From: Bahamas Information Services
By LLONELLA GILBERT

 


NASSAU, The Bahamas — Minister of National Security the Hon. Wayne Munroe said despite global efforts to combat it, Human Trafficking keeps growing.

“It thrives where there is poverty, a lack of education or any area in which there is a conflict,” the National Security Minister said at the Opening of the Bahamas National Neighbourhood Watch Council Two-Day Workshop on Human Trafficking at the Paul E. Farquharson Centre, Police Headquarters on Wednesday, September 25, 2024.

He explained that there are countries in our hemisphere where those three issues are happening and persons from those nations are being trafficked to The Bahamas and elsewhere.

“It is happening in our country, so there is no point seeking to hide our head in the sand and saying it is happening somewhere else.”

The Minister noted that authorities have found young Bahamian girls who were trafficked for sexual exploitation by family members.

He said human trafficking continues to be a problem because it is a lucrative industry.

The Minister explained that the International Labour Organization statistics show that over $150 billion was made from human trafficking in 2017.

He said local law enforcement officials need all the help they can get to address this problem.

The Minister said, “Therefore, it is critical for the National Neighbourhood Watch Council and its constituent neighbourhood watch associations to be part of the effort to eliminate modern day slavery.”

Trafficking in Persons Task Force Chairman, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Indirah Belle said the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimated that in 2022, 50 million persons were illegally trafficked globally; and in the Caribbean and Latin American region most are girls under the age of 18.

ASP Belle said although there are instances of Bahamians being trafficked, The Bahamas is mainly a destination and not a source country.

She said human trafficking is known as transporting people against their will and is different from human smuggling.

ASP Belle explained that human trafficking is not voluntary while human smuggling is voluntary and people usually pay to be taken across borders.

She also explained that people are being trafficked not only for cheap labour and the sex industry.

ASP Belle said people are being trafficked for their organs.  A heart can go for $120,000, a kidney for $150,000, a pancreas for $125,000 and a stomach for $500,000.

She said some of the causes for human trafficking include poverty, lack of education, abuse, homelessness, family dysfunction, political instability, unemployment, civil unrest/armed conflict and natural disasters.

ASP Belle explained that human trafficking can be prevented by dealing with the root causes.

She said this can be done by:

• Reducing the vulnerability of potential victims through social and economic development;
• Discouraging the demands for the services of trafficked persons;
• Public education;
• Law enforcement interventions/healthcare interventions/social assistance;
• Preventing the corruption of public officials; and
• Creating employment opportunities

PHOTO CAPTION

Minister of National Security the Hon. Wayne Munroe brought remarks at the Opening of the Bahamas National Neighbourhood Watch Council Two-Day Workshop on Human Trafficking at the Paul E. Farquharson Centre, Police Headquarters, on Wednesday, September 25, 2024.  Trafficking in Persons Task Force Chairman, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Indirah Belle was the main presenter at the workshop.      (BIS Photos/Patrice Johnson)

Garfield Ekon

Staff Writer

USA, September 21, 2024 – Hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has been charged with serious sex offenses from a 14-page indictment, accusing him of racketeering, sex trafficking by force and transportation to engage in prostitution.

Mr. Combs, 54, was arrested on Monday evening, with allegations of running a criminal enterprise from at least 2008 that relied on drugs and violence to force women to “fulfill his sexual desires”, according to prosecutors. A New York federal judge remanded the musician in custody on Tuesday after prosecutors argued he was a “serious flight risk”.

If convicted on all three counts, the rapper and record producer faces a sentence of 15 years up to life in prison. Asked by US Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky how he wished to plead, Mr. Combs stood up and said: “not guilty”.

According to court documents, Mr. Combs “wielded the power” of his status to “lure female victims, to engage in extended sex acts” called “Freak Offs”. During Freak Offs, Combs distributed a variety of controlled substances to victims, in part to keep the victims “obedient and compliant,” the indictment said.

In a news briefing, US prosecutor Damian Williams said officials found firearms, ammunition and more than 1,000 bottles of lubricant during raids on Mr. Combs’ homes in Miami and Los Angeles, about six months ago. Mr. Williams said federal agents also found three semi-automatic rifles with defaced serial numbers, and a drum magazine.

He told reporters that further charges were possible, without offering details.

Mr. Agnifilo, the musician’s lawyer, maintained, “there’s no coercion and no crime.”

“He’s not afraid of the charges,” he said, adding that he believed Mr. Combs was the target of “an unjust prosecution”.

