Former Acting Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, Sir Brian Alleyne, says Dominicans should understand the instruments of human rights in various institutions and prepare to fight to enforce them.
Sir Brian’s remarks are contained in a lecture which he gave in observance of the 800th Anniversary of The Magna Carta, on the topic: “Magna Carta and its influence on Human Rights in Dominica” at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Open Campus on Friday.
The Magna Carta was a powerful, iconic document signed by King John of Britain on June 15, 1215 which promised protection of Church rights, preservation from illegal imprisonment and access to swift justice. Today, Magna Carta symbolizes political responsibility for the defense of global human rights.
“We need to understand the instruments of our human rights in our institutions…we need to have an in-depth knowledge of them and be prepared to fight to enforce them. I don’t mean physically fight, but we need to stand up and be prepared to face the consequences …to ensure that our rights of our children and grand children are protected,” Sir Brian said.
“Instruments such as the Magna Carta and our own modern constitution that governs us today are tools placed in the hands of our citizenry to preserve and protect their own rights and interest, but like all tools, unless you take them in hand and in some cases plug them into the policies they remain impotent and useless, items on display that serve no useful purpose except as the decorations in our constitutional tool box,” he argued.
“You have a responsibility not only to yourself and your generation but to your children, grand children and grand children,” the former jurist admonished Dominicans.
Meanwhile, President of Caribbean Male Action Network (CariMAN) Dominica, Thomas Holmes, said the future of human rights, “lies in our hands and we must all act when human rights are violated or deprived,” adding, “States as well as individuals must take responsibility for the realization and effective protection and maintenance of human rights.”
Holmes believes that many problems are created due to lack of respect for each other.
“Some of the reasons why we have so much turmoil and disagreement are because many people do not respect other……..People find it very hard to tolerate others. Many people find it very hard to agree or disagree and because of this, many problems are being created.”
According to him, “Don’t matter who you are, don’t matter what your educational background is, we have to respect each other.”
Programme Manager of ChildFund Dominica, Gelina Fontaine, made the case for children to be educated about their entitlement as human beings.
“The children, the babies, the toddlers and the youth have to be learning from their parents, from their extended family and siblings consistently, in the home setting, in the school setting and the community setting, about choices, freedom of choice,” she said. “The different rights we are entitled to and how we have to treat people who are the same or different from us in some universal standard ways.”
The event was a collaborative effort of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Constitutional Affairs and Parliamentary Studies Unit in St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago and The UWI Open Campus in Dominica.
Students and teachers from various secondary schools including, the Convent High School(CHS), Dominica Grammar School, St Mary’s Academy (SMA) and the Dominica State College(DSC) were in attendance.
you should have addressed judicial review.that crooked defense that is used to delay crooks from facing the law for years. this should be removed from the law procedures.
It’s all good to understand and “fight” to enforce instruments of human rights. It is also imperative to have knowledge and understanding of what is called The Law which is the hand that holds and fashions the instruments of human rights. Of all the specialized skills in the world today, the average man knows very little and it affects him the most, the Lawyers call it The Law, they administer it, interpret it and enforcer it, using their own language. Why such power is entrusted in the hands of a few men who are overseers of justice. I wonder if this is divine.
In Dominica we are talking about human rights!!! Give me a break!!! Go ask the press if they have the rights to freedom of expression and freedom to access information from this government. Go ask mano and the. family of Joshua Etienne about their god given human rights to justice. One can even go ask Dr Pascal about the impingement on his freedom of association by the prime minister negative critiques.
One can even go further; what about the citizens rights to know the where about of its prime minister and he being accountable without being told its none of our damn business !!! What about our rights to peaceful protest without being threatened by hundreds of police officers bearing rifles? Or even our rights to free and fair elections!!! When all institutions fail we have a God given right to practice civil disobedience, to safeguard the future of our children. Brio stop the sugar coating and say what you mean without fear or favour.
Brian why you did not say so in 1980
Most of the times, when people talk about ‘Human Rights’, they are referring to an accused person, more or less they are expecting human rights for a convicted murderer and no human rights for the victim or the victim’s family. In that case, all human rights for victims are being trampled upon.
As a former poto Freedomite and a very strong supporter of Sir Brian Alleyne, I must confess that I am very disappointed in him and his silence when Dominica really needed to hear the wisdom and knowledge of people like himself during the last election. I feel he let down Dominica big time and I sure don’t want to hear him now. His voice would have made a BIG difference during the campaign especially when Skerrit was bringing down people to vote and was all over paying people to vote. I sure don’t need to hear you now Sir Brian
the uwp were doing the same thing dose LL respect anyone ?
i respectfully disagree.
Given the mindset of the labour supporters I don’t think his input would have much of a difference. And Sir Allyne has also taken his share of blows from the DLP torture machinery for the sake of democracy and the rule of law.
I wholeheartedly agree with you Brian. It is imperative that we respect others; free to agree and disagree. Many need to learn respect for others when communicating, verbally and written. We must provide our opinions, speak our truth, the truth but with respect.
Human rights is different to moral rights – morality. Some people appear not to know the difference.
Yes, this commences in the home, in school and in the community. These days this type of teaching is badly lacking among some adults and youths; not only in Dominica.
The youths are the future adults who, one day will assume their rightful place in society. Some will be politicians, prime ministers, educators, management, parents, etc. They must be taught appropriately. They, in turn will teach their children and subordinates.
The same with husbands and wives. We must accord others their rights and respect them. Devoid of these qualities is truly the cause of many problems as, divisions and disunity.
I concur! And invoking the spirit of Bob Marley, we need to “get up, stand, stand up for [your] rights.” The idea of human rights as presently obtains is so different from the practice of human rights! Certain responsibilities go hand in hand with human rights to act as a counter-balance. That the leader of a country can stand on any platform and publicly utter words to the effect that no law or Constitution can keep him back, denotes a real deficit in personal accountability and should be a catalyst for heeding Sir Brian’s call for every Dominican to “understand the instruments of human rights in various institutions … ” That aside, those instruments need to be seriously simplified.
The question, of the Magna Carta as it relates to human rights and constitutional desecration and sacrilege within the political climate in Dominica should be given more than lip service in an academic forum. With all due respect to Sir Brian Alleyne, Mr. Thomas and Ms. Geline Fontaine, who have seen it necessary to address the concern, there seems to be a reluctance to undeviatingly confront the stem of what all Dominicans know has become a problem.
There seems to be a double talk of generalities. “People need to be more tolerant of others.” “People have to agree to disagree.” These are only cliche`s. And, though they might sound good, that really does nothing to address the loftiness of the question.
Respect and human rights in any society starts with the leadership of the country and as long as the intellectuals and those who holds the reigns of power continues to BEAT AROUND THE BUSH these issues will never be resolved in our Dominica.
LEADERSHIP is the problem.
Praise the Lord for Brian Alleyne , equal rights and justice for all not just a few.
Well spoken Sir Brian. Please note mr. Skerrit, ” je suis Charlie”!
Pure Politics !
