. Smith said it is obvious that Mr. Roberts was treated differently from other accused rapists because he has status and power.
As a result, he said the reputation of the nation has once more been “besmirched,” as it is painfully obvious that Bahamian women are still being oppressed.
“First the PLP opposed a Referendum in 2002 to give women equal rights under the Constitution,” he said. “Now Prime Minister Christie has proclaimed, by his actions, that women in The Bahamas have no more rights at all.
“It is outrageous and shameful for our Prime Minister to so lack a sense of decency ﾗ never mind ethics ﾗ that he excuses the action of his Cabinet ministers with double-speak and gobbledy-gook excuses about what he considers is or is not ethical behaviour according to his Code of Ethics!”
Smith said the GBHRA is calling on “every right thinking person, and every institution that stands for anything decent in The Bahamas to decry with outrage and shame of what has happened,” adding that “Bahamians need to rise up and demand the resignation of the Cabinet.”
Mr. Smith said “not only is Prime Minister Christie inept and incompetent, he has now demonstrated that his government is corrupt, morally wanting and ethically challenged.”
By NAVARDO SAUNDERS, Freeport News Reporter
