Tuesday 26 July, 2022
Gang violence in Haiti terrorizes the capital, UN urges Haitian authorities to protect citizens
The UN Human Rights Office expressed deep concern about gang violence in Haiti including murders and sexual violence. It calls on the authorities to ensure that citizens are protected from the most atrocious of crimes. Read the full statement from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Between January and June, the UN recorded 934 killings, 684 injuries, and 680 kidnappings across the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Human Rights Watch urged governments from Latin America, Europe, and the United States to immediately stop sending people back to Haiti until the country’s conditions improve. Since the beginning of July, various gangs have been competing for control of the Nan Brooklyn neighborhood in the Cité Soleil zone of Port-au-Prince.
The St Lucia Times reported that 17 people died off the coast of New Providence, an island in the Bahamas, when a boat carrying Haitian migrants capsized. Officials from the Bahamas’ Public Hospitals Authority said the dead consisted of 15 women, one man, and one child – a girl estimated to be four or five years old. There were 25 survivors. Bahamian officials are operating under the assumption that the boat was carrying 60 people. The search continues to find the remaining people.
Caribbean History
E.B. John, retired human resources director of the Guyana Sugar Corporation, recollects 100 years of the British Guiana Labour Union by the British Government – the first labor union in the British Empire. Read more by Kaieteur News here.
Decolonization
Jamaican patois is a valid language, Carolyn Cooper argues in her recent blog. Those who only acknowledge English as Jamaica’s formal language fail to recognize the cultural and prolific significance of the Jamaican language, she says. Read more here.
Human Rights
The Pride Parade has returned to the streets of Guyana, and the members of the LGBTIQA+ community are relieved that they can celebrate their true identity with supportive friends and allies. Being an open member of the LGBT community in Guyana can sometimes lead to people being harassed, bullied, and fired at their workplace, so the return of revelry and Pride to the streets of Guyana brought a sense of safety and joy to many. News Room Guyana Reports.
A new law will create a referendum on same-sex marriage in Cuba on September 25. If passed, the law “would legalize same-sex marriage and civil unions, as well as allow same-sex couples to adopt children,” according to DW.
Eight police officers from Trinidad and Tobago have been charged and arrested for the 2020 triple murder of men from depressed communities such as Morvant and Laventille. This happened weeks after a protest caused by another police shooting. In 2020 police shootings rose by 86 percent. Read more from Global Voices and the Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.
A St. Vincent and the Grenadines High Court Judge awarded damages to an Owia man who was shot by a police officer from the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force in an unprovoked attack. i Witness News from St Vincent and the Grenadines and the Asberth News Network reports.
The trial for three police officers accused of the extrajudicial killing of Edwin Іхраtес in Belize started on July 21. The officers attached to the Ѕаn Реdrо Роlісе Fоrmаtіоn were accused of beating the man to death in 2016. Breaking Belize Now reports.
A group of Venezuelan children who were detained at the Heliport in Chaguaramas Trinidad and Tobago intend to sue the country for unlawful detention. The UK Privy Council found it unlawful to keep migrant children detained without issuing deportation orders in their names. The Trinidad Express reports.
Barbados was rated Tier 2 in dealing with Trafficking in Persons (TIP) from the United States. A TIP report was done on certain CARICOM countries in 2022 and it found that the government increased its efforts in investigating trafficking cases, improving victim screening, and assessing if the state inappropriately incarcerated victims. Nation News reports.
The New Democratic Party (NDP) from St Vincent and the Grenadines is calling on the government to reinstate public servants who were fired because they did not comply with the vaccine mandate. The NDP said while vaccinations are important, mandating someone to take something against their will was undemocratic. Other countries, they said, reconsidered their vaccine mandate. Read more by the Asberth News Network.
The Accompong Maroons of Jamaica are suing the Government of Jamaica and the Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT) over the boundaries of their ancestral land in Cockpit Country. The lawsuit was filed on May 6, 2022, and outlines redress for a declaration of title under the Registration of Titles Act for the Maroon’s sovereignty. Loop News reports.
