PM responds to UN human rights report

NASSAU (CMC):

Prime Minister Philip Davis says while he is concerned at the report of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) at the same time, “I don’t need a UN report to tell me some issues we have and we are addressing these issues as best as we can”.

In its preliminary report released here earlier this month, the WGAD called on the authorities to do more to ensure people under arrest are given access to legal representation.

“The Working Group interviewed numerous detainees who were deprived of any legal representation at the initial stages of the proceedings because they did not have the financial means,” the WGAD said in its preliminary report.

The WGAD visited the country from November 27 to December 9 and visited 10 facilities and interviewed over 130 people in detention.

In its report, the WGAD said also that people are too often arrested without a warrant, and arrests are sometimes based on outdated or expired warrants. It also found that detainees are often detained for significantly longer than 48 hours without court-granted extensions.

“The Working Group received information that some detainees suffered vision loss due to their detention in darkness,” the report said, noting also recurrent complaints about detainees’ inability to access medical care and the absence of treatment for drug-dependent people.”

Speaking with reporters, Davis said his administration has been working towards rectifying some issues contained in the report.

“Well, I am always concerned about these issues, particularly as it relates to human rights, because we have for quite a long time, this is a legacy issue that has been plaguing our administration of justice, to the criminal side of it, for quite a long time and we need to address it.

“I’m concerned about it and I don’t need a UN report to tell me some issues we have and we are addressing these issues as best as we can,” he told reporters, adding “The UN have to appreciate that we are a country of limited resources and we have a lot of competing interest to attract our attention for resources.

“So, we are doing what we can within the limits of our resources and so we hear them and we understand what they’re saying, but we also have other responsibilities to discharge and that requires resources and we have to be able to share those resources effortlessly across the spectrum where the needs are most crucial and urgent.”

Soon after the release of the report, National Security Minister, Wayne Munroe, in criticising the document WGAD report, said the experts did not provide proof of many of their accusations about the country’s criminal justice system.