In court documents, federal prosecutors said that Mr. Combs had “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct”.

Prosecutors accuse Mr. Combs of “creating a criminal enterprise” whose members – under his direction – engaged in sex trafficking, forced labour, kidnapping, arson and bribery.

“On numerous occasions”, the documents said, Mr. Combs assaulted women by “striking, punching, dragging, throwing objects at, and kicking them”.

The indictment did not specify how many women were alleged victims.

It also does not accuse Mr. Combs himself of engaging directly in unwanted sexual acts with women.

Last November, his ex-girlfriend, singer Casandra Elizabeth Ventura, filed a civil lawsuit against him that included graphic descriptions of violent abuse.

Sean “Diddy” Combs denied the accusations, but settled the case a day after it was filed.

Deandrea Hamilton

Editor

September 20, 2024 – There are ambitious aspirations for the UN’s Summit of the Future, which the Secretary General today said should welcome invigorating ideas and strategies for member countries and global institutions eager to see greater international harmony.

“The Summit of the Future was born out of a cold, hard fact: international challenges are moving faster than our ability to solve them. We see out-of-control geo-political divisions and runaway conflicts – not least in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan and beyond, said Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General in his press conference held on Wednesday in New York.

“Runaway climate change. Runaway inequalities and debt. Runaway development of new technologies like Artificial Intelligence – without guidance or guardrails.  And our institutions simply can’t keep up.”

The Summit, which opens on September 20, 2024 touts as its mission, a move to produce an “inter-governmentally negotiated, action-oriented Pact for the Future with chapters on Sustainable development and financing for development; International peace and security; Science, technology and innovation and digital cooperation; Youth and future generations; and Transforming global governance.”

It is a massive mission by any measure.

Guterres said without a “spirit of compromise” the meetings will fall short of the goals to redefine the synergy necessary for nations to walk hand in hand into the future.

“Crises are interacting and feeding off each other – for example, as digital technologies spread climate disinformation that deepens distrust and fuels polarization.  Global institutions and frameworks are today totally inadequate to deal with these complex and even existential challenges,” said the Sec Gen.

He pointed to an outdated outlook that was in desperate need of new vigor and unflinching commitment in order to demonstrate the countries of the UN can work together.

“The peacebuilders of the 1940s could not have predicted the changes that have swept over humanity over the past eight decades:  The catastrophic consequences of climate change. Space exploration in all its dimensions. The internet, smartphones and social media – all boosted by Artificial Intelligence.  Like our founders, we cannot know precisely what the future holds.”

The institutions of today were crafted in a bygone era, he reminded and over the three days of the meeting, which are broken down into Action Days and Summit Days, the Secretary General is appealing for the kind of synergy which leads to problem-solving strategies all nations can commit to following.

“But we don’t need a crystal ball to see that 21^st century challenges require problem-solving mechanisms that are more effective, networked and inclusive; That serious power imbalances in global institutions must be adjusted and updated; And that our institutions must draw on the expertise and representation of all of humanity.

Change will not happen overnight. But it can start today.”

For the over 7,000 people registered to participate in the Summit of the Future, there is anticipation for a few breakthrough alterations in pacts.

“The strongest language on Security Council reform in a generation – and the most concrete step towards Council enlargement since 1963.  The first set of governance measures for new technologies, including Artificial Intelligence, in all their applications — with the UN at its centre.  A major advance in reform of the International Financial Architecture with the most significant language yet strengthening the role of developing countries. A step change in financing the Sustainable Development Goals and a commitment to advance our SDG Stimulus, multiplying the resources available to developing countries. The list goes on.

It would be tragic if all of this would be lost.”

The future for our grandchildren, he surmised, cannot be the one that was built for our grandparents.

“I hope Member States will do everything possible to get the Pact for the Future, the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations over the finish line.”

In 2020, the UN turned 75 and marked the occasion by starting a global conversation about hopes and fears for the future.  This was the beginning of a process that would eventually lead, four years later, to the convening of the Summit of the Future, a major event this September, which will take place at UN Headquarters, just before the annual high-level debate of the General Assembly.

The event will consist of sessions and plenaries based around five main tracks (sustainable development and financing; peace and security; a digital future for all; youth and future generations; and global governance), and other topics that cut across all of the work of the UN, including human rights, gender equality and the climate crisis.

The immediate outcome will be a finalised version of a Pact for the Future, with a Global Digital Compact and a Declaration for Future Generations in annex, all of which are expected to be adopted by Member States during the Summit.