NASSAU, The Bahamas — The Office of the Attorney General will prosecute all persons found Trafficking in Persons and/or engaging in child prostitution within The Bahamas once the evidence is there to support prosecutions, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Senator, the Hon. Allyson Maynard-Gibson said Thursday. “We do not condone slavery; we do not support slavery, that is not who we are, and Trafficking in Persons is slavery,” Mrs. Maynard-Gibson said.
“In The Bahamas, we have a law that criminalises the trafficking in persons, and the preamble to our Constitution speaks about us recognising Christian values and the Rule of Law. If we believe in Christian values, we are not going to support slavery. We will obey the laws of our country.” Responding to questions from reporters during a press conference called Thursday to address the U.S. State Department’s upgrade of The Bahamas from the country’s (United States) Trafficking in Persons Tier 2 (Watch List) to its Tier 2 List, Mrs. Maynard-Gibson said the Christie Administration has been adamant in its pronouncements “about this matter.” “The Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie) and the Minister of National Security in particular, in their pronouncements about this matter and in encouraging our own law enforcement teams to understand and to be sensitised, have really underscored the point that this is not who we are. “The Government is doing everything to demonstrate its commitment to supporting the laws of our country. The Minister of National Security has been really focused about that,” Mrs. Maynard-Gibson added.
Senator Maynard-Gibson said Bahamian officials have been “extremely vigilant” with regards to finding victims and perpetrators associated with Trafficking in Persons and child prostitution. “We want to be very careful about a blanket simply being thrown out and being said that because you are a tourist destination just like any other tourist destination, you have to have child prostitution,” Senator Maynard-Gibson said. “Our police are very vigilant. We deal in evidence. There is no evidence. More importantly, we have openly said, if you have evidence that it is happening please let us know.” Mrs. Maynard-Gibson said Bahamian laws “and this is very important, allow for witness anonymity and so any witness who might be afraid to give evidence, does not need to be afraid to do so.” “The law allows, in the appropriate circumstances, for there to be witness anonymity in relation to giving evidence to the police and the law also allows for witness anonymity if the matter actually gets to trial so through the entire process the law allows for anonymity,” Mrs. Maynard-Gibson said. The Attorney General encouraged any person within The Bahamas with knowledge of “any crime being committed in this country, including Trafficking in Persons and child prostitution” to come forward immediately. “So please, if you are aware of criminal matters going on whether it is in this or any other arena in our country, we are fighting hard to maintain law and order in our country, people are concerned about crime, please bring the information forward,” Mrs. Maynard-Gibson added.
