Belize signs O.A.S. criminal convention

There is good news for Belizeans who are incarcerated abroad. With the stroke of a pen today in Washington, the Government of Belize advanced the process of making it possible for people who find themselves behind bars in foreign countries to serve their sentences in the real or imagined comforts of the Hattieville prison. During brief ceremonies at O.A.S. headquarters, Ambassador Lisa Shoman signed the documents which signify G.O.B.’s intention to ratify the Inter-American Convention on Serving Criminal Sentences Abroad. Under the hemispheric treaty, citizens of countries in the Americas that have ratified the convention can request to have their sentences served in their own country. The treaty documents will now be channelled through the National Assembly of Belize before ratification. The Inter-American Convention on Serving Criminal Sentences Abroad was adopted in June 1993 and entered into force in April 1996. Viewers should note that the signing of the treaty does not necessarily mean that Hattieville will suddenly experience a homecoming of the Belizean criminal diaspora and an exodus of foreign lawbreakers. The repatriation process will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis and depends on the initiative of individual inmates, as well as the responsiveness of the respective governments. To date only nine countries have ratified the convention. They include: Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, and Venezuela. Three more, in addition to Belize, have signed but not ratified. They are: Ecuador, Guatemala, and the United States.