Posted January 6th, 2013

Hemispheric human rights organisations are fearful that
what is viewed as Caribbean complacency on civil liberties may
contribute to the undermining of the inter-American human rights system
through recent initiatives led by some members of the Organisation of
American States (OAS).

The test will come at a special session of the OAS General
Assembly in March when member countries decide on a process to reform
the human rights system through adjustments to the powers and influence
of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the
Inter-American Court on Human Rights.

The measures are being championed by Ecuador, Venezuela,
Brazil and several other Latin American states. They include limits on
“precautionary measures,” re-allocation of financing, greater accent on
the “promotion” of human rights and changes in reporting mechanisms for
the Commission. Foreign minister Winston Dookeran is asserting that
T&T will support all measures to “strengthen” the Commission.

“We believe,” he told Sunday Guardian, “that the Commission
should be strengthened and there are certain aspects of the operations
of the Commission that require some more teeth.” However, some analysts
argue that the proposals will in fact weaken the Commission and
undermine the role of its Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression.
They believe a united Caribbean response can avert the worst dangers.

The OAS Caribbean Community (Caricom) caucus comprises a
potentially influential 14 of the organisation’s 35 member states. Only
six Caricom countries are however signatories to the American Convention
on Human Rights and only three (Barbados, Haiti and Suriname) have
acceded to the compulsory jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court on
Human Rights.

T&T was an early signatory to the Convention in 1977 but
announced its denunciation of the Convention in 1998 which, with one
year’s notice, saw the country’s departure in 1999. This, together with a
reservation registered under the United Nations Optional Protocol to
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, made way for
the prompt execution of the Dole Chadee gang in June 1999.

The country, however, still falls under the scrutiny of the
IACHR which has a mandate to receive, analyse and investigate individual
human rights petitions from all OAS member states.

Human rights advocates in the USA, Canada, Latin America, and
to a much lesser extent, the Caribbean, are concerned that specific
proposals to limit the ability of the Commission to act independently to
impose legal “precautionary measures” to protect persons may
significantly undermine its credibility.

They also believe changes to the mandatory processing times
for cases, adjustments to reporting mechanisms for organs of the
Commission and a greater emphasis on the “promotion” of human rights as
opposed to affording protection will have the impact of watering down
its influence.

So far, Caribbean interventions on the issues have been
relatively muted. But, in a submission to the OAS Permanent Council in
November, Jamaica ’s ambassador to the OAS Prof Stephen Vascienne
admitted that Caricom states believed through the work of the Privy
Council and the Caribbean Court of Justice “our human rights issues are
already properly addressed.”

He also pointed to the vexing issue of low Caribbean
visibility within the Inter-American system. There are two Caricom
nationals on the seven-member Commission Vice Chair Tracy Robinson of
Jamaica and Prof Rose-Marie Belle Antoine of T&T, and just one
full-time Caricom lawyer on staff.

“If the Commission wishes to encourage a stronger feeling of
ownership among Caricom states, it cannot ignore the availability of
nationals from these states for service in the Commission,” Vascienne
said. However, civil society organisations addressing the OAS Permanent
Council on December 7 believed the focus should be on ensuring greater
levels of awareness on the part of all member countries about the
seriousness of the proposed measures.

The Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM) was the only
Caricom civil society organisation in attendance and argued that, among
other things, the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of
Expression faced special risks, should the reforms be enacted. Dookeran
said T&T will support “all measures to protect freedom of the press
(but) we believe that the process for dealing with human rights
violations must be able to stand up to scrutiny.”

Civil society organisations gathered in Washington DC in
December, however, suggested in their presentations that the “scrutiny”
being prescribed by some states is a euphemism for greater state control
of the system and may spell danger for the 53-year-old commission and
its work. The March meeting promises to deliver a significant verdict on
the issue.

Source: http://guardian.co.tt/news/2013-01-06/caribbean-under-scrutiny-oas-reforms-human-rights-system