Have You No Shame Save The Bays?!

Fri, May 27th 2016, 12:02 PM

The Clifton Review

The Clifton Review is a bi-weekly column that examines the question of the Clifton project along with the evolution of the war between two billionaires, the links to unsavory characters, the use of the courts for personal agendas, the involvement of the Government opposition party (the FNM), and the attacks on the Government of The Bahamas.

Save The Bays seeks to shamelessly capitalize on its status as a supposed environmental group. It has a U.S. Treasury Department 501c3 status and is funded by Hedge-fund billionaire, Louis Bacon. However, it’s director and attorney, Fred Smith, has admitted to Save The Bays being a political organization in The Bahamas.

This is demonstrated by its political actions, most notably, running political ads against the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Government and its continuous attacks against the PLP Government.

So, if Save The Bays is a political organization, what right does it have to group itself with real human rights issues that need to be addressed? Fred Smith is both President of the Grand Bahama Human Rights Association (GBHRA) and Director and attorney for Save The Bays. As the President of the GBHRA, Fred Smith reportedly wrote an open letter to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and Amnesty International partners to complain about Save The Bays’ emails being read in The Bahamas Parliament.

IACHR and Amnesty International focus on addressing human rights abuses. As Amnesty International states, for example, “We bring torturers to justice.”

Nevertheless, GBHRA felt that the revealing of information in private emails, despite Save The Bays being a self-admittedly political organization, rose to the level of human rights abuses like torture. And this political organization is so important that revealing information about them can set back human rights in The Bahamas for decades. It would be laughable if it wasn’t so seriously disingenuous.

Supposedly the emails are between Save The Bays and GBHRA—though, I don’t get how the presentation in Parliament about the salaries and payments of Save The Bays are the business of GBHRA. Apparently the GBHRA letter states,

“We fear this gross violation of the GBHRA’s privacy will have severe implications for... our work, setting back the cause of human rights in The Bahamas by decades.”

Do you know what’s ludicrous about this statement? Here are two examples:

Fred Smith seeks to equate Save The Bays with IACHR cases from the past year where IACHR accused countries of the following:

The arbitrary detention, torture and death of a journalist in Brazil while in the State’s custody.

The killings of a number of individuals in Colombia committed by State security agents under extrajudicial executions.

The forced disappearance of a Union Worker in Columbia.

Honduras’ failure to investigate he killing of an individual in the context of his campaign for a seat in the National Congress.

The killing of a journalist in Columbia.

Nicaragua’s failure to diligently investigate a murder of a human rights defender’s husband.

Guatemala’s failure to a timely investigation into the disappearance of an individual.

The forced disappearance of an individual in Ecuador after being detained by Ecuadorian Intelligence Service.

Brazil’s police authorities’ involvement in the extrajudicial executions of 26 individuals—including six children—in the context of police raids

Fred Smith seeks to equate Save The Bays with Amnesty International cases involving the following:

Bringing attention to a situation of a man arrested, detained and shot by suspected secret service police in Mozambique allegedly for supporting the main opposition party.

Bringing attention to the execution of a political leader in Bangladesh.

Preventing an Iranian teenager from being executed.

Bringing attention to 8 students who were arrested in Sudan and whose whereabouts are unknown.

Bringing attention to Women being jailed in El Salvador after losing their pregnancies.

Fred Smith reportedly urges these international organizations to “do anything and everything in their power” to reportedly “raise the alarm.”

Did Fred Smith admit to these organizations that Save The Bays is really a political organization engaged in political action?

Did Fred Smith admit that they violated the human rights of Peter Nygard when he—Fred Smith—hedge-fund billionaire Louis Bacon, and Save The Bays allegedly paid Bobo and Toggie and reportedly sought to falsely accuse Peter Nygard in a murder plot?

Did Fred Smith tell these organizations that their supposed environmental group seeks to unjustly attack one man’s legal attempts to rebuild his home and protect another man’s apparent illegal acts and possible environmental degradation through his building of a marina and boat basin?

I guess it is okay to violate someone else’s human rights when you are the decider of human rights and the decider of who gets to be attacked and who gets to be protected.

Now Fred Smith is using the Grand Bahama Human Rights Association to achieve Save The Bays and Louis Bacon’s personal agenda.

One thing is for sure: Fred Smith is really good at shouting “FIRE!” at what everyone else is doing, while attempting to pull the wool over the public’s eyes on their own dishonest acts. Their claims are preposterous!

Louis Bacon, Fred Smith, Save The Bays, have you no shame?!

By P.J. Malone

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