Category Archives: Bahamas

Authorities in the Bahamas are investigating the deaths of more than a half-dozen of the island nations famous swimming pigs.

The pigs, which are a big tourist draw on the uninhabited island of Big Major Cay in Exuma, were reportedly killed by visitors last weekend when the animals were given the wrong food, one of the pigs owners, Wayde Nixon, told The Nassau Guardian.

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About 15 of the pigs survived and have been checked over by a vet. Nixon said the incident wont stop tourists from coming to the island.

The other remaining pigs are alive and healthy and out on the beach and going, he said.

The government announced that it will begin regulating the pigs and that no feeding will be allowed, following this incident.

BRB, swimming with adorable pigs in the Bahamas.

We have people coming there giving the pigs beer, rum, riding on top of them, all kind of stuff, Nixon said.

After 30 years on the island, the swimming pigs popularity has exploded, and Nixon thinks the increase in unregulated feeding of the animals has become a problem.

The government has said part of the new plan to protect the pigs involves creating a new boundary between the surviving pigs and tourists.

Another difference between tourist and travelers. Be responsible when you travel people please!

Continued here:

Bahamas famous swimming pigs dead from possible tourist feeding - MyStatesman.com

Sharks, as a group, are among the most threatened animals on the planet, and for many species, overfishing is the driving force pushing them toward extinction. But the growing popularity of swim-with-sharks tourism has conservation advocates proclaiming that sharks are worth more alive than dead. And as a new study lays bare, nowhere is this more true than in the Bahamas, where shark tourism contributes more than US $100-million annually to the countrys economymore than one percent of the 327,000-person nations gross domestic product. But its a conservation win that comes with a hefty list of caveats.

In the Bahamas, many shark species that have been pushed close to extinction elsewhere have seen their populations hold, partly because the country banned longline fishing in the 1990s. Many of these sharks are species that divers cant reliably encounter elsewhere. Tourists can swim with tiger sharks off Grand Bahama Island, great hammerheads off Bimini, and oceanic whitetips off Cat Islandall rare species that draw tens of thousands of scuba divers each year. Further contributing to the Bahamas reputation as a shark diving hotspot is the fact that baiting (using food as a lure) is illegal in nearby Florida.

Our study found that the Bahamas has the largest shark diving economy in the world, says Andrea Haas, a research associate at the Cape Eleuthera Institute and the studys lead author. This is exciting because it demonstrates the stream of economic benefits that the Bahamas is receiving from conservation actions it took many years ago.

Longline fishing has been banned in the Bahamas for decades, and all commercial shark fishing has been banned since 2011, making direct economic comparisons of shark wildlife tourism to shark fishing impossible in this case. However, the value of all Bahamian fisheries exports combined is around$80-million, less than the value of shark wildlife tourism calculated in this study.

This study found the flow of tourists from shark diving is, proportionately, even greater in the Bahamas hundreds of remote out islands, such as Cat Island and Bimini, than it is in the countrys major centers.

These out islands are locations where specific charismatic shark species are targeted for exclusive scuba trips, Haas says. The injection of revenues into these out islands associated with this shark diving are felt much more profoundly there due to the lack of other opportunities.

Shark tourism is bringing in more money than shark fishing overall, but for many Bahamians theres a dark side to the switch: this money is going into different pockets. In many cases, the money is leaving the country entirely. For example, many tourists come on liveaboard dive vessels from other nations, rather than arriving on locally owned boats.

When local communities receive financial benefits from their natural resources, they are much more likely to recognize their importance and get actively involved in their protection, says Elena Salim Haubold, who works with the United Kingdom-based Shark Business, which seeks to help protect sharks through wildlife tourism, and was not involved in the study. Unfortunately, this new research demonstrates that a high percentage of all money spent on shark tourism in the Bahamas ends up leaving the country via foreign-owned tour operators.

Shark wildlife tourism is not the silver bullet as some advocates claim. Instead, it is just one tool in a broad toolbox, says Haas. But what the new study clearly demonstrates is that, at least for the Bahamas, shark tourism can outpace shark fishing economically. If that wealth can flow to Bahamians more reliably, it could even provide financial justification for future conservation efforts.

