The Tribune

By LAMECH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

AN international advocacy agency said it is now monitoring the dispute concerning parliamentarians using their privilege to disclose confidential information of private citizens in the House of Assembly.

Save The Bays (STB) Chairman Joseph Darville wrote to three international advocacy agencies last month in an effort to bring global attention to the “deplorable treatment” of environmental activists in the Bahamas by the Christie administration.

In an April 8 letter addressed to Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Amnesty International and the Robert F Kennedy Centre for Justice and Human Rights, Mr Darville said the more recent attacks have taken on a more personal formant.

In a response from the RFK Centre, obtained by The Tribune, the advocacy agency on Saturday acknowledged receipt of Mr Darville’s letter.

“On behalf of Robert F Kennedy Human Rights, we want to thank you for the information shared in your letter dated April 8, 2016 concerning the situation of the organisation Save the Bays and several sitting members of the Bahamas Parliament,” said Wade McMullen, managing attorney of RFK Partners for Human Rights.

“As you are aware, our organisation works to achieve Robert F Kennedy’s dream of a more just and peaceful world. We believe in the important role civil society has to play to achieve a more democratic society. Therefore, we will continue to closely follow the situation as we work to obtain further information, including from the Bahamian government, to have a more complete understanding of the issues at stake.”

STB has come under fire by members of the Christie administration after court documents filed by the group in early March alleged that Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard employed two “gang members” to carry out crimes against those who opposed further development at Nygard Cay.

On March 9, four STB directors - Mr Darville, Romi Ferreira, Fred Smith and Louis Bacon - and Rev CB Moss, who is not a STB member, filed an affidavit by Florida investigator John Joseph DiPaolo detailing Mr Nygard’s alleged connection to Livingston “Toggie” Bullard and Wisler “Bobo” Davilma, the two men in question.

In recent weeks, members of the PLP have attempted to portray STB as a political faction disguised as an environmental group. Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald described STB as an organisation that purports to have one function when in fact it has political motivations, reading emails from members of the group in the House of Assembly to further his point.

The group obtained an injunction from the Supreme Court prohibiting respondents, including Mr Fitzgerald, Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell and the attorney general from appropriating, publishing or disclosing e-mails, even in Parliament, belonging to STB members.

The injunction lasts until May 12, a date fixed for a full hearing on constitutional arguments.

Representatives of the Office of the Attorney General sought to have the judge set aside the injunction in a hearing last Friday.

However, Justice Indra Charles said she would not discharge the order without hearing full constitutional arguments to whether parliamentarians can use their privilege to disclose confidential information of private citizens because the matter has far-reaching implications beyond the Bahamas.