Human rights commission ‘takes shape’

Barbados is laying the groundwork for its first Human Rights Commission, with commissioner Kerryann Ifill saying consultations are underway to ensure the body reflects Barbadian concerns. 

The HRC aims to promote and uphold human rights and create legal and structural frameworks for national human rights protection.

Although she could not say when the commission would be fully established, Ifill, who was appointed to the post of Human Rights Commissioner last December, told Barbados TODAY that significant groundwork has already been completed.

She said: “We are now properly establishing the commission. We have not been idle for the last eight months as there has been an extensive amount of consultation going on so that when we bring something to Parliament and to the public, it is going to be reflective of a Barbadian reality,” 

The former Senate president said the consultation process included a national survey on human rights, meetings with various groups, international agencies, regional bodies and national experts on “all aspects” of human rights.

“We have done a national survey on human rights. We are meeting with various groups to discuss their perspective on human rights. In Barbados we have been meeting with international agencies, regional bodies, local experts, different teams so that when we do establish the human rights commission, it is something that citizens have fed into and it should be reflective of what Barbadians want to see, while in keeping with international best practices.”

The survey, which sought to assess public awareness and priorities regarding human rights across communities, highlighted gaps in public understanding, Ifill said. 

Many respondents wanted greater clarity about what their human rights were and how to determine when those rights had been breached, she added. 

“We need to have proper mechanisms for reporting because people say they don’t know when they consider their rights to be violated. They don’t know where to go, how to report that and where to report so we need to have that properly in place.

“Then we need to have something that is reflective of all the treaties that Barbados has ratified and signed onto.”

Ifill acknowledged that the commission was still in its formative stage and that, at present, she was the only person working at the commission, which falls under the Office of the Attorney General.

The work completed so far had been done with support from other government agencies, she said. 

“It’s a lot that we have been doing quietly.”
(JB)