A proposed change to the Constitution is stirring up serious debate and it’s all about how far the government should go to fight crime. The Thirteenth Amendment Bill would give the state sweeping new powers to declare ‘special areas’, zones where police could search, seize, and arrest without a warrant, all in the name of public safety. It also proposes a new Gun and Gang Court and aims to retroactively validate past states of emergency, including those already challenged in court. Supporters, including Commissioner of Police Doctor Richard Rosado, say it’s a bold step to tackle rising crime. But not everyone’s on board, especially the Belize Association of Defense Attorneys, who say this goes way too far. In a strongly worded letter to the National Assembly, they warn that the bill could erode civil liberties, weaken democracy, and give too much unchecked power to the government.
Audrey Matura, Attorney-at-law
“Well we object to it for several reasons, definitely the legal reasons. But I also object to it for the humanitarian and social reasons. As that bill is, it gives too much power to whoever is in government and it’s extending the police’s power and in addition, it is saying that they can create auxiliary forces. Auxiliary forces may be people not properly trained to deal with civilians in times of crisis, or, it can be ex-military people who are trained to kill, which is a different kind of training that they get. So I don’t think it is well thought out. Even more violating is the fact that it is being made retroactive. So what has happened, in case people weren’t following up, there were some Belizeans who took the government to court because of the previous SOE’s. The states of emergency that were locking down people for three months, without any trial, without any access to attorneys, without any due process. So imagine, there were men who were locked up every three months, every three months and some people went up to twelve months being locked up every minute. They went to court and won the case.”