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In the Bahamas, Sharks Are Worth More Alive than Dead - Hakai Magazine

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) The London-based international human rights group, Amnesty International, has criticised the situation in three Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries on issues ranging from the ill-treatment of documented migrants to alleged crimes against humanity.

In its 2017 State of the Worlds Human Rights, Amnesty International paid attention to alleged human rights abuses in Haiti, Jamaica and the Bahamas. The other CARICOM countries were not mentioned in the report released over the weekend.

The report noted that in the Bahamas, there was widespread ill-treatment of undocumented migrants from countries including Haiti and Cuba.

It said the Dominican Republic deported thousands of people of Haitian descent including Dominican-born people who were effectively rendered stateless while often failing to respect international law and standards on deportations.

Upon arrival to Haiti, many people who had been deported settled in makeshift camps, where they lived in appalling conditions. Despite a commitment from newly elected authorities in the Dominican Republic to address the situation of stateless individuals, tens of thousands of people remained stateless following a 2013 Constitutional Court ruling which retroactively and arbitrarily deprived them of their nationality. In February, the IACHR described a situation of statelessness of a magnitude never before seen in the Americas.

Amnesty International said that rampant impunity allowed human rights abusers to operate without fear of the consequences weakened the rule of law, and denied truth and redress to millions.

Impunity was sustained by justice and security systems that remained under resourced, weak and often corrupt, compounded by a lack of political will to ensure their impartiality and independence. The resulting failure to bring the perpetrators of human rights violations to justice allowed organised crime and abusive law enforcement practices to take root and prosper.

Denial of meaningful access to justice also left huge numbers of people including in Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, Jamaica, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela unable to claim their rights.

Amnesty International said in Jamaica, impunity prevailed for the decades-long pattern of alleged unlawful killings and extrajudicial executions by law enforcement officials.

While more than 3,000 people have been killed by law enforcement officials since 2000, only a handful of officials have been held accountable to date. In June, the Commission of Enquiry into alleged human rights violations during the 2010 state of emergency made recommendations for police reform; by the end of the year Jamaica had yet to outline how it would implement the reforms.

The human rights group noted that in Haiti, no progress was made in the investigation into alleged crimes against humanity committed by former President Jean-Claude Duvalier and his former collaborators.

It said that States made little headway in tackling violence against women and girls. This included failing to protect them from rape and killings as well as failing to hold perpetrators accountable. Reports of gender based violence came from Brazil, Canada, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Jamaica, Nicaragua, the USA and Venezuela, among other countries.

Amnesty noted that legislative and institutional progress in some countries such as the legal recognition of same-sex marriage did not necessarily translate into better protection against violence and discrimination for LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) people.

Across the Americas, high levels of hate crime, advocacy of hatred and discrimination, as well as murders and persecution of LGBTI activists persisted in countries including Argentina, the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, the USA and Venezuela.

In the Bahamas, Amnesty International noted Bahamians voted no in a constitutional referendum on gender equality in citizenship matters in June.

Discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people continued, it said, adding that in the June referendum Bahamians voted on gender equality in citizenship matters under Bahamian law.

The proposed amendments backed by the government would have strengthened anti-discrimination protections based on sex. The result maintained inequality in Bahamian laws so that women and men pass on citizenship to their children and spouses in different ways.

The result put at risk the citizenship rights of families, in particular the risk of separation of families with diverse nationalities or children born outside of the Bahamas to Bahamian parents.

Amnesty said that stigma and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people continued and in April, activists founded the group Bahamas Transgender Intersex United.

In Jamaica, Amnesty said that unlawful killings and extrajudicial executions continued. Violence against women and discrimination against LGBTI people persisted. Children continued to be detained in violation of international standards.

It said that despite committing to the establishment of a national human rights institution, Jamaica had not established the mechanism by the end of the year.

Jamaica continued to have one of the highest homicide rates in the Americas, Amnesty International reported, saying that in June, a Commission of Enquiry published its much-anticipated report into the events that took place in Western Kingston during the state of emergency, declared on 23 May 2010, which left at least 69 people dead.

