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

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TITLE:  ST. VINCENT & GRENADINES HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE:  FEBRUARY 1995

                 ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES


A member of the Commonwealth of Nations and the Organization of
Eastern Caribbean States, St. Vincent and the Grenadines is a
parliamentary democracy.  Prime Minister James F. Mitchell and
his New Democratic Party (NDP) returned to power for an
unprecedented third term in free and fair elections held in
February.

The Royal St. Vincent Police, the only security force in the
country, includes a Coast Guard and a small Special Services
Unit with some paramilitary training.  The force is controlled
by and responsive to the Government, but there continued to be
occasional reports of the use of force and other extralegal
means to elicit confessions from suspects.

St. Vincent has a young population, a high rate of illiteracy,
and serious unemployment, possibly as high as 40 percent.  The
leading export product is bananas, which also represents the
major source of foreign exchange earnings.  The banana industry
throughout the Windward Islands suffered a severe downturn in
1993-94, and St. Vincent has not escaped the negative impact.
Efforts toward nontraditional economic diversification met with
some success in new agricultural products, luxury tourism
expansion, and in some industrial sectors.

The country's human rights problems continued to include police
use of physical abuse to extract confessions, the Government's
failure to punish those involved in such abuse, inadequate and
overcrowded prisons, and an overburdened court system.

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 political or other extrajudicial
killings.

     b.  Disappearance

There were no reports of disappearances.

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

The Constitution prohibits torture and other forms of cruel,
inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, and there were
no reports of such practices.  However, a very high percentage
of convictions (estimated at 90 percent by the regional human
rights group, Caribbean Rights) continue to be based on
confessions.  Many of these confessions resulted from
unwarranted police practices, including physical abuse during
detention, illegal search and seizure, and not properly
informing those arrested of their rights.  There were no known
instances of the Government trying, convicting, and punishing
police officers involved in such abuses.

There is no independent review board to monitor police activity
and to hear public complaints about police misconduct.
Caribbean Rights has advocated such a board to protect the
rights of citizens complaining of these activities.

Inadequate and overcrowded prisons remain a serious problem.
These conditions are particularly harsh for juvenile
offenders.  There is a small facility for delinquent boys, but
it is seriously inadequate and is generally used for those
already convicted through the criminal system.  In one case
police forced three youths aged 13, 14, and 15 to sit in a
police station for nearly 2 days awaiting processing of their
case.  Although separate legal statutes exist for youthful
offenders, there are no separate magistrates or prosecutors to
hear these cases.

     d.  Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile

The Constitution provides for persons detained for criminal
offenses to receive a fair hearing within a reasonable time by
an impartial court.  The Government made progress in addressing
the problem of slow administration of justice resulting from a
backlog of cases in 1993 by increasing the number of
magistrates from two to four.  While this reduced the backlog,
complaints remain regarding police practices in bringing cases
to court.  Some defense attorneys claim this has caused 6- to
12-month delays in preliminary inquiries for serious crimes.

There were no reports of instances of arbitrary arrest,
detention, or exile.

     e.  Denial of Fair Public Trial

The Constitution provides for public trials before an
independent and impartial court.  The court appoints attorneys
for indigent defendants only when the defendant is charged with
a capital offense.  Defendants are presumed innocent until
proven guilty and may appeal cases to a regional high court
system and ultimately to the Privy Council in the United
Kingdom.  There are no separate security or military court
systems.  There are no political prisoners.

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

The Constitution prohibits arbitrary search and seizure or
other government intrusions into the private life of individual
citizens, and there were no reports of such abuses.

Section 2  Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

     a.  Freedom of Speech and Press

The Constitution provides for freedom of speech and the press.
There are two major newspapers and numerous smaller, partisan
publications; all are privately owned, and most are openly
critical of the Government's policies.  There were no reports
of government censorship or interference with the operation of
the press.  Opposition political parties had equal access to
all forms of media during the 1994 elections.

The lone television station in St. Vincent is privately owned
and operates without government interference.  The Government
controls programming for the government-owned radio station.
There are no call-in talk shows; the Government canceled such a
show in 1988, claiming it was politically slanted.

     b.  Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association

The Constitution provides for these freedoms, and the
Government respects them in practice.

     c.  Freedom of Religion

All religions are free to practice and proselytize.  The
Constitution provides protection for these rights.

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

The law provides for these rights and the authorities honor
them in practice.

