Caribbean News
Efforts to strengthen Human Rights-based and Gender-sensitive Policing in Saint Lucia
Press Release
Castries, August 15, 2024: Twenty officials involved in the management and administration of justice and citizen security in Saint Lucia participated in a 2-day workshop aimed at strengthening Enhance Equal Access to Justice for All in Saint Lucia.
The workshop was organized and facilitated by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), with coordination support by the United Nations Resident Coordinator Office for Barbados & the Eastern Caribbean’s (UN RCO) satellite office in Saint Lucia. This initiative is one of several interventions encapsulated in a consolidated offer by the United Nations to the Government , following a
development partners meeting organized by the United Nations Barbados and Eastern Caribbean Multi-Country Office in Saint Lucia in October 2023.
In alignment with the UNODC Strategy 2021-2025, the UNODC Strategic Vision for Latin America and the Caribbean 2022-2025, the Caribbean Multi-Country Sustainable Development Framework 2022- 2026, and the General Assembly resolution A/RES/78/227 on “Equal access to justice for all’’, UNODC aims to conduct a comprehensive assessment and programming initiative focused on human rights-based and gender-responsive policing in Saint Lucia. This intervention is designed to contributes to meeting SDG 16.3, which promotes the rule of law at national and international levels and ensures equal access to justice for all.
Anna Giudice, Team Lead of UNODC’s Access to Justice Team, under the Vienna-based Crime Prevention and Access to Justice Section, advised that a set of recommendations will be developed based on the workshop discussions, to inform further UNODC assistance to Saint Lucia in the area of police reform. She noted that: “the police are under pressure to perform with demands for safety security and justice. UNODC’s role is to support the police in executing their often-challenging duties.”
The workshop furnished key insights to enhance the implementation of human rights-based and gender-sensitive police reform in Saint Lucia. It aims to ensure police efficiency, effectiveness, fairness, inclusivity, and humane treatment of marginalized and excluded communities—such as victims of violence, youth, migrants, persons with disabilities, and the poor—thus building and sustaining community trust, accountability, integrity, and transparency, ultimately promoting safety and justice for all, while contributing to a safe society and prevention and responses to crime.
Acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of National Security, Mrs. Sarah Dupre-Cotter welcomed this initiative, noting that: We are immensely grateful for the assistance and efforts of the UNODC in organizing this gathering and trust that all participants will
immerse themselves in the presented material and utilize their expertise and experience so that, at the end of the session, viable recommendations can be presented to the UNODC, to facilitate their efforts in obtaining the necessary assistance to assist our continued efforts at police reform and equitable access to justice in Saint Lucia”.
In relating her perspectives on the workshop, Woman Police Constable (WPC), Rubinia Joseph expressed her preference for its interactive approach, which highlighted challenges, needs and actionable solutions in key areas including human rights-based policing; gender-responsive policing; victim-centered policing and evidence-based policing. She further noted, “the intervention by UNODC is timely, well-placed and tailored to meet the needs of the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (RSLPF) during this transformative period geared towards police reform and modernization.” WPC Joseph is hopeful that the workshop discussions will positively contribute to enhancing citizen security, justice and rule of law in Saint Lucia.
The workshop was held at on the 5th Foor of the Finance Administrative Center, Pointe Seraphine, Castries from august 14-15, 2024. Participants included representatives from the Ministry of Nations Security, particularly the RSLPF; the Ministry of Home Affairs (Fire Department, Parole and the Bordelais Corrections Facility); the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court and the Attorney General’s Chambers. Presentations were delivered by the UNODC and the Regional Security System (RSS).
By Deandrea Hamilton | Magnetic Media
October 14, 2025 – It’s being called political theatre — but for citizens, constitutional watchdogs, and democracy advocates across the Caribbean, it feels far more serious. Within a single week, two national parliaments — in Trinidad and Tobago and St. Kitts and Nevis — descended into turmoil as opposition members stormed out in protest, accusing their Speakers of bias, overreach, and abuse of parliamentary procedure.