Almost 900 pages long, the report identified a number of cases of possible extrajudicial execution and produced a number of important recommendations for police reform. In an official response, the Jamaica Constabulary Force accepted a number of recommendations, such as committing to hold administrative reviews into the conduct of officers named in the Commissioners report.

But Amnesty said that the police continued to refuse to accept any responsibility for human rights violations or extrajudicial executions during the state of emergency.

By the end of the year, the government had still not officially indicated how it would implement the recommendations of the Commissioners. While the number of killings by police have been significantly reduced in recent years, 111 people were killed by law enforcement officials in 2016, compared with 101 in 2015. Women whose relatives were killed by police, and their families, experienced pervasive police harassment and intimidation, and faced multiple barriers to accessing justice, truth and reparation.

The human rights group said that Jamaica again failed to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, signed in September 2000, nor had it adhered to the UN Convention against Torture or the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

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Amnesty Int'l critical of Jamaica, Haiti, The Bahamas - NYCaribNews

Seven of the Bahamas' famed swimming swine (who've splashed around with visitors in the Exumas for three decades) have been found dead, and the Bahamian government is currently investigating whether the tourists themselves are at fault.

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It seems, according to some reports, that the "swimming pigs" were poisonedthough it's unclear whether the deaths were accidental or intentional. One of the pigs' owners, Wayde Nixon, told The Nassau Guardian, "We have people coming there giving the pigs beer, rum, riding on top of them, all kind of stuff." Nixon says that the remaining 15 pigs are alive and well, but he's working with the government to better regulate the interaction between tourists and the animals going forward.

"If we have boundary lines, the people will be able to take photographs and see the pigs swim, all of that, but they will not be able to feed them things," said V. Alfred Gray, the Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources. "[We] seek to implement that as soon as it is practical to do so."

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Several of the Bahamas' Beloved Swimming Pigs Found Dead - TownandCountrymag.com (blog)

FINAL RESULTS

FRIDAY

Placement matches

Barbados 5 Turks & Caicos Islands 2

Belize 6 US Virgin Islands 4 (after extra time)

Canada 2 Costa Rica 2

(Costa Rica win 3-2 on penalties)

Guyana 6 Antigua & Barbuda 4

Quarter-finals

El Salvador 5 Jamaica 0

United States 4 Panama 6

Mexico 5 Trinidad & Tobago 1

Bahamas 3 Guadeloupe 5

Saturday

Placement matches

Turks & Caicos Islands 4 US Virgin Islands 1

Belize 6 Barbados 2

Canada 6 Antigua & Barbuda 1

Costa Rica 5 Guyana 2

United States 6 Jamaica 2

Bahamas 5 Trinidad & Tobago 2

Semi-finals

Panama 2 El Salvador 2 (Panama win 2-1 on penalties)

Mexico 3 Guadeloupe 0

Sunday

15th place playoff: Barbados 3 US Virgin Islands 1

13th place playoff: Belize 9 Turks & Caicos Islands 4

11th place playoff: Antigua & Barbuda 8 Guyana 6

9th place playoff: Canada 5 Costa Rica 6

7th place playoff: Jamaica 3 Trinidad & Tobago 9

5th place playoff: Bahamas 2 United States 4

3rd place playoff: El Salvador 7 Guadeloupe 2

Final: Mexico 2 Panama 4

The finalists qualify for the World Cup in Nassau from April 27 to May 7.

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Before another jam-packed Malcolm Park beach soccer stadium, the Bahamas suffered a 4-2 loss to the United States of America yesterday and ended up in sixth place in the CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship.

Although they fell short, leading goal scorer Lesly St Fleur said they gave it their best.

It was a great tournament. It prepares us good, but we still have more work to do, said St Fleur about the tournament, which prepares the Bahamas to host the FIFA World Cup in April at the same venue.

The World Cup is going to be a pretty higher level, so we have to be ready.

As the World Cup looms on the horizon, St Fleur said they hope to come back and put on a good show for the Bahamian fans. He admitted that they have a lot of work to do, but they just have to go back to the drawing board and get ready to compete.

I felt great for our home fans to cheer us on and I hope that they continue to cheer us on, he said. I hope that they come out in the World Cup and continue to support us.

