The Tribune

THE Grand Bahama Human Rights Association said it is “shocked and appalled by the cynical posturing” of the Progressive Liberal Party in the face of ongoing police anti-corruption probes.

The group also responded to attorney and former PLP candidate Wayne Munroe, QC, who recently said he had a list of alleged corrupt FNM members he would not yet turn over to police because he does not trust the Anti-Corruption Unit.

“If PLP attorney Wayne Monroe has information regarding alleged FNM corruption, he should turn it over to the police immediately and let the chips fall where they may,” the GBHRA said.

“In true PLP form, however, Munroe now says he must keep his list secret. Suddenly, and quite conveniently, it seems the police cannot be trusted.

“This is nothing more than rank PLP hypocrisy.”

The GBHRA said while the PLP was in office, the party saw the police as “trustworthy and impartial even when threats of violence against the environmentalists of Save The Bays (STB) – who the PLP just happened to view as opponents – were repeatedly ignored.”

The group added: “Only when those same environmentalists appealed to the international community for help did the police take action – aggressively seeking to interrogate the victims rather than arrest their politically connected attackers.

“Supporting the police at every turn, the PLP accused environmentalists of ‘defaming the country’ and delivering a ‘grievous insult to the professionalism of the officers of the Royal Bahamas Police Force, who have always and continue to carry out their public duties without regard to the personalities or politics.’

“Yet now, when the shoe is on the other foot, the police are politically motivated. This is the very definition of duplicity and double standards.”

The GBHRA said the PLP did not speak out when the Christie administration implemented “an abusive and unconstitutional immigration policy” in 2014 “targeting individuals based on ethnicity and obstructing children’s access to school based on their parent’s nationality.”

The statement ended with an offer to protect any member of the PLP who had a legitimate human rights complaint.

“Otherwise, they should remain quiet, cooperate with police and allow the law to run its course,” the GBHRA noted.