BELIZE CITY, Wed. Sept. 12, 2018– Last week, Statutory Instrument (SI) no. 49 of 2018, which declared two gang neighborhoods on the southside of Belize City as public emergency areas, was signed and came into effect. SI 49 of 2018 gave security forces wider powers to arrest and detain persons in the declared areas: George Street and Banak Street.
Last week, Deputy Police Commissioner, Chester Williams, told the media that by means of the emergency powers, persons can be detained for up to one week, before they are told the reason for their detention.
Yesterday, Tuesday, while on our way to attend a Ministry of National Security press briefing, we passed near the holding cell area of the Queen Street Police Station, also known as “Piss House”, and those detained appealed to media workers to take up their cause.
Today marks exactly one week since the early morning sweep of the two neighborhoods landed about 100 persons into police custody.
We called Deputy Commissioner Williams, to inquire about the status of the arrested men. His only response to several questions we asked him about the matter of the men in police custody was, “no comment.”
Chief Executive Officer at the Kolbe-managed Belize Central Prison, Virgillo Murillo, told us this afternoon that none of the persons arrested under the state of public emergency has been taken to the prison.
“We should be getting some of them today,” Murillo informed us, before adding, “I don’t know how much or what time they will bring them.”
While the emergency declaration in the two areas gives police the authority to detain persons, many persons feel that the act of confining them for an extended period in the police’s holding cells is bordering on the inhumane, given the condition of the holding cells. These detainees have no place to sleep, except on the concrete floor, and they have no bathroom privacy and they are not provided with meals.
Under the state of public emergency, the ordinary constitutional rights that are guaranteed under the Belize Constitution have been suspended. The concern expressed by the Belize Bar Association and the Belize Human Rights Commission is that the basic human rights of these individuals should not be violated.