St Fleur, however, said he felt he could have performed a lot better, although he posted 11 goals and was in the running for the golden boot. I have plenty work to do, but I will be ready for the World Cup, he said. In El Salvador, I had 11 goals and so to come right back here and keep on scoring goals and to help build up the team momentum, it feels good.

The USA broke the ice at 8:44 in the first period when Oscar Reyes got in a header from the left corner past goalie Torin Ferguson, who got the starting nod for the second straight game.

With 3:37, Nesly Jean tried to get the ball back to Ferguson but Alessandro Canale sneaked up on Jean and caught Ferguson too far out of the goal post to boot in the second goal for the USA.

The USA held on for a 2-0 lead to complete the first period.

In the first two minutes of the second period, the Bahamas blew a couple of golden opportunities to score when both Gary Williams and team captain Gavin Christie drew USAs goalie Christopher Toth out of the post, but neither were able to score on their consecutive respective touches.

With about four minutes left in the period, Lesly St Fleur got his chance to increase his goal scoring tally for the Bahamas as he had goalie Toth right on his side in front of the net, but his shot was a little too high.

Then with 20.2 seconds left, USAs captain Lewie Valentine was charged with a hand ball.

On the penalty kick, St Jean put the Bahamas on the scoreboard with his 11th goal in the tournament for a 2-1 deficit as the crowd roared their approval.

And with 2.5 on the clock, St Jean was awarded another penalty kick, but this time it went long as the USA held onto their 2-1 lead to complete the second period.

To start the third, 10:20 into the period, Joseph made an errant pass to Ferguson in front of the goal and Nicolas Perera was on the attack for the shot into the net and a 3-1 lead for the USA.

But on the next play, Christie got the free kick to cut the Bahamas deficit to 3-2.

The Bahamas got another break at 7:44 as Valentine got ejected leaving the USA short one player for two minutes.

Its beach soccer, its played rough, St Jean said about the physicality of the game. Sometimes you get out of hand and the judges pick up some things. We just have to be careful in the World Cup.

However, at 6:50, Jean was hit with a yellow card and the Bahamas failed to cash in on the USAs inefficiency before they got back to full strength.

All things evened, Toth goggled the ball in front of Christie before he booted in a goal near the half court line for a 4-2 lead for the USA.

With another three minutes left, St Jean got a pass to Christie, whose shot was deflected wild by Toth in the goalpost.

At 1:31, Joseph was hit with a green card.

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Bahamas Suffers 4-2 Loss To Usa - Bahamas Tribune

The Miami Dolphins, Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino, Dolphins alumni and celebrities will hold their annual trip to Nassau on Memorial Day Weekend.

Throughout the weekend, guests will mix and mingle with notable Dolphins alumni and celebrities while enjoying several festivities planned during their stay.

The weekend kicks off with a welcome reception and golf draw party on Thursday evening. On Friday, a golf classic commences with a shot gun start for 24 teams at Ocean Club. Each golf foursome includes the exclusive opportunity to play with a Miami Dolphins Legend or celebrity. The golf classic on Friday wraps with an awards luncheon and a Bahamas Bash party.

The weekend will conclude on Saturday with a free fan fest at Thomas A. Robinson Stadium. The day is packed with great festivities for families, including Dolphins Academy Youth Football & Cheer Clinics for kids ages 6-17. Spots are open for boys and girls who have an interest in learning the fundamentals of the game from Dolphins alumni or learning dance moves and chants from the Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders.

The day is culminated by competitive flag football games between Nassau, Freeport Grand Bahama, Abaco, Exuma and a Dolphins Legends vs. Bahamas Legends Flag Football Game.

Golf and hospitality packages are now available for these events at Bahamas@dolphins.com. For more information, visit MarinoBahamasWeekend.com.

