In the absence of a report nor delegation, the Human Rights Committee considered – in a public meeting – the situation of civil and political rights under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in Belize. In its concluding observations adopted at the end of the 107th session, the Committee expressed gratefulness to the State party for sending replies to the Committee’s list of issues, which, according to the Committee, provided some clarification on a number of issues raised by the Committee in advance, and welcomed the ratification by the State party to six (6) human rights treaties between 2001 and 2011.
In its concluding observations, the Committee recommended to the State party to provide the Office of the Ombudsman “with sufficient financial and human resources” and requested information about the “measures taken, since its review by the Human Rights Council under the Universal Periodic Review mechanism, to establish a NHRI in accordance with the Paris Principles”.
In the area of gender mainstreaming, the Committee urged “the State party to adopt a comprehensive and integrated approach to its policies … (and to)… take concrete measures to close the wage gap between men and women. It should further improve the participation of women in public and political life as well as decision-making positions in all spheres of life through, inter alia, the introduction of temporary special measures.”
The Committee requested to the State party to “review its Constitution and legislation to ensure that discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity are prohibited… (and to) ensure that cases of violence against LGBT persons are thoroughly investigated and that the perpetrators are prosecuted, and if convicted, punished with appropriate sanctions, and that the victims are adequately compensated.”
Concerning indigenous peoples, the Committee recommended the State party to provide information on the allegations that it has not been complying with decisions of the Supreme Court with regard to Mayan land and to “desist from issuing new concessions for logging, parcelling for private leasing, oil drilling, seismic surveys and road infrastructure projects in Mayan territories without the free, prior, and informed consent of the relevant Mayan community.”
The Committee expressed concerns and issued recommendations on a number of other key human rights issues, inter alia on juvenile justice (“give urgent priority to providing legal representation to juveniles facing imprisonment in order to meet its obligations under article 24”); non-discrimination (request for information regarding prohibition of discrimination); gender-based violence (a comprehensive approach to be adopted to preventing and address gender-based violence in all its forms and manifestations; ensure that cases of domestic violence and marital rape are thoroughly investigated and perpetrators prosecuted); refugee status determination (State party should re-establish a mechanism for refugee status determination; obligation to respect the principle of non-refoulement); corporal punishment (to repeal the provisions of the Criminal Code, which permit the use of corporal punishment; prevention of excessive use of force by law enforcement officers (to comply with the United Nations’ Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials); allegations of torture and ill-treatment to be effectively investigated and alleged perpetrators to be prosecuted and, if convicted, punished; strengthen efforts for universal birth certification for children, raising awareness of women and girl’s education and revise legislation to enable voting rights for disabled persons.
The concluding observations issued by the 18-member expert body, the State party’s written replies to the List of Issues and the six (6) reports submitted by civil society organizations, can be found on the Human Rights Committee’s website, see here: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/hrcs107.htm
The archived webcast provided by the Geneva-based NGO “CCPR Centre” can be found here: http://www.treatybodywebcast.org/hrctte-107-beliz/
