Wayzata World Factbook 1996/The World Factbook - 1996 Edition - Wayzata Technology (3079) (1996).iso/pc/text/humanrts/belize.txt

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TITLE:  BELIZE HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE:  FEBRUARY 1995

                             BELIZE


Belize is a parliamentary democracy with a Constitution enacted
in 1981 upon independence from the United Kingdom.  The Prime
Minister, a Cabinet of Ministers, and a Legislative Assembly
govern the country.  The Governor General represents Queen
Elizabeth II in the largely ceremonial role of Head of State.
Both local and national elections are scheduled on a
constitutionally prescribed basis.

The Police Department is responsible for law enforcement and
maintenance of order.  It is responsible to and controlled by
civilian authorities, but there were occasional credible
reports of police abuse and mistreatment.

The economy is primarily agricultural.  The Government favors
free enterprise and generally encourages investment, both
foreign and domestic.  Preliminary estimates put 1994 gross
domestic product growth at 1.5 percent in real terms.

The Constitution provides for, and citizens enjoy in practice,
a wide range of fundamental rights and freedoms.  Principal
human rights abuses include occasional reports of police use of
excessive force when making arrests, prolonged incarceration
without trial, discrimination and domestic violence against
women, and employer mistreatment of immigrant workers in the
banana industry.

RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 1  Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
           Freedom from:

     a.  Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing

There were no reports of such killings.

     b.  Disappearance

There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances.

     c.  Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
         Treatment or Punishment

The Constitution expressly forbids torture or other cruel,
inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.  Nonetheless,
there were occasional credible reports of mistreatment and
abuse by police.  For example, during the Government's
well-publicized anticrime campaign against urban gangs, several
of those arrested alleged police abuse.  The Police Department,
the Police Complaints Board, and on occasion, special
independent commissions appointed by the Prime Minister
investigate any such allegations.  No police or prison officer
was charged with or convicted of such an offense in 1994.

     d.  Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile

The Constitution prohibits arbitrary arrest or detention, and
the authorities respect these provisions in practice.  The law
requires the police to inform a detainee of the cause of
detention within 48 hours of arrest and to bring the person
before a court within 72 hours.  In practice, the authorities
normally inform detainees immediately of the charges against
them.  Bail is granted in all but the most serious cases.
However, many detainees cannot make bail, and backlogs in the
judicial system often cause considerable delays and
postponements of hearings, resulting in overcrowded prisons and
prolonged incarceration without trial.

The Constitution forbids exile, and it does not occur.

     e.  Denial of Fair Public Trial

Persons accused of civil or criminal offenses have
constitutional rights to presumption of innocence, protection
against self-incrimination, defense by counsel, a public trial,
and appeal.  Trial by jury is mandatory in capital cases.
Those convicted by either a magistrate's court or the Supreme
Court may appeal to the Court of Appeal.  In some cases,
including those resulting in a capital sentence, the convicted
party may make a final appeal to the Privy Council in the
United Kingdom.  In December the Privy Council agreed to hear
three such appeals, thereby suspending the government-imposed
death sentences.

The authorities respect these constitutional guarantees in
practice, although observers question the judiciary's
independence from the executive branch, noting that judges and
the Chief Prosecutor must negotiate renewal of their employment
contracts with the Government and thus may be vulnerable to
political interference.  Some observers opined publicly that
the Chief Prosecutor's decision in December to drop a case
against two suspected major drug criminals might have been
influenced by such considerations.  The Supreme Court and
magistrate courts suffer backlogs aggravated by the inability
to maintain a full complement of judges.

There were no reports of political prisoners.

     f.  Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
         Correspondence

The Constitution provides for the protection of personal
property, privacy of home and person, and recognition of human
dignity, and the Government generally honors these provisions.
The law requires police to obtain judicial warrants before
searching private property, except when they have a reasonable
suspicion that a crime is being committed and do not have time
to obtain a warrant.  The police observe this requirement in
practice.  Customs officers do not need a warrant to search
private property.

Section 2  Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

     a.  Freedom of Speech and Press

The Constitution and local custom protect freedom of speech and
the press.  In practice, all viewpoints are publicly presented
without government interference.  Six privately owned weekly
newspapers, several of them fiercely partisan, engage in lively
debate.  The opposition press is a frequent critic of
government officials and policies.  All newspapers are subject
to the constraints of libel laws.  In 1994 the Prime Minister
won a libel suit against the opposition newspaper and was
awarded $12,500 in damages.

Belize's first privately owned commercial radio station began
broadcasts in 1990.  Since then, broadcast media have become
considerably more open.  The popular radio call-in programs are
lively and feature open criticism of and comment on government
and political matters.  Continuing indirect government
influence over the autonomous Broadcasting Corporation of
Belize, a former government monopoly which depends on
government financial support, sometimes affects its editorial
decisions regarding news and feature reporting.

There are 18 privately owned television broadcasting stations,
including several cable networks.  The Government's Belize
Information Service and the independent television station
channels 5 and 7 produce local news and feature programs.  The
Belize Broadcasting Authority (BBA) regulates broadcasting and
asserts its right to preview certain broadcasts, such as those
with political content, and to delete any defamatory or
personally libelous material from the political broadcasts of
both parties.  As far as is known, the BBA did not exercise
this authority during 1994.