Schedule: Thursday, May 25 Arrival Day Welcome Reception (private event)

Friday, May 26 Dan Marino & Friends Golf Classic and Awards Luncheon (ticketed event) Dan Marino & Friends Bahamas Weekend Bahamas Bash (ticketed event)

Saturday, May 27 Dolphins Academy Youth Football & Cheer Clinics (free event) Dolphins Legends vs. Bahamas Legends Flag Football Game (free event) Bahamas Weekend Junkanoo Party (private event)

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PRESS RELEASE: Dan Marino And Friends Bahamas Weekend 2017 Planned For May 25-27 - MiamiDolphins

Lastweek I visited the Bahamas and enjoyed itslovely beaches and friendly people. A nice woman named Sharika transportedusto the beach and gave a great touralong the ride. She described how the past hurricane destroyed many businesses and hotels along the route. The rebuilding processis takinga long time and is negatively affecting the economy from decreased tourism.

I learned that half of the island is controlled by the Port Authoritysince 1955.Its a private agency that requiresall of the structures built on thatpart of the island tobeequipped withrunning water, electricity, stable walls and a roof. Every home and building on thatpart of the island must meet those requirements or they cannot build there. The Port Authority controlled halfof the island is also where the tourists comefrom cruise ships. They understandthat visitors want comfort and safety while on vacation and make sure that is what we see and experience. The Port Authority donated $3 million dollars to build a college on their island. They are trying to help theBahamiansprovide for themselves through education and better jobs.The Bahamas gained independence from the UK on July 10, 1973. Sharika describedsimple economics if people dont visit, they cantget money from tourists. The American dollar is equal to the Bahamian dollar so visitors feel comfortable purchasing gifts and spending money while on vacation.Bahamians want visitors tospend money and thereby help them emerge into a stronger country.

The other half of the islandis run by the Bahamian government. Thepeople on the government runhalf of the island live in poverty and are basically hidden from the tourists. According to Sharika, those homes are shacks. They dont have running water or electricity. Their roofs and walls are made of sticks and whatever else they can find to make a home ofnatural resources.Sharika said that the government half of the island is not safe for visitors so they keep us on the Port Authority side.More basic economics poverty yields increased crime. The have-nots will steal from the haves who are visiting their island. (Bahamas shack below.)

Think aboutthe poorerpartsof America. Those areashave dilapidated homes, higher crime rates and lower income. Those neighborhoods also predominately have the most amount of people on government assistance and haveless desirable schools. If a town is known for high crime and drugs, theywill not get people to move there, investthere, or work there. It is similar to the government side of the Bahamas where poverty just creates more poverty.

Here in the USA, thehouseon the right is froma Native American Reservation in Utah where afamily isusing cardboard for the walls and roof. Below left are empty homes in Camden, New Jersey and below center are boarded up homes in Progress, Illinois. As you can see, there are Americans living in poverty that the government didntfix across our own great nation.

Now think about the wealthierpartsof America. There arenicerhomes, lower crime from more police presence, and higher incomes. As a result, people want to live and invest there. Itmakes for a stronger economywithbetter schools, roads and jobs .The better schools help the residents attain better jobs thereby strengthening the economy. For example, below are occupied and well maintained homes in Utah, New Jersey and Illinois.

So, if you were in the market for a new home wouldntyou check out the school districts, crime levels, property taxes and local amenities before investing in a 30 year mortgage? How about if you were building a country hoping to last hundreds orthousands of years? Wouldnt you want the best for yourcitizensto live in asafer and better town? Lets face it, no one wants theirfamily and fellow citizens to live in the governmentrun side of town withcontrolled housing,high crime and low paying jobs. The USAis not much different than the Bahamas maybe.

Simple economics government run programs maintainpoverty levels while privately run programsgrow wealth. Does America need welfare programs to temporarily help citizens in need of course! Should the government provide a lifetime of minimal monetary support and render those citizens to a lifetime of poverty heck no!

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The Bahamas Private Developers vs. Government Run - Albany Times Union (blog)

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) The London-based international human rights group, Amnesty International, has criticised the situation in three Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries on issues ranging from the ill-treatment of documented migrants to alleged crimes against humanity.

In its 2017 State of the Worlds Human Rights, Amnesty International paid attention to alleged human rights abuses in Haiti, Jamaica and the Bahamas. The other CARICOM countries were not mentioned in the report released over the weekend.

The report noted that in the Bahamas, there was widespread ill-treatment of undocumented migrants from countries including Haiti and Cuba.