For observers, the walkouts signal a deeper problem: erosion of trust in the very institutions meant to safeguard democracy. When Speakers are viewed as political enforcers instead of neutral referees, parliaments stop functioning as chambers of debate and start performing as stages for power and spectacle — with citizens left wondering who, if anyone, is still accountable.
October 6: St. Kitts Parliament Erupts
The first walkout erupted in Basseterre on October 6, 2025, when Dr. Timothy Harris, former Prime Minister and now Opposition Leader,
led his team out of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly in a protest that stunned the chamber.
The flashpoint came as the Speaker moved to approve more than three years’ worth of unratified parliamentary minutes in one sitting — covering 27 meetings and three national budgets — without individual review or debate.
Dr. Harris called the move “a flagrant breach of the Constitution and parliamentary tradition,” warning that the practice undermines transparency and accountability. “No serious parliament can go years without approving a single set of minutes,” he said after exiting the chamber.
The Speaker defended the decision as administrative housekeeping, but critics were unconvinced, branding the move a “world record disgrace.” The opposition’s walkout triggered renewed calls for the Speaker’s resignation and sparked a wider public discussion about record-keeping, accountability, and respect for parliamentary norms in St. Kitts and Nevis.
October 10: Trinidad Opposition Follows Suit
Four days later, on October 10, 2025, the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) in Trinidad and Tobago staged its own walkout from the House of Representatives in Port of Spain.
The UNC accused the Speaker of partisan bias, claiming she had repeatedly blocked urgent questions, ignored points of order, and allowed government members to breach standing orders without consequence.
“The Speaker has failed in her duty to act impartially,” the Opposition declared in a statement. “Parliament is not the property of any political party or Presiding Officer.”
The dramatic exit was seen as a culmination of months of rising tension and frustration, with opposition MPs arguing that parliamentary rules were being selectively applied to silence dissenting voices.
Political analyst Dr. Marcia Ferdinand described the twin walkouts as “a warning sign that parliamentary democracy in the Caribbean is teetering on the edge of performative politics.”
“When chairs become political shields rather than constitutional referees,” she said, “democracy becomes theatre, not governance.”
A Pattern Emerging
While St. Kitts and Trinidad are very different political environments, both incidents point to the same regional fault line: the perception that Speakers — the guardians of parliamentary order — are no longer impartial.
In Westminster-style systems like those across the Caribbean, the Speaker’s authority depends not on power but on public confidence in fairness. Once that credibility erodes, parliamentary control collapses into confrontation.
Governance experts say the implications are serious: eroded trust between government and opposition, declining public confidence in state institutions, and growing voter cynicism that “rules” are flexible tools of political advantage.
Why It Matters
Parliamentary walkouts are not new in the Caribbean, but what makes these recent events different is their frequency and intensity — and
the regional echo they’ve created. Social media has amplified images of lawmakers storming out, with citizens from Barbados to Belize questioning whether the same erosion of decorum could be happening in their own legislatures.
Analysts warn that if this perception takes hold, it risks diminishing the moral authority of parliamentary democracy itself.
“Once opposition MPs believe the rules are rigged, and once citizens believe Parliament is just performance,” said one Caribbean governance researcher, “you’ve lost the most valuable currency in democracy — trust.”
Restoring Balance
Political reformers across the region are calling for tighter Standing Order enforcement, independent parliamentary service commissions, and training to strengthen Speaker neutrality. Civil society leaders say the public must also play its part by demanding transparency and refusing to normalize partisan manipulation of parliamentary procedure.
Whether these twin walkouts become catalysts for reform — or simply another episode of Caribbean political theatre — will depend on what happens next inside those chambers.
For now, democracy watchers agree on one thing: when opposition leaders feel the only way to be heard is to walk out, the entire democratic house — not just its Speaker — is in danger of collapse.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
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