By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis said legacy human rights issues affecting the criminal justice system highlighted in a recent United Nations report concern him.

Mr Davis’ tone responding to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention’s (WAGD) critical report about the country’s detention systems differed from that of National Security Minister Wayne Munroe, who dismissed the Working Group’s criticism and defended local authorities.

The WAGD found numerous faults in how the criminal justice system treats people deprived of their liberty. The report criticised the Bahamas Department of Corrections and police practices, such as allegedly forcing criminal confessions from accused.

 Mr Davis told reporters yesterday his administration worked towards rectifying some issues before the report.

 “Well, I am always concerned about these issues, particularly as it relates to human rights, because we have for quite a long time, this is a legacy issue that has been plaguing our administration of justice, to the criminal side of it, for quite a long time and we need to address it,” he said at the British Colonial Hotel. “I’m concerned about it and I don’t need a UN report to tell me some issues we have and we are addressing these issues as best as we can.”

 “The UN have to appreciate that we are a country of limited resources and we have a lot of competing interest to attract our attention for resources.”

 “So, we are doing what we can within the limits of our resources and so we hear them and we understand what they’re saying, but we also have other responsibilities to discharge and that requires resources and we have to be able to share those resources effortlessly across the spectrum where the needs are most crucial and urgent.”

 Many detainees the Working Group interviewed were reportedly never presented with a warrant, and the report characterises the powers of police to arrest without a warrant as too broad.

 The Working Group interviewed many detainees who did not initially have legal representation because they lacked the financial means.

 The group said in many cases, arrested people lack access to a lawyer, showing the need for greater access to state-funded attorneys.

 In prison, detainees often cannot access medical care, and visits from relatives have been prohibited since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the preliminary report.