It said the Dominican Republic deported thousands of people of Haitian descent including Dominican-born people who were effectively rendered stateless while often failing to respect international law and standards on deportations.

Upon arrival to Haiti, many people who had been deported settled in makeshift camps, where they lived in appalling conditions. Despite a commitment from newly elected authorities in the Dominican Republic to address the situation of stateless individuals, tens of thousands of people remained stateless following a 2013 Constitutional Court ruling which retroactively and arbitrarily deprived them of their nationality. In February, the IACHR described a situation of statelessness of a magnitude never before seen in the Americas.

Amnesty International said that rampant impunity allowed human rights abusers to operate without fear of the consequences weakened the rule of law, and denied truth and redress to millions.

Impunity was sustained by justice and security systems that remained under resourced, weak and often corrupt, compounded by a lack of political will to ensure their impartiality and independence. The resulting failure to bring the perpetrators of human rights violations to justice allowed organised crime and abusive law enforcement practices to take root and prosper.

Denial of meaningful access to justice also left huge numbers of people including in Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, Jamaica, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela unable to claim their rights.

Amnesty International said in Jamaica, impunity prevailed for the decades-long pattern of alleged unlawful killings and extrajudicial executions by law enforcement officials.

While more than 3,000 people have been killed by law enforcement officials since 2000, only a handful of officials have been held accountable to date. In June, the Commission of Enquiry into alleged human rights violations during the 2010 state of emergency made recommendations for police reform; by the end of the year Jamaica had yet to outline how it would implement the reforms.

The human rights group noted that in Haiti, no progress was made in the investigation into alleged crimes against humanity committed by former President Jean-Claude Duvalier and his former collaborators.

It said that States made little headway in tackling violence against women and girls. This included failing to protect them from rape and killings as well as failing to hold perpetrators accountable. Reports of gender based violence came from Brazil, Canada, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Jamaica, Nicaragua, the USA and Venezuela, among other countries.

Amnesty noted that legislative and institutional progress in some countries such as the legal recognition of same-sex marriage did not necessarily translate into better protection against violence and discrimination for LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) people.

Across the Americas, high levels of hate crime, advocacy of hatred and discrimination, as well as murders and persecution of LGBTI activists persisted in countries including Argentina, the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, the USA and Venezuela.

In the Bahamas, Amnesty International noted Bahamians voted no in a constitutional referendum on gender equality in citizenship matters in June.

Discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people continued, it said, adding that in the June referendum Bahamians voted on gender equality in citizenship matters under Bahamian law.

The proposed amendments backed by the government would have strengthened anti-discrimination protections based on sex. The result maintained inequality in Bahamian laws so that women and men pass on citizenship to their children and spouses in different ways.

The result put at risk the citizenship rights of families, in particular the risk of separation of families with diverse nationalities or children born outside of the Bahamas to Bahamian parents.

Amnesty said that stigma and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people continued and in April, activists founded the group Bahamas Transgender Intersex United.

In Jamaica, Amnesty said that unlawful killings and extrajudicial executions continued. Violence against women and discrimination against LGBTI people persisted. Children continued to be detained in violation of international standards.

It said that despite committing to the establishment of a national human rights institution, Jamaica had not established the mechanism by the end of the year.

Jamaica continued to have one of the highest homicide rates in the Americas, Amnesty International reported, saying that in June, a Commission of Enquiry published its much-anticipated report into the events that took place in Western Kingston during the state of emergency, declared on 23 May 2010, which left at least 69 people dead.

Almost 900 pages long, the report identified a number of cases of possible extrajudicial execution and produced a number of important recommendations for police reform. In an official response, the Jamaica Constabulary Force accepted a number of recommendations, such as committing to hold administrative reviews into the conduct of officers named in the Commissioners report.

But Amnesty said that the police continued to refuse to accept any responsibility for human rights violations or extrajudicial executions during the state of emergency.

By the end of the year, the government had still not officially indicated how it would implement the recommendations of the Commissioners. While the number of killings by police have been significantly reduced in recent years, 111 people were killed by law enforcement officials in 2016, compared with 101 in 2015. Women whose relatives were killed by police, and their families, experienced pervasive police harassment and intimidation, and faced multiple barriers to accessing justice, truth and reparation.

