Attorney for citizens explains importance of human rights case

But beyond the political lines, Shoman feels that every citizen should be aware of the proceedings and how it would affect their lives. She used an analogy of sports enthusiasts, to explain how important it is for Belizeans to be committed to protecting their rights and freedoms.

Lisa Shoman, Attorney, Concerned Citizens

“Everybody watches NBA games or basketball or football or right now Super Bowl; not everybody plays. But people are involved because either they enjoy the sport, they are fans of the particular teams and quite a few people feel themselves invested. That is just a game. This is your rights; it will affect how you live, how your children live. The court—the field may be the law court, the players may be lawyers although the lawyers can do nothing without litigants, without citizens who are willing to step forward and say I will put my name on it because this is important. You can have all the lawyers in the world and if you don’t have people who are willing to change the law, you’re going nowhere. So that the best I could say to people is: is it something that will affect you? And I find that when you sit and explain to people what impact it will have on their lives or on their children’s future, people not only listen, not only want to understand, but then they find themselves wanting to be engaged. Government of our country is not an academic issue. Government of our country is not for the people in Belmopan, it’s not even only for the people who sit in the National Assembly, it is not for the people who want run for town council, village council, town board, city council; whatever it be. It is for all of us. Every single citizen of Belize should know what is going on because sooner or later it is going to affect you; whether it is a new tax on your garbage and whether it is your fundamental rights and freedoms that are being changed.”