Coast Guard Has No Tolerance for Sexual Assaults

Gregory Soberanis

In attendance at the symposium were members of the police department, the B.D.F. and the coast guard.  One of the concerns addressed was the process through which aggrieved persons can lodge complaints. There have been numerous reports of sexual assaults behind military walls so we asked Acting Commandant of the Belize Coast Guard, Commander Gregory Soberanis about that process. He says that the coast guard has a zero tolerance for sexual assaults.

Commander Gregory Soberanis, Commandant, Belize Coast Guard

“Any grievance really and truly in our mind is not gender based. And while we do have cases where you may have a particular female that may feel aggrieved, as rightly mentioned, it can either be a situation where it becomes a police matter. And in our regulations, we are empowered, we are authorized to initiate an inquiry and based on the results of those inquiry, if the alleged perpetrator based on the balance of probability, based on the evidence that surface as a result of that inquiry will be charged internally within the organization. So even though that person may be charged by the police, they can also be charged internally by the coast guard. And we leave no stones unturned when it comes to offenses where our females are affected. Our policy is a zero tolerance when it comes to our females.”