The human rights group said that Jamaica again failed to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, signed in September 2000, nor had it adhered to the UN Convention against Torture or the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

See the article here:

Amnesty Int'l critical of Jamaica, Haiti, The Bahamas - News ... - Jamaica Observer

FORT PIERCERepresentatives from the Bahamas government agencies in Florida including the Bahamas Consulate General Office and the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism (BMOT) recently held a luncheon, Bahamian style, for forty staff and volunteers of Missionary Flights International (MFI) in Fort Pierce, Florida to show their appreciation to that organization, for their assistance to the residents of The Bahamas affected by Hurricane Matthew.

Persons feasted on signature Bahamian dishes including peas n rice, steamed fish and chicken, baked macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, toss salad, Bahamian pastries and homemade fruit punch and switcher.

Sandra Carey, Deputy Consul General, at the Bahamas Consulate General office was moved greatly by the goodwill and generosity shown by MFI and its staff. Their quick response and assistance has benefited the people of the Bahamas significantly and we owe them a depth of gratitude, she said.

Missionary Flights International is a private, faith-based non-profit mission aviation organization that operates flights between Florida, The Bahamas and areas of the Caribbean that need emergency relief assistance when disasters occur.

MFI flies their work team, missionaries, families and equipment to and from the field for short-term ministry, while sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.

According to Captain Joe Karabensh, President of MFI, MFI stood in the gap for The Bahamas and Haiti and began praying and collecting monies and relief supplies, for those islands on Sunday, October 2, 2016 prior to hurricane Matthews arrival in the Bahamas, October 6-8.

As the eminent storm had escaped Florida, but hit The Bahamas, we were in a first responder position to activate quickly, transportation, funds and hurricane relief supplies we had received from residents and business houses throughout South Florida, to distribute to those areas affected by the storm.

In so doing MFI on October 8, immediately commenced relief to The Bahamas and has since provided more than 125,000 pounds of donated food and supplies directly to pastors, churches and the Salvation Army in Andros, Grand Bahama and Nassau, he said.

MFI also provides 470 ongoing Christian missions in Haiti and Dominican Republic as well as render assistance to several organizations in Eleuthera, Abaco, Nassau and Grand Bahama.

See the article here:

Bahamas Grateful To Support From Missionary Flights International - South Florida Caribbean News

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Attorney General Hector Balderas has issued a second Scam Alert this week, this time warning senior citizens to protect themselves against the Bahamas Grandkids Scam hitting New Mexico.

Scammers are calling New Mexico senior citizens from Ontario, Canada, and Maryland telephone numbers claiming their grandchild is in jail for drunk driving in another country, namely the Bahamas. The scammers tell elaborate stories, including details of a destination wedding the grandchild traveled to, then explain that after the wedding, the grandchild was arrested.

The scammer does not let the grandparent speak to the grandchild because they are in court, but they do urge them to call a second number to post bail. When the grandparent calls the second number, they are informed of a deal if they obtain a prepaid debit card from Wal-Mart, the bail will be $2,000 instead of $3,000. They are then asked for that prepaid card number.

Im asking all of our families to be on guard for this scam as it preys directly on the love, trust and kindness of our New Mexico grandparents, Balderas said. If someone calls to tell you a family member is in jail in another country and wants money from you, please verify this information with other family members before you consider taking any action. These scammers want to scare you into giving them information and money, but do not let their lies intimidate you.

Recent numbers associated with this scam are Maryland number 1-443-687-8088 and Ontario, Canada, number 1-437-344-0996, but this scam originates from other numbers, as well. This is an old scam with a new twist and can include a variety of different lies to trick people.

The Office of the Attorney General was alerted to this new version by an 83-year-old grandmother and retired law enforcement officer who went all the way through the scam, without giving any money, and wanted to warn the public about the details.

Anyone believing they have received such calls is asked to report them to the Office of the Attorney General by calling toll-free, 1-844-255-9210.

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AG warning about 'Bahamas Grandkids Scam' | Artesia Daily Press - Artesia Daily Press