From Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights

Countries of engagement

Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Canada, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and Grenada, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States of America with field presences in Haiti and Jamaica.

Engagement with the human rights mechanisms

Countries in North America have strong instruments for the protection of human rights: their respective constitutions afford important human rights protections and they have solid institutions and judicial systems to which individuals have recourse in cases of violations of their rights.

Canada underwent its second Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in April 2013. Out of the 162 recommendations it received, it accepted 122 on issues such as aboriginal peoples, racism, discrimination and xenophobia, violence against women and children, disabilities, refugees, trafficking and cooperation with international mechanisms. Recommendations were rejected on the basis that they called for specific actions that were not under consideration at the time of the review, in particular several recommendations regarding the ratification of international human rights instruments.

During the UPR of the United States in November 2010, the country received 228 recommendations. Out of these, it accepted or partially accepted 163 and rejected 45 recommendations related to ratification of treaties and withdrawal of reservations; the establishment of a national human rights institution (NHRI); an invitation to special procedures to Guantanamo and other United States- controlled overseas detention sites; a moratorium on the death penalty; and support and implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

All English-speaking Caribbean countries share similar histories, similar political and legal systems, as well as similar economic and social realities, including multi-ethnic, migrant and mobile populations. Suriname, