NASSAU, Bahamas (CMC) — The Bahamas Government says it intends to respond fully to a claim by five nationals that their lives are in danger because of their political advocacy, and that some of them have had to flee the country.

Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell said the Perry Christie Government is preparing its response to the petition that has been filed by the Grand Bahama Human Rights Association (GBHRA) to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on behalf of the five Bahamians, including the GBHRA President Fred Smith.

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that in the petition, the Bahamians claim that “their lives are in danger because of their political advocacy, and that some of them have had to flee The Bahamas.

“The petitioners seek to cause the IACHR to request that The Bahamas adopt precautionary measures to prevent irreparable harm to their lives,” the statement said, adding that the “Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration, in its role as the competent authority of the Government, is facilitating the Government’s reply to the Petition”.

It noted that it is a truism that highly visible and voluble civic engagement is a hallmark in every era of open, democratic society.

“The instant petition relies upon claims that are repugnant to the legal and cultural constitution of the way of life in The Bahamas. As the Government of The Bahamas takes seriously any complaint of violation of Human Rights, an investigation of the allegations has therefore been launched by the Royal Bahamas Police Force, and is being carried out with dispatch.”

The statement noted that civic engagement by the general public, and by the petitioners in their political advocacy, ”is in the governance and institutional life of The Bahamas a natural, unfettered element in the identity of The Bahamas as a modern, open democracy.

“The findings in this matter are to be reported in the coming days in the Government’s full reply to the IACHR,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration added.