BAHAMAS AMBASSADOR FOR HUMAN RIGHTS DAMIAN GOMEZ HOLDS SERIES OF BILATERAL MEETINGS WITH OAS REPRESENTATIVES

His Excellency Damian Gomez, Bahamas Ambassador for Human Rights, accompanied by Sonia Rose, Minister Counsellor & Alternate Representative, Bahamas Permanent Mission, and Ashley Munroe-Cargill, Second Secretary & Vice-Counsel, Bahamas Embassy, met virtually with representatives from the IACHR and OAS –Commissioner Margarette May Macaulay, Country Rapporteur for The Bahamas; Fabio Balestro, Advisory Office for State, Jean Marc-Morris, Monitoring Unit III — and in-person with Mario Lopez, Sr. Executive; Paul Spencer, Sr. Advisor on the Caribbean; Fernanda Dos Anjos, Coordinator, Precautionary Measures; and Luisa Silva, Human Rights Specialist. Seated left to right: : Ashley Munroe-Cargill, Second Secretary & Vice-Counsel, Bahamas Embassy; Sonia Rose, Minister Counsellor & Alternate Representative, Bahamas Permanent Mission; H.E. Damian Gomez QC, Ambassador for Human Rights; Paul Spencer, Sr. Advisor on Caribbean for the Cabinet; Fernanda Dos Anjos, Coordinator, Precautionary Measures; Luisa Silva, Human Rights Specialist from the IACHR; Virtual: Commissioner Margarette May Macaulay, Country Rapporteur for The Bahamas; Fabio Balestro, Advisory Office for State, Jean Marc-Morris, Monitoring Unit III, Karin Mansel, Petitions & Cases; Marta Taveres, Petitions & Cases, and Wendy Singh, SPT & TC all from the IACHR.

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 21, 2022 – The Bahamas is committed to the promotion and preservation of human rights as a central tenet of its foreign policy, and this commitment has been reinforced with the appointment of His Excellency Damian Gomez, QC, as Ambassador for Human Rights.

On July 13, Ambassador Gomez — accompanied by Ambassador Chet Neymour, Permanent Representative to the OAS, and Mikhail Bullard and Sonia Rose, Ministers Counsellor and Alternate Representatives to the OAS — paid a courtesy call on Secretary Maricarmen Plata (right), Secretariat for Access to Rights and Equity (SARE).

Ambassador Gomez will coordinate his work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through relevant overseas missions, including the Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva and the Permanent Mission to the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, DC, respectively.

The appointment of Ambassadors of Human Rights is an increasing international practice and, thus, this appointment joins a number of diplomatic appointees with thematic responsibilities in an effort to elevate the focus of The Bahamas’s foreign policy on national and global priority issues.

Ambassador Gomez traveled last week to Washington DC for a series of bilateral meetings with representatives from the OAS. The initial meeting with Commissioner Margarette Macaulay, Country Rapporteur for the Bahamas and members of the Executive Secretariat of the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights (IACHR), focused on the discontinuance of the three precautionary measures with respect to human rights violations implemented by the IACHR against The Bahamas. The meeting concluded with an agreement to review The Bahamas’ portfolio with the intent of clarifying unresolved issues and ultimately concluding the process.

On July 13, Ambassador Gomez — accompanied by Ambassador Chet Neymour, Permanent Representative to the OAS, and Mikhail Bullard and Sonia Rose, Ministers Counsellor and Alternate Representatives to the OAS — paid a courtesy call on Secretary Maricarmen Plata, Secretariat for Access to Rights and Equity (SARE).

Secretary Plata agreed that the Secretariat will share the portfolio of projects that feature The Bahamas; assist with the development of best practices with respect to human rights, and provide technical support to The Bahamas as it seeks to standardize best practices for managing irregular migration, and the provision of social justice and inclusion.