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

Citizens have the right to change their government through
regularly scheduled free and fair elections.  St. Vincent has a
long history of multiparty parliamentary democracy.  During the
1994 campaign, the two opposition parties united to challenge
the ruling New Democratic Party.  The effort was successful to
the extent that the "Unity" coalition won 3 of 15 parliamentary
seats--the NDP held all 15 prior to the election.  Since the
new Parliament convened, the opposition complained that the
ruling party has not complied with what the opposition asserts
is a constitutional obligation to answer questions it puts
forth.  Two separate cases of voting irregularities were filed
against the Government following the 1994 elections, but the
courts found them to be groundless.

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

Opposition political groups and the Vincentian press often
comment on human rights matters of local concern.  The St.
Vincent Human Rights Association, affiliated with the regional
body Caribbean Rights, closely monitors government and police
activities, especially with respect to treatment of prisoners,
publicizing any cases of abuse.  The Government is generally
responsive to public and private inquiries about its human
rights practices.

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

The Constitution provides for equal treatment under the law
regardless of race, sex, or religion, and the Government
adheres to this provision.

     Women

Violence against women occurs in St. Vincent, but the
Government has failed to take steps to determine the
seriousness of the problem.  Although some victims of domestic
violence are reluctant to press charges, women were
increasingly willing to report such incidents to police and the
National Council of Women.  Penalties for violent crimes
against women are identical to those involving acts of assault
perpetrated against men.  Depending on the magnitude of the
offense and the age of the victim, the penalty for rape is
generally 10 or more years in prison.  There are no mechanisms
to enforce support payments by men who father children--
legitimately or otherwise.

The Ministry of Education, Youth, and Women's Affairs has a
women's desk which assists the National Council of Women with
seminars, training programs, and public relations.  The minimum
wage law specifies that women should receive equal pay for
equal work.

     Children

The Social Welfare Office is the government agency responsible
for monitoring and protecting the welfare of children.  The
police are the enforcement arm--the Social Welfare Office
refers all reports of child abuse to the police for action.
Marion House, a social services agency established by the
Catholic Church in 1989, provides counseling and therapy
services.  Its director said that the problem of child abuse is
still underreported.  The legal age of consent in St. Vincent
is 15.

     People with Disabilities

There is no specific legislation covering those with
disabilities.  Most severely handicapped people rarely leave
their homes because of the poor road system and lack of
affordable wheelchairs.  The Government partially supports a
school for the disabled which has two branches.  A separate,
small rehabilitation center treats about five persons daily.

Section 6  Worker Rights

     a.  The Right of Association

By law, Vincentians have the right to form unions, organize
employees, and strike; these rights are generally respected in
practice.  However, there is no legislation for compulsory
recognition of trade unions, and--given the high level of
unemployment--participation in unions has decreased to about 10
percent of the work force.  Several existing unions united in
1994 to form a new union, the National Congress of Labour.
This move toward unification reflects the need for unions to
combine in order to survive.  There were no major strikes in
1994.

     b.  The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

There are no legal obstacles to organizing unions; however, no
law requires employers to recognize a particular union as an
exclusive bargaining agent.  Some companies offer packages of
benefits with terms of employment better than, or comparable
to, what a union can normally obtain through negotiations.  The
law prohibits antiunion discrimination by employers against
union members and organizers.  Generally effective mechanisms
exist for resolving complaints.  The authorities can order
employers found guilty of antiunion discrimination for firing
workers without cause (including for participation in union
activities) to reinstate the workers.

There are no export processing zones in St. Vincent.

     c.  Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

Forced or compulsory labor is illegal and does not exist.

     d.  Minimum Age for Employment of Children

The law sets the minimum working age at 16, although a worker
must be 18 to receive a national insurance card.  The labor
inspection office of the Ministry of Labour monitors and
enforces this provision, and employers generally respect it in
practice.  There is no known child labor except for children
working on family-owned banana plantations, particularly during
harvest time.

     e.  Acceptable Conditions of Work

The law sets minimum wages, which were last promulgated in
1989.  They vary by sector and type of work and are specified
for several skilled categories, including attendants, packers,
cleaners, porters, watchmen, and clerks.  In agriculture the
wage for workers provided shelter is $0.82 (EC$2.25) per hour;
skilled industrial workers earn $7.36 (EC$20) per day, and
unskilled workers earn $3.68 (EC$10) per day.  In many sectors
the minimum wage is not sufficient to provide a decent standard
of living for workers and their families, but most workers earn
more than the minimum.  There is no legislation concerning the
length of the workweek; however, the general practice is to
work 40 hours in 5 days.  The law provides workers a minimum
annual vacation of 2 weeks.

According to the Ministry of Labour, legislation concerning
occupational safety and health is outdated.  The most recent
legislation, the Factories Act of 1955, has some regulations
concerning only factories, but enforcement of these regulations
is ineffective due to a lack of inspectors.  Workers can remove
themselves from dangerous workplace situations without jeopardy
to continued employment.