By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

FOREIGN Affairs and Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell broke his silence yesterday on calls from a Progressive Liberal Party member to flog illegal immigrants, telling the House of Assembly that the practice “is not a penalty that can be imposed by the courts” for illegal migration.

He added that there is “no proposal to make it a policy”.

Mr Mitchell told Parliament that flogging, which is on the law books for certain criminal offences, is something that he personally opposed and fought against. He added that the position of “the QC who made the comment is not the position of the government.”

On December 6, prominent attorney Wayne Munroe, QC, said the country should start “flogging” illegal immigrants.

Mr Munroe told The Tribune that officials in this country should begin “caning” minors and flogging those over 18 who are caught entering the country illegally.

He also said that while “flogging” people may appear to be brutal, it would effectively serve as both a physical and psychological barrier for people seeking to continuously enter the country illegally.

He was contacted by The Tribune after he made several controversial posts on Facebook. In one post on the social media site, Mr Munroe also said he believes that the “price is too low” for immigration offences in The Bahamas and suggested that if illegal immigrants believed “we tortured and killed them, they might not come.”

Mr Munroe’s comments have been widely denounced as “xenophobic” and many have called on the Christie administration to rebuke the remarks.

Until yesterday, Mr Mitchell refused to address the matter.

While in the House of Assembly, Mr Mitchell criticised the media for “creating the story to sell papers” and then “demanding that the government denounce” the remarks.

“There have been stories about flogging illegal migrants in the press and it seems to me that this story has taken a life of its own, largely created by the press to sell newspapers,” Mr Mitchell said.

“Having created the story, they then demanded that the government denounce this individual because the individual is a member of the Progressive Liberal Party. Well let me tell the public, flogging is not a penalty that a court in the government of The Bahamas can impose on an illegal migrant for illegal migration. There is no proposal to make it a policy. The lawyer in question is a private citizen and is free to say what he wants to say and what his views are but that is not the position of the government.

“I remind the country, however, that flogging is a part of the statute of laws in The Bahamas. It is something that I oppose and fought against, it was removed in 1984 and returned by this Parliament in 1991...in the rule in which flogging can be imposed nowhere is it a punishment for illegal migration. Civil society is free to condemn who they wish for what they wish, but this is the law as it is.”

Last week, Bahamas Bar Association President Elsworth Johnson condemned Mr Munroe’s statements, saying the “despicable” comments are “diametrically opposed to the preservation of human dignity.”

Haitian ambassador to the Bahamas, Jean Victor Geneus, has also called for Mr Munroe’s comments to be condemned.

Last week, Mr Geneus sent a letter to Mr Johnson, saying Mr Munroe’s statements would incite hate and cause violence to Haitians.

Grand Bahama Human Rights Association President Fred Smith, QC, previously called on the Christie administration to break its silence on Mr Munroe’s “vile and dehumanising” comments. He recently said the government should speak out against the “insane claims that could destroy the reputation of the Bahamas.”