The law provides for academic freedom and the Government
respects it in practice.

     b.  Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association

The Constitution provides for freedom of assembly and the
authorities honor it in practice.  Political parties and other
groups with political objectives freely hold rallies and mass
meetings.  The organizers of public meetings must obtain a
permit 36 hours in advance of the meetings; such permits are
not denied for political reasons.  The Constitution permits
citizens to form and join associations of their choice, both
political and nonpolitical.

     c.  Freedom of Religion

There is no state religion.  All groups may worship as they
choose, and all groups and churches may establish places of
worship, train clergy, and maintain contact with coreligionists
abroad.

     d.  Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
         Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation

There are no restrictions on freedom of movement within the
country.  Foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation are
unrestricted.

As many as 40,000 Central Americans from neighboring countries
have taken up residence in Belize since 1980, many of them
entering illegally and living in the country without
documentation.  Successive governments conferred refugee status
on nearly one-fourth of the new arrivals and provided them with
assistance.  However, the sheer number of refugees and other
immigrants strained government social services, while the
highly visible presence of recent immigrants in the labor force
and the marketplace has provoked widespread resentment among
native-born Belizeans.

Occasionally over the past few years, the Human Rights
Commission of Belize (HRCB) and others have complained that
immigration and law enforcement authorities abused suspected
illegal immigrants and in a few cases deported persons who in
fact were legal residents or bona fide refugees.  In response
to complaints, the Government promised to investigate all
charges of unfair treatment, discourtesy, or abuse.  The
Government claims that no specific evidence of these
allegations has been presented.  To facilitate greater
understanding between Belizean officials and the
Spanish-speaking people with whom they increasingly must work,
the Government instituted mandatory Spanish language training
for field officers in the Customs Service and Immigration and
Nationality Department.

Section 3  Respect for Political Rights:  The Right of Citizens
           to Change Their Government

Belize is a democracy governed by a Legislative Assembly, with
executive direction from a Cabinet of Ministers headed by Prime
Minister Manuel Esquivel.  The law requires national elections
at least every 5 years.

All elections are by secret ballot, and suffrage is universal
for citizens 18 years and older.  National political parties
include the People's United Party, the United Democratic Party
(UDP), and the National Alliance for Belizean Rights (NABR).
The nation's ethnic diversity is reflected in each party's
membership.  The Government changed hands (for the third time
since independence in 1981) in 1993 when a coalition of the UDP
and NABR won 16 of 29 seats in the House of Representatives.

Women hold a number of appointive offices, including three of
nine Senate seats.  One member of the House of Representatives
is a woman, but women in elective office are the exception
rather than the rule.  None hold senior positions in the
political parties.  No laws impede participation of women in
politics; their scarcity in Belizean electoral politics can be
attributed to tradition and socioeconomic factors.

Section 4  Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
           Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
           of Human Rights

The HRCB, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) affiliated with
regional human rights organizations, operates free of
government restriction on a range of issues, including refugee
and agricultural workers' rights, cases of alleged police
abuse, and cases of alleged illegal deportations of Central
American nationals.  The HRCB publicizes, and urges police and
other government bodies to act upon, complaints it receives.
Local and international human rights groups operate freely, and
the Government cooperates with independent investigations of
human rights conditions.

Section 5  Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
           Disability, Language, or Social Status

Belize is a multiracial, multiethnic country, and the
Government actively promotes tolerance and cross-cultural
understanding.  Discrimination on ethnic or religious grounds
is illegal and not common, although ethnic tension,
particularly resentment of recently arrived Central American
immigrants, continued to be a problem.

     Women

Despite constitutional provisions for equality, women face
social and economic prejudices.  For example, women find it
more difficult than men to obtain business and agricultural
financing and other resources.  Most employed women are
concentrated in female-dominated occupations with traditionally
low status and wages.  A Women's Bureau in the Ministry of
Labor and Social Services is charged with developing programs
to improve the status of women.  A number of officially
registered women's groups work closely with various government
ministries in promoting social awareness programs.  Women have
access to education and are active in all spheres of national
life, but relatively few are found in top managerial
positions.  While the law mandates that women receive equal pay
for equal work, women wage earners often earn less than men in
similar jobs.  Women are not impeded from owning or managing
land or other real property.

Domestic violence against women is a chronic problem.  The
Government took several steps to address domestic violence,
including a public education campaign conducted by the Women's
Services Office in the Ministry of Human Resources, as well as
the introduction in Parliament of a sexual harassment bill.
Women Against Violence (WAV), an NGO with branches throughout
the country, runs a shelter for battered women and a hotline
for rape victims.  WAV and other women's organizations
successfully lobbied the Government to secure passage of a
domestic violence law in 1992.  The law appears to have had an
effect in at least one instance.  In a much publicized case in
December, in which a court convicted Lorna James of murdering
her husband, the charge was later reduced to manslaughter
because Ms. James had been the victim of domestic violence
inflicted by her husband.

