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S.Minaire Belize.Qxd Commonwealth Caribbean Human Rights Seminar September 12th - 14th, 2000 Radisson Fort George Hotel, Belize City Penal Reform International Simons Muirhead & Burton Foreign & Commonwealth Office Attorney General’s Ministry Table of Contents Foreword Said W. Musa - Prime Minister of Belize 1 Rapporteur's introduction and summary recommendations Parvais Jabbar - Simons Muirhead & Burton Solicitors, UK 5 Address at opening session Wendy Singh - PRI 9 Welcoming remarks Saul Lehrfreund MBE - Simons Muirhead & Burton Solicitors, UK 11 Opening statement by the British High Commissioner HE Mr Tim David - British High Commissioner, Belize 13 Feature address Hon. Godfrey P. Smith - Attorney General of Belize 17 Closing address Hon. Abdulai O. Conteh - Chief Justice of Belize 25 Papers 35 Cruel and inhuman punishment: The treatment of long-term and death row prisoners Alvin J. Bronstein - PRI, USA 37 Legal aid and access to justice Adrian King - Attorney-at-Law, Barbados 49 Capital punishment in the United States Bryan Stevenson - Assistant Professor of Law, New York University, USA 61 The Commonwealth Caribbean and evolving international attitudes towards the death penalty Saul Lehrfreund MBE - Simons Muirhead & Burton Solicitors, UK 75 Commonwealth Caribbean Human Rights Seminar Serious offences, gender and criminal justice: A plea for reason-in(g) equality Tracy Robinson - Lecturer, University of The West Indies, Barbados 91 The flogging of prisoners in Belize - Is this practice constitutionally valid? Kirk Anderson - Attorney-at-Law, Belize 107 Savings clauses and the colonial death penalty regime Edward Fitzgerald QC - Barrister, UK 113 Pardon and the commutation of the death penalty: Judicial review of executive clemency Edward Fitzgerald QC - Barrister, UK 127 Preventative detention and pre-trial rights Keir Starmer - Barrister, UK Simeon Sampsom - Attorney-at-Law, Belize 135 Fair trial and international standards Keir Starmer - Barrister, UK 143 Appendices 149 Conference Statement on Neville Lewis & Others 151 Press release 155 Commonwealth Caribbean Human Rights Seminar Foreword Said W. Musa Prime Minister of Belize o deny the importance of human rights is to deny the very process that brought the people of the Caribbean region adult suffrage, self- Tgovernment and, ultimately, independence. For included in the broad and ranging panoply of human rights is the right of a people to political, economic, social and cultural self-determination. Indeed it was by vigorously lobbying for and utilizing the principle of a people's right to self-determination that Belize was able to, in 1981, win the support of the majority of member states of United Nations for recognition of Belize's right to independence in the face of staunch opposition by the Republic of Guatemala who claimed - and today continues to claim - Belize as part of its territory. But it would be wrong to consider that the importance of human rights was consummated with the collective attainment of self-determination in the Caribbean. This was only the very first step. The challenge before us now as a people is to daily nurture the seeds of that national right to self- determination until there is a brilliant flowering of respect and recognition for individual human rights all across the region. Would it not be considered a pyrrhic victory if we attained our countries' freedom from colonialism but our people do not themselves enjoy that freedom on an individual basis? We would merely have replaced foreign exploitation with our own homegrown brand of exploitation. Governments hold national independence in trust for the people. To us, therefore, falls the moral - even legal - obligation to actively roll out the frontiers of individual liberty and fundamental rights so that our people may enjoy the full measure of fundamental rights and freedoms and palpably feel the benefits and meaning of independence. Commonwealth Caribbean - 1 - Human Rights Seminar Foreword The process of ensuring that people enjoy the broadest possible measure of fundamental rights and freedoms is an on-going, constantly evolving process. The foundation for the development of the process is laid, domestically, by the fundamental rights and freedoms provisions in our independence constitutions. Internationally, the process is buttressed by a matrix of interlocking human rights conventions and protocols, some of which we in the Caribbean are state parties to. The role of lawyers and the judges is to interpret these constitutions and international human rights norms so as to ensure their practical application and utility for individuals as they go about their daily lives, balancing, at all times, the freedoms of other individuals and the public interest. But as society evolves scientifically, socially and culturally, as the norms and ethos of the society evolves, the fundamental rights and freedoms must evolve and move apace. If this is not so, then the rights and liberties will remain frozen in time and cease to be of relevance in a new era. Only by keeping abreast of the latest developments in human rights thinking do we guard against being the