A.G. to defend death penalty at O.A.S.
It seems that Belize’s decision to amend the constitution to facilitate capital punishment has caused quite a stir in the international community. This week, the Organisation of American States joined the European Union in asking Belize to scrap the plan, which is viewed in some quarters as a barbaric deprivation of human rights. On Friday, Attorney General Godfrey Smith will defend his government’s decision in a formal presentation before the O.A.S.’s Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, in Washington, D.C.. The hearing is a direct result of Belizean death row prisoners asserting that the constitutional change goes against their rights under the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This evening, the A.G. told News 5 that Belize is operating well within the law.
Godfrey Smith, Attorney General
“Basically, what Belize will say is that municipal law is a very different matter from international law, and a state such as Belize obviously has the sovereign right as exercised through the legislature to enact laws which it feels is in the public interest, in the best interest of Belize.
Belize as a signatory to the Organisation of American States, and the charter establishing the Organisation of the American States, by signing that charter we have empowered the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights, which is one of the principal organs of the Organisation of American States. Under their statues, they have said to us we hear of this constitutional amendment, we would like to hear from you, whether or not that conflicts with certain treaties, like the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, which Belize has signed. They have the power to thereafter, based on what they conclude, to make recommendations to the Government of Belize. These recommendations are not compulsory, they are non-binding, but because we are a member of the O.A.S., we believe the right this to do is to go and make an appearance before the hearing and explain the thinking and motivation behind Belize’s position.”
Janelle Chanona
“And that position hasn’t, as far as you know change, we are going to amend the constitution?”
Godfrey Smith
“Well the Bill is before the National Assembly. I believe so far there have been some hearings, some sub-committee hearings with representations from human rights organisations in Belize, I believe the Bar Association. We can’t at this point say what the outcome will be, but certainly it’s programmed for enactment.”
Smith was in Belize City this evening, for the official opening ceremonies of the new Court of Appeal and law library at the Sir Albert Staine Building on Treasury Lane.