     Children

The Government formed a Family Services Division in the
Ministry of Human Resources devoted primarily to children's
issues.  The division coordinates programs for children who are
victims of domestic violence, advocates remedies in specific
cases before the Family Court, conducts a public education
campaign, and works with NGO's and the U.N. Children's Fund to
promote children's welfare.  The Government also created a
National Committee for Families and Children, chaired by the
Minister of Human Resources.

     People with Disabilities

The law does not mandate specifically the provision of
accessibility for disabled persons nor prohibit job
discrimination against them.  The Government's Disability
Services Unit, as well as a number of NGO's such as the Belize
Association of and for Persons with Disabilities and the Belize
Center for the Visually Impaired, provide assistance to
physically disabled persons.  Disabled children have access to
government special education facilities.

Section 6  Worker Rights

     a.  The Right of Association

By statute and in practice, workers are free to establish and
join trade unions.  Thirteen independent unions, with an
estimated 9.8 percent of the labor force, represent a
cross-section of white-collar, blue-collar, and professional
workers, including most civil service employees.  Several of
the unions, however, are moribund and inactive.  The Ministry
of Labor recognizes unions after they file with the Office of
Registry.  The law empowers members to draft the bylaws and
constitutions of their unions, and they are free to elect
officers from among the membership at large.  Unions which
choose not to hold elections may act as representatives for
their membership, but the National Trade Union Congress permits
only unions which hold free and annual elections of officers to
join its ranks.  Both law and precedent effectively protect
unions against dissolution or suspension by administrative
authority.

Although no unions are officially affiliated with political
parties, several are sympathetic to one or the other of the two
main parties.  Unions freely exercise the right to form
federations and confederations and affiliate with international
organizations.  The law permits unions to strike, but unions
representing essential services may strike only after giving
21 days' notice to the ministry concerned.  The Public Service
Union, which is the bargaining unit for some 1,400 civil
servants, staged a 3-day wildcat strike after talks with the
Government broke down over increased wages, but the strike was
not well-supported.

     b.  The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

The law provides for collective bargaining and unions freely
practice it throughout the country.  Employers and unions set
wages in free negotiations, or, more commonly, employers simply
establish them.  The Labor Commissioner acts as a conciliator
in deadlocked collective bargaining negotiations between labor
and management, offering nonbinding counsel to both sides.
Historically, the Commissioner's guidance has been voluntarily
accepted.  However, should either union or management choose
not to accept the conciliator's decision, both are entitled to
a legal hearing of the case, provided that it is linked to some
provision of civil or criminal law.

The Constitution prohibits antiunion discrimination both before
and after a union is registered.  Unions may freely organize,
but the law does not require employers to recognize a union as
a bargaining agent.  Some employers have been known to block
union organization by terminating the employment of key union
sympathizers, usually on grounds purportedly unrelated to union
activities.  Effective redress is extremely difficult in such
situations.  Technically, a worker may file a complaint with
the Labor Department, but it has been virtually impossible to
prove that a termination was due to union activity.

The Labor Code applies in the country's two export processing
zones (EPZ's).  There are no unions in the EPZ's, however,
reflecting the general weakness of organized labor in the
country, as noted above.

     c   Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

The Constitution forbids forced labor, and it is not known to
occur.

     d.  Minimum Age for Employment of Children

The minimum age for employment is 14 years, or 17 years for
employment near hazardous machinery.  Inspectors from the
Ministries of Labor and Education enforce this regulation,
although in recent years school truancy officers, who have
historically borne the brunt of the enforcement burden, have
been less active.  The law requires children between the ages
of 5 and 14 to attend school, but there are many truants and
dropouts.

     e.  Acceptable Conditions of Work

The minimum wage is $1.12 (B$2.25) per hour, except in export
industries where it is $1.00 (B$2.00) per hour.  For domestic
workers and shop assistants in stores where liquor is not
consumed, the rate is $0.87 (B$1.75) per hour.  The minimum
wage law does not cover workers paid on a piecework basis.  The
Ministry of Labor is charged with enforcing the legal minimum
wage, which is generally respected in practice.  The minimum
wage as a sole source of income is inadequate to provide a
decent standard of living for a worker and family.  Most
salaried workers receive more than the minimum wage.

The law sets the normal workweek at no more than 6 days or
45 hours.  It requires payment for overtime work and an annual
paid vacation of 2 weeks.  A patchwork of health and safety
regulations covers numerous industries, and the Ministries of
Labor and Public Health enforce these regulations in varying
degrees.  Enforcement is not universal countrywide, and the
ministries commit their limited inspection and investigative
resources principally to urban and more accessible rural areas
where labor, health, and safety complaints have been
registered.  Workers have the legal right to remove themselves
from a dangerous workplace situation without jeopardy to
continued employment.

The exploitation of undocumented foreign workers, particularly
young service workers and workers in the banana industry,
continues to be a major concern of the HRCB and other concerned
citizens.  Undocumented immigrants working in the Stann Creek
area banana industry have complained of poor working and living
conditions and routine nonpayment of wages.  In 1992 a
government labor inspector was assigned to the area to help
resolve wage disputes and promote improved conditions, but
after more than 2 years, little progress has been made.