The Tribune

THE start of CARICOM began with a very disturbing call to The Tribune yesterday.

As was expected, the beginning of the conference was marked by a protest involving members of the Coalition of Independents – whose leader, Lincoln Bain, was arrested yesterday during the protest.

Tribune staff members were there to cover the protest – as you would expect. There have been a number of these protests by now, and Mr Bain made a point to hold another just as a number of regional and world leaders were arriving for the conference in The Bahamas.

But the call that came to The Tribune reported that first one police officer had taken a phone belonging to one of our reporters away – and then another member of staff was threatened with arrest for taking photographs.

The situation began with Mr Bain and his supporters being reportedly told by officers that they did not have a permit to hold a protest – to which he countered that no permit was needed and that it was a lawful assembly.

Mr Bain was detained along with several other supporters as the situation became heated. In the middle of that, our reporter’s phone was grabbed by a police officer as she filmed what was going on.

After several minutes of explanation, the phone was returned without explanation of why it was confiscated.

A Tribune photographer on the scene was also stopped by officers but let go once he explained he worked for our newspaper.

Both members of staff were simply doing their job – reporting on the conference build-up and the protest outside.

The National Security Minister, Wayne Munroe, said when contacted that security issues “are exceptions to every constitutional guaranteed right” other than protection against forced labour, and said the area was “being held as a sterile area”.

The limits of that area have not been defined to the public, nor did Mr Munroe address what security issues there were from reporters outside the venue recording a public demonstration. Of which, of course, there were none.

Activist group Human Rights Bahamas was quick to spell out that the role of the media “is a sacred role in any free and open society” and added that “reporters should not be impeded in the execution of their duties in any way by agents of the state”.

The group also pointed out that of course journalists have no special rights in this matter – anyone can photograph or film law enforcement in the execution of their duties, especially in a public space as was the case in this instance.

No one would deny that protecting our streets, and our nation, can be a challenge for police officers.

Seeing the catalogue of violence that officers face on a regular basis, including the nation’s murder count, is a constant and solemn reminder of the dangers at hand. Given that concerns over safety have reached all the way to the Prime Minister’s office, with death threats reportedly being issued, then safety is absolutely an important issue.

But we must always be mindful that in protecting our people, we must also protect our rights.

Mr Munroe speaks of exceptions to those rights – but that must be a last resort not a first step.

The Tribune will continue to report wherever and whenever necessary. And there should never be a need for journalists going about their duties in a normal fashion to face the threat of arrest or the confiscation of their property.

Those are the rights that elevate our nation – and they should be defended, not ignored.