In Guyana, The National Toshaos Conference was held in mid-July under the theme ‘Good Governance and Fast-Tracking Amerindian Development’. This Stabroek News editorial evaluated the relationship between the government and the indigenous peoples of the country. Read more here.
The Stabroek News editorial accuses the government of Guyana of showing “no serious interest in the meaningful, long-term enhancement of the quality of life of Amerindians in their communities.” The editorial states that the government’s interest in the Indigenous population starts and ends with their voting power. Read more here.
Environmental activists from Puerto Rico are camping out on the beach trying to avoid coastal development and the privatization of public land, particularly the public beaches. Last year, construction of a condominium at the Los Almendros beach in Rincón began. A lower court in Puerto Rico ruled in favor of demolishing the structure earlier this year, but the condominium owners repeatedly appealed the court’s decision. Read more from The Guardian.
Energy
Guyana’s Local Content Act obligates businesses in the energy sector to put priority towards hiring Guyana’s nationals and develop the skill set of locals in the country. However, some of the penalties in the Act are punishable by a fine, and as such, energy companies can calculate if they want to adhere to the law or spend the money and hire whoever they want. Demerara Waves discusses this, and diversity, equity, and inclusion in this article.
In the seventh consecutive week of protests in Guyana, protestors took to the streets to demand the government independently verify how much oil and gas resources the country has. To date, 11 billion barrels of oil have been discovered. Read more by Kaieteur News.
In week eight of the protests, the protesters became inflamed following Guyana’s Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo’s statement that the country does not need more money from its oil and gas arrangements with international energy companies. One unnamed protestor said Jagdeo was out of touch as Guyanese residents have been struggling to make ends meet and children were going to school with no lunch. Read more from Kaieteur News here.
Former head of Guyana’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr. Vincent Adams believes the EPA’s ruling that ExxonMobile’s application for a 35-well exploration drilling campaign will not, by itself, significantly affect the environment, could be dangerous for Guyana. Kaieteur News Reports
The cost of energy is high in Puerto Rico. The global rise of fossil fuel rates has raised the country’s electric rate from 18.2 cents/kWh in January 2021 to 33.4 cents/kWh. To put it in perspective, the average Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) ratepayer spends eight percent of their income while the average in the US is 2.4%. The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis suggests increasing renewable energy to cut fuel costs.
Climate Justice
Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are being disproportionately affected by climate change, which makes them even more vulnerable to catastrophes such as the COVID-19 pandemic. SIDS need urgent access to support both financially and through building the capacity of locals to become resilient to the natural disasters, social issues, and economic problems they are experiencing. This report gives an overview of the main challenges SIDS experiences in accessing climate financing and provides realistic and actionable solutions for policymakers and funders. Download this report by Trinbagonian head of Climate Analytics-Caribbean, Rueanna Haynes here.
Nickson Barry has been a member of the Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN) since 2014. He’s been the President of the Grenada Chapter, Deputy Regional Chairman, and Regional Chairman. Climate change, he said, has been treated as a political issue, but it affects the lives of everyone. Rising seas affect how far fishermen take out their boats, and individual consumers must be conscious of what products they are buying and how it affects the environment. Read more from the Spotlight on Caribbean Climate - Volume No. 1 / Issue No. 4 a Newsletter of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre.
Temperate countries from the US and Europe are joining the climate crisis club now that they are experiencing lethal heat waves throughout their countries. Small Island Developing States (SIDS) from the Caribbean and the Pacific, however, have been warning the larger countries of the detriments of climate change on their countries for years. Now, countries such as Spain and Portugal have wildfires destroying their forestlands. The UK is under an amber alert indicating the extreme heat will have a detrimental effect on people’s daily life. The US is the second emitter of CO2, contributing 14%. The first is China with 29%. Sir Ronald Sanders, Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States of America and the Organization of American States, talks about the global effort to combat the climate crisis. Read more from the Antigua News Room.
Antigua and Barbuda is actively working on trying to adapt to the changing climate. It has become innovative in finding financing mechanisms to fund climate adaptation and mitigation. While it is still quite challenging to obtain all the financing needed to protect and adapt against climate change, it is important for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to utilize all possible channels of financing, increase their capacity and advocate with international bodies that have committed to the Paris Agreement. The Commonwealth reports.
