October 02, 2003
Anti-Terror Act Will Destroy Freedoms
Former FNM Cabinet Minister Kenneth Russell charged, in Parlaiament Wednesday, that the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act will destroy freedoms guaranteed Bahamian by the country's constitution.
Mr. Russell said that, "In the context of foreigners, the Bill could be considered a good Bill. In the context of the Bahamas and Bahamians, the Bill has a whole lot to be desired, a whole lot of negative things that will affect our people, and that is not what a government should be about."
"This Bill will destroy our freedom, our freedom that we have taken for granted for too long," Mr. Russell insisted.
Mr. Russell listed the following "negative" impact the Bill, in its present form, could have:
Persecution of relogius leaders;
Discriminate against certain religions;
Give the government broad powers to increase spying on the public;
Further restrict privacy and remove from citizens the protection from government abuse;
Intrudes on basic freedoms such as free speech, privacy, freedom of association and religion;
Makes it easy for the government to initiate surveillance and wire tapping and eliminates judicial oversight;
Force innocent Bahamians to be arrested on mere suspicion;
Allow for the Attorney General to access accounts without proper authorisation;
Harm Bahamians' ability to a fair trial by limiting defence attorneys from challenging the use of secret evidence.
Posted by admin at October 2, 2003 09:56 PM