By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

THE Grand Bahama Human Rights Association has called for Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell to be excluded from further discussions with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights over precautionary measures granted on behalf Save The Bays members, citing his apparent connection to an anonymous political website.

In a letter to the human rights arm of the Organisation of American States, the GBHRA used audio of Mr Mitchell to establish a link between the Cabinet minister and bahamasuncensored.com.

In a recording released last week, Mr Mitchell encouraged supporters to read the website, as well as ‘Fred Mitchell minute-by-minute’ on Facebook, because it “aligns with much of my thinking on political issues”.

The GBHRA said it viewed Mr Mitchell’s comments as an admission of his ownership of the website’s content, or at the very least, an indication of a close ideological correspondence between the website and his own views.

Its statement read: “As the commission is aware, www.bahamasuncensored.com is well known to be closely connected to the governing PLP party and has been responsible for much of the intimidating and aggressive rhetoric which has targeted the beneficiaries of Precautionary Measure MC 706-16, including an image of a victim with a gun in his mouth with the caption ‘Save the Bays needs to be destroyed.’

“Under the circumstances, the GBHRA strongly urges the commissioners to take the view that Mr Mitchell cannot be acting in good faith in any discussion or process regarding Precautionary Measure MC 706-16. This is particularly in light of the state’s recent rejection of the concerns of the beneficiaries for their lives and safety and its request to have 706-16 lifted, and the manner in which it has been portrayed on www.bahamasuncensored.com on Sunday, November 27, 2016.

“We feel the minister’s admission of agreement with and support for the content on www.bahamasuncensored.com disqualifies him from any role in this sensitive matter and ask that the state be required to officially assign another individual to lead all future discussions with the commission, the beneficiaries and their representatives.”

An audio recording of Mr Mitchell was circulated Friday morning, hours before the start of the “We March Bahamas” protest.

The Fox Hill MP condemned the protest as a propaganda exercise and said his party’s supporters should not attend. He said the march would not change “diddly squat.”

In the recording, Mr Mitchell also aligns himself with bahamasuncensored.com - an admission that has long been rumoured due to the pro-Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) slant of its content and vitriolic takedowns of persons or entities in opposition to the Cabinet minister.

The recording starts: “Good morning I just wanted to share some thoughts with you about this so-called Black Friday march which is scheduled to take place today.

“I’d like to read from (a) bahamasuncensored.com column and encourage you on a regular basis to read bahamasuncensored.com and Fred Mitchell minute-by-minute on Facebook because it tells you what I’m doing and it also aligns with much of my thinking on political issues.”

Reading from the column, titled “The Fake and Phony Black Friday March”, Mr Mitchell continues: “A few weeks ago, Ranard Henfield woke up on the wrong side of the bed and said: I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it any more. His response was to sit down with former FNM Senator and son of the FNM Grand Dame Janet Bostwick, (John Bostwick II), to plan a Black Friday march . . . He set out a list of things, none of them revolutionary and of any special import, quite pedestrian really, that he demanded the government should do.”

Last month, the GBHRA made a petition on behalf of Fred Smith, Francisco Nunez, Joseph Darville, Kirkland Bodie and Romauld Ferreira that asked the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to request that the Bahamas government adopt precautionary measures to prevent irreparable harm to their lives.

The IACHR found that the five members of Save The Bays are in “a serious and urgent situation since their lives and personal integrity face an imminent risk of irreparable harm.” The precautionary measures require the Bahamas government to adopt the necessary measures to protect their lives and those of their families, to ensure the five men could pursue their work as human rights defenders without being subject to threats, harassment or intimidation, to agree with the petitioners on the measures to be adopted and to report on investigative actions taken within a 20-day period.

The petition stems from longstanding allegations made by the GBHRA and STB concerning their public advocacy, and ongoing legal action in a number of environmental matters.

Sticking to its position that the STB member’s claims of victimisation and harassment were “baseless and without merit”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration last week released its statement and supporting evidence for its request that the precautionary measures are lifted.