unwitting practitioners of obsolete or outdated human rights notions. It is against this backdrop that I welcome this publication of the papers presented at a training seminar in Belize on Human Rights for the Commonwealth Caribbean. It provided the opportunity for Belizean lawyers and lawyers from across the Caribbean region and the United Kingdom to discuss and debate recent judgments and trends in the human rights process. I was, regrettably, unable to open the seminar as was originally scheduled, but I am pleased that I was presented with a second opportunity to express some thoughts on this very important issue, through this foreword. I note from copies of the papers presented to me by the seminar organizers that important topics included in the seminar were Legal Aid and Access to Justice, The Commonwealth Caribbean and Evolving International Attitudes towards the Death Penalty, Gender and Equal Treatment under the Law and International Standards of Fair Trial. I am pleased that Belize was given the opportunity to host such a great assembly of human rights lawyers and activists. It is my hope that from the Commonwealth Caribbean - 2 - Human Rights Seminar Foreword seminar, and this very useful publication of papers by some of the leading lawyers in the human rights field, will come a renewed interest in and championing of basic human rights and freedoms, in all their manifestations: political, economic, social and cultural. Commonwealth Caribbean - 3 - Human Rights Seminar Commonwealth Caribbean - 4 - Human Rights Seminar Rapporteur's introduction and summary recommendations Parvais Jabbar, Simons Muirhead & Burton should like to begin by remembering the context in which this conference took place. This conference has been a long term objective of the ICommonwealth Caribbean Death Penalty Project, a joint initiative between Penal Reform International and Simons Muirhead and Burton. It has been made possible through the support of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office who sponsored the conference and we are particularly grateful to His Excellency Tim David, British High Commissioner to Belize. I would also like to point out that this conference would not have happened without the commitment and dedication of Wendy Singh of Penal Reform International. The Commonwealth Caribbean Death Penalty Project has worked closely for many years with a number of lawyers in the region. The project has also been provided with invaluable assistance by a number of regional non- governmental organisations such as Caribbean Rights. The very nature of human rights work requires such co-operation and mutual understanding. Human rights jurisprudence is developing within each Caribbean country and in the region as a whole. Now more than ever individuals and organisations need to be aware of this growing body of information. As Saul Lehrfreund stated at the opening of the conference, 'the primary purpose of the seminars is to stimulate debate between all delegates on matters of great importance to the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals in the Commonwealth Caribbean.' It would not be an exaggeration to say the conference was privileged to be able to draw upon a talented array of speakers and wide ranging representation from delegates from the Commonwealth region and beyond. It brought together over 60 individuals from Antigua, Bahamas, Belize, Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, St Christopher & Nevis, St Lucia, Commonwealth Caribbean - 5 - Human Rights Seminar Rapporteur’s introduction and summary recommendations St Vincent, Trinidad & Tobago, United Kingdom and The United States of America. Our host country, Belize, and in particular the Attorney General, Godfrey Smith, have been most welcoming and we must extend our gratitude to the Chief Justice of Belize, the Hon. Abdulai Conteh, for his presence and active involvement throughout the sessions. The conference was attended by other members of the Judiciary, the police and the legal profession. This was indeed a seminal conference. With such a wide array of delegates the conference had to address a range of issues of relevance to all. It is hoped it will lead to greater communication and cross-fertilisation. The Attorney-General himself recognised this in his feature address when he argued that 'the 21st Century has dawned with the centrality of human rights, not only within states but also between states at the international level.' In fact such has been the dominance of international standards within the sphere of human rights that it is no longer possible to operate without due regard and understanding. Fortuitously, on the very first day of the conference, 12th September 2000, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council delivered judgment in the landmark case of Neville Lewis and others. The appeal was brought on behalf of six prisoners under sentence of death in Jamaica. A number of those involved in the case were present at the conference. The Privy Council overturned a much criticised previous decision and this resulted in the commutation of the appellant's death sentences.
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