Human rights lawyers condemn prison flogging
Last night’s edition of “One on One with Dickie Bradley” could have easily turned into boring dialogue between a bunch of long winded lawyers. Instead the participants, fresh from a three day international conference on human rights, used the occasion to put some licks on the show’s host…and his fondness for corporal punishment.
Dickie Bradley
“Have they informed you all that in Belize they whipped a couple of prisoners?”
Edward Fitzgerald
“Yes.”
Dickie Bradley
“That must really grate the human rights people.”
Edward Fitzgerald
“We were profoundly shocked to hear that there was flogging. It’s contrary to…”
Dickie Bradley
“All kinds of things.”
Edward Fitzgerald
“Basic human rights. Belize has signed the convention prohibiting torture and inhuman treatment. Almost every court has looked at this, the court in Africa, the courts in Europe, the courts in American and in other Caribbean countries, has held that flogging is an inhuman punishment and therefore it just simply shouldn’t have been imposed. The other thing I should say, it that as I understand it, is not even effective. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s actually more likely to provoke resentment and riots and I think it actually did provoke a riot…”
Dickie Bradley
“No.”
Edward Fitzgerald
“…When someone was flogged.”
The visiting lawyers also criticised Bradley for Belize’s maintenance of the death penalty. Dickie explained that the Belizean public still strongly supports hanging as a just punishment for murder.
