The victims of crime in The Bahamas

The victims of crime
thenassauguardian editorial


The Bahamas should not become comfortable with, or used to, chronic delays in its criminal justice system. Impediments to justice are a further indignity to those who suffer at the hands of the violent. The vicious and debased things done to mothers, daughters, fathers and sons, sometimes during their last moments on earth, occupy media headlines for a day. Then, they are forgotten in the maze of confusion and disorganization called the Bahamian criminal justice system.

On Monday night armed men robbed and threatened to kill Bishop Elkin Symonette of Ebenezer Mission Baptist Church and his wife following a prayer meeting. The robbers later attempted to burn down the church.

During a series of armed home invasions in the Chippingham/Fort Charlotte area earlier in the year a woman was raped.

That woman will never be the same. Rape is a violation of the body, soul and mind. And sadly, based on the backlog of cases before the Supreme Court, there is no guarantee that the Office of the Attorney General will prosecute that case anytime soon.

Three men were charged in a magistrates'court early in July with burglary, robbery and rape. The courts will decide if they are guilty or not.

The sharp rise in the level of crime in this country is tragic. It's heartbreaking.

It is even more heartbreaking when you hear what actually happened to the victims; the level of fear that remains with those who survive; the depth of the loss felt by family members.

Bishop Symonette's wife, Inez, said the fear experienced during the robbery was inexplicable.

"I can't explain how I felt,"she said during a Nassau Guardian interview.

It is remarkable that the heirs of men and women who argued against the inadequacy of colonial rule would so poorly manage the criminal justice system.

Cases have been badly investigated and many not prosecuted.

Meanwhile, the victims and families of victims sit enraged and frustrated.

There are two logical consequences to the continued rise of violent crime in The Bahamas. One is vigilantism. Those who come to conclude that the criminal justice system is not concerned about their pain may soon, in greater numbers, seek their own justice.

The other consequence should concern our ruling class.

The poor, the working and middle classes of this country have no private security or police guards to protect them at night.

They have been preyed upon.

If solutions are not found soon to our crime problem, more and more of the privileged will also fall prey to the violators.

It would be a sad development in our country's history if this is required for change to take place.

10/19/2010

thenassauguardian editorial

Bahamas Blog International