After nearly a decade of promises and false starts, it is high time for the Virgin Islands to establish a Human Rights Commission.
Such a body is needed in the territory, where rights abuses unfortunately are not uncommon.
The 2007 Constitution’s human-rights chapter was an important step in the right direction, but this document alone is no guarantee.
On the contrary, victims of rights violations too often have precious little recourse. They may be unable to afford a lawyer, for example, or they may fear for their job or their immigration status. In some cases, in fact, they may not even understand their rights well enough to identify a violation.
Sadly, there are people in the VI who take advantage of such weaknesses. They range from dishonest businesspeople to unscrupulous public officers to hardened criminals.
But the potential scope of the problem is larger than any individual: There also could be systemic failings in public processes or existing legislation that routinely lead to rights violations.
An HRC, which is provided for in the 2007 Constitution, wouldn’t solve such problems overnight, but it could help significantly by carrying out various functions:
• educating the public about their rights;
• hearing complaints and issuing advice to address them;
• serving as a watchdog and reporting abuses to the attorney general; and
• weighing in on rights-related legislation and public policy, to name a few.
Regrettably, leaders’ interest in moving forward with an HRC seems to have waned in recent years, even as they have called for another constitutional review.
In five Speeches from the Throne between 2008 and 2013, successive governments pledged to establish a commission. For a time, these promises were accompanied by action: In 2010 the Attorney General’s Chambers hosted public discussions about a draft Human Rights Act, and in 2014 the bill was tabled in the House of Assembly. However, it was subsequently removed from the legislature’s agenda with no explanation, and it has not been mentioned in subsequent Speeches from the Throne.
We don’t know the reason for the delay — the Beacon’s recent attempts to obtain an explanation from government proved unsuccessful — but we hope that leaders have not lost interest.
Though of course there would be a cost to establishing a commission, we see no reason why it should be prohibitive. Moreover, the Complaints Commission, which has long pushed for an HRC, has offered to accommodate one under its umbrella for the time being.
This would be a good first step, though it should not be regarded as a permanent solution.
Moving forward, then, government should establish an HRC straightaway. If this is not possible, leaders should fully explain any challenges and provide the public with a realistic timeline for getting it done in the near future.
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