The Bahamas: Week 8

1. life, liberty, security of the person and the protection of the law;
2. freedom of conscience, of expression and of assembly and association; and
3. protection for the privacy of his home and other property and from deprivation of property without compensation, the subsequent provisions of this Chapter shall have effect for the purpose of affording protection to the aforesaid rights and freedoms subject to such limitations of that protection as are contained in those provisions, being limitations designed to ensure that the enjoyment of the said rights and freedoms by any individual does not prejudice the rights and freedoms of others or the public interest.

the constitution then goes on to list

• Right to life
• Protection of inhuman treatment
• Protection of slavery and forced labor
• Protection from arbitrary arrest or detention
• Provisions to secure protection of law
• Protection for privacy of home and other property
• Protection of freedom of conscience, protection of freedom of expression
• Protection of freedom of assembly and association
• Protection of freedom of movement
• Protection from discrimination on the grounds of race, etc
• Protection from deprivation of property

As the fundamental human rights that are provided by the Commonwealth of the Bahamas.

These rights are similar to the rights found in the western parts of the world. it is quite easy to say that this constitution, which was written in 1973, takes after the United States in its rights. and these rights also aline with the UN and its views on human rights.

In regards to the tragic Rwandan genocide in 1994, there is no real tie between the two countries. The Bahamas at the time were dealing with their own human rights issues with the large amounts of Haitians that were coming into the county.  this largely consisted of the human rights of the Haitians who were fleeing Haiti, were not being respected. the Bahamian government was mass deporting Haitians, including those who had lived in the Bahamas for many years. this was in violation of the Bahamas own constitution, particularly the article on “Protection from arbitrary arrest or detention”.  This crises is still on going.