The Caribbean Investigative Journalism Network with support from the Open Society Foundations has launched a series of investigative journalism pieces on the situation of climate change in the region. Follow their Facebook page. Click here to read the work they’ve done about climate justice in the Caribbean.
Climate and Environmental Justice
A study on the Punta Catalina Thermoelectric Power Plant (CTPC) in the Dominican Republic has found that the plant has contaminated a large part of the country, all of Haiti and the east coast of Cuba and Jamaica. A report from Hoy said, “This pollution consists of the emission of 2.5 micron microparticles, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, as well as fly ash from coal, acid and mercury, toxic substances that affect human health, according to the study.”
Developers in Barbuda have been accused of “greenwashing.” Researchers from a Swiss firm interviewed more than 70 Barbudans to find out how the Peace, Love and Happiness (PLH) project, a residential and tourism development, is affecting the culture and environment. The Antigua Observer reports. To read more on the Global Legal Action Network’s Tweet about this matter, click here.
A vessel delivering diesel to Grand Exuma in the Bahamas spilled approximately 159,000 liters of diesel fuel into the ocean on July 20. MSN reports.
Finance and Debt
The US’ Financial Oversight and Management Board rejected a Puerto Rico bill that would have restructured the island's $9 billion debt. Puerto Rico is a poor state, and the cost of energy is so high, and blackouts are so common, that residents have taken it upon themselves to install solar panels in their homes and businesses at an unprecedented rate. Read more from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
As more people in Puerto Rico choose to buy solar panels to avoid high electricity costs, this means there is less revenue from electric rates to pay the bondholders of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA). Read more from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
The United States should deepen its relationship with CARICOM by “(sending) a cabinet-level delegation led by (Vice President Kamala) Harris to attend” CARICOM’s next meeting in February, increasing development financing to the region, and “improving the US-CARICOM economic relationship through the Cities Forward Initiative announced at the Summit of the Americas. For example, expanding financial relations between CARICOM countries and local banks in the United States can help address de-risking in the region,” according to the Atlantic Council.
Food Security
The US Congress rejected an amendment that would allow US farmers to export food to Cuba on credit. The vote was 163 votes in favor, 260 against, and 13 abstentions. Democrats contributed 162 ballots in favor. There was one positive vote from a Republican. Cuba has a deep food shortage. The US’ economic sanctions against Cuba prevent the island from buying US agricultural products on credit, a more viable mechanism for the acquisition of imported food, La Joven Cuba reports.
Gender
What is the role of men in sex and gender equality? This is the question Trinidad and Tobago’s Equal Opportunity Commission asked at the third episode of their show Sex and Prejudice which aired on TTT. One panelist spoke about teaching men and boys that it was okay to ask for help, while another said there needs to be a restructuring of how language is used to reinforce stereotypical gender roles. Read more on the EOC’s newsletter here.
Culture
Penguin Books’ leading publisher in non-fiction, Allen Lane, won an auction for a manuscript about the history of Britain’s relationship with the Caribbean by academic Christienna Fryar.
The book, Entangled Lands: A Caribbean History of Britain from Matthew Marland at Rogers, Coleridge & White will be published in spring 2023. The book addresses English piracy in the 16th century, to colonization, slavery, the struggle for emancipation, right up to the 'Windrush' scandal. Read more from The Bookseller.
Events
The Caribbean Centre for Human Rights in collaboration with Dialogue Solutions is presenting its latest human rights virtual dialogue: “Deconstructing Criminal Justice: A Dialogue on Youth, Crime and the Justice System”. It will happen on Thursday 28 July at 12 - 1:30 p.m. AST. Register here. It can be viewed live on Dialogue Solutions’ Facebook page.
Opportunities:
To assess the far-reaching impacts of the rising cost of living, determine how people are earning a living, and see how the impact of global issues such as COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine affects the Caribbean region, CARICOM has launched the Caribbean CARICOM Food Security & Livelihoods Impact Survey. Take the survey here.
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