The Nassau Guardian
Porter pleads to UN
Bahamas Cancer Centre Director Dr. Arthur Porter is seeking a declaration from the United Nations high commissioner for human rights concerning the alleged violation of his basic human rights during his four-month long “illegal” imprisonment in Panama.
Porter, who reportedly has end-stage lung cancer, is wanted by Canadian officials in connection with Quebec’s ongoing corruption scandals.
Porter said in a statement received by The Nassau Guardian yesterday that he is being denied medical treatment, but has been “fortunate enough to get some chemotherapy and other medications into the prison”.
He said he has been “self-treating using my symptoms as a guide”.
“I have also had the privilege of treating my fellow prisoners to the best of my ability,” he said.
Porter was detained by Panamanian authorities, along with his wife Pamela Porter, several months after Quebec police announced they wanted to charge him in connection with the corruption claims.
Back in February, Canadian authorities issued an arrest warrant for Porter and four other men.
In the formal complaint to the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Porter’s attorney, Dr. Ricardo Bilonick Paredes, is asking the high commissioner to investigate alleged human rights violations and the alleged violations committed in the “illegal” extradition to Canada of Porter’s wife.
The complaint says that Porter is in “grave and imminent danger of being extradited to Canada”.
It accuses various governmental authorities in Panama of multiple violations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The complaint also alleges that there are no grounds to “maintain his illegal detention in Panamanian territory”.
It seeks to have Panama sanctioned “for violation of ground rules of human rights duly recognized by the Panamanian state”.
The complaint alleges that Panamanian officials did not follow proper legal procedures in the arrest and continued detention of Porter.
And it requests that the high commissioner visit the holding facilities where Porter is being held.
In his statement, Porter said while he had been made aware through the press of a Canadian warrant against him, he had not received any official communication or been formally charged.
“Since then, I have been incarcerated in La Joya prison, one of the most notorious jails in South America,” he said.
“I understand that I am not under arrest, as I have committed no crimes in Panama, but under preventative detention at the request of Canada.”
Porter said he is suffering from stage four cancer, which is generally terminal. He said that on his arrival in Panama in May, he informed the authorities at the airport and later police at the prison of his medical condition and provided them with copies of his medical reports.
He said his plan had been to return to The Bahamas in early June to complete his radiation treatment, which had been prescribed prior to his trip.
“As I sit in this prison, without medical attention, and with the negative press that I have received in Canada, I cannot help but think that in some circles, the presumption of innocence is not a valid concept and that a judgment has been made and the punishment is being carried out,” he said.
“In February, back in Nassau, having been told I would have a year or so to live, I started writing a book, a memoir of my life, if you like, chronicling some of the sentinel events.
“Last week, my co-author and I finished the book. Whether or not I survive to tell my story in the flesh, it will be told.”
Porter is wanted in connection with fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, fraud against the government, embezzlement, breach of trust, secret commissions and laundering proceeds of crime.
The claims relate to business dealings he allegedly made with McGill University Health Centre (MUHC). Porter was CEO of the MUHC from 2004 to 2011.
He has been involved in a firestorm of controversy in Canada relating to the alleged nonpayment of loans from McGill University and a litany of other allegations.
Porter, born in Freetown, Sierra Leone, was chairman of Canada’s Security Intelligence Review Committee, a member of the board of directors of Air Canada and a member of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada.
Last year, Minister of Health Dr. Perry Gomez appointed Porter chairman of the Bahamas government’s stem cell research task force.
He is a permanent resident of The Bahamas and has a home at Old Fort Bay.
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