Bahamas
The Bahamas adopted a new and detailed anti-terrorism law in 2018. The law establishes a detailed list of terrorist offences where the purpose of the crime is to intimidate the public or coerce government conduct. There is no carve-out for the exercise of fundamental human rights.
The Definition of Terrorism in Domestic Law
The 2018 Anti-Terrorism Act generally defines terrorism as a set of predicate acts where the offence has the purpose to "intimidate the public or to compel the government or an international organisation to do or refrain from doing any act".S. 14(1)(b), 2018 Anti-Terrorism Act.The predicate acts include killing or serious injuring a civilian; causing serious damage to public or private property (where that occasions a serious risk to the health or safety of the public); serious disruption to an essential service; prejudice to national security; and cybercrime.S. 14(1)(b), 2018 Anti-Terrorism Act.Also covered are the definitions in terrorism treaties to which the Bahamas is a State Party.S. 14(1)(a), 2018 Anti-Terrorism Act.
Adherence to Global and Regional Terrorism Treaties
The Bahamas is a State Party to most of the main United Nations treaties on terrorism.
| Treaty | Adherence |
|---|---|
| 1973 Convention on Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons | State Party |
| 1979 Hostage-Taking Convention | State Party |
| 1997 Terrorist Bombings Convention | State Party |
| 1999 Terrorist Financing Convention | State Party |
| 2005 Nuclear Terrorism Convention | State not party |
The Bahamas is a signatory but not a State Party to the 2002 Inter-American terrorism treaty.
| Treaty | Adherence |
|---|---|
| 2002 Inter-American Convention against Terrorism | Signatory |
Laws and Penalties for Terrorist Offences
The primary terrorism legislation in the Bahamas is the 2018 Anti-Terrorism Act. The maximum sentence for terrorist offences is life imprisonment unless the offence involves murder or treason in which case the sentence may be capital punishment.S. 14(1), 2018 Anti-Terrorism Act.Complicity in a terrorist act, irrespective of where the criminal conduct occurs, is also similarly punishable where the intent is to further the terrorist act or the financing of terrorism.S. 14(2), 2018 Anti-Terrorism Act.
There have been no cases of the freezing of terrorist property or deprivation of assets and instrumentalities related to terrorist financing in the Bahamas.
Counterterrorism Capacities and Policies at Domestic Level
The Anti-Terrorism Unit of the Royal Bahamas Police Force is mandated to investigate all forms of threats of terrorism in The Bahamas.
The Bahamas has no formal updated national strategy in relation to counterterrorism. But it has no history of terrorist activity.
Glossary
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