By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A UNITED Nations representative for the Netherlands recommended yesterday that The Bahamas extend full marital rights to same-sex couples. This was one of several country’s representatives who recommended the Bahamas adopt more liberal policies on rights for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) people.

The recommendation came as the UN Human Rights Council reviewed The Bahamas’ human rights record in Geneva, Switzerland.

One by one, countries submitted recommendations to The Bahamas, some of them about controversial domestic issues unlikely to be supported by most Bahamians.

“Adopt a normative framework that recognises the civil rights to a consensual same-sex or same-gender relationship between persons of the age of majority, including the right to live a life free of discrimination and violence,” said a representative from Argentina.

Many countries recommended The Bahamas criminalise marital rape.

For example, a representative from the United States said: “Pass a law to criminalise spousal rape, including for couples who are not separated or in the process of divorce.”

Many countries also pushed The Bahamas to improve efforts to combat gender-based violence and abolish the death penalty.

Ecuador urged the government to find non-custodial alternatives for asylum seekers and refugees.

Many countries called for imposing a moratorium on the death penalty and eventually abolishing capital punishment.

The United Kingdom’s representative expressed concern about statelessness among people born in the country who are not automatically afforded Bahamian citizenship.

Attorney General Ryan Pinder addressed the UNHRC.

He said although The Bahamas has executed no one for more than two decades, it does not plan to impose a moratorium on the death penalty or abolish the penalty.

He noted that his administration has circulated draft legislation to criminalise spousal rape, which is up for consultation.

He also said the government is awaiting a Privy Council decision on whether the constitution automatically confers citizenship to children born out of wedlock to Bahamian men and foreign women before advancing legislation that eliminates discrimination concerning how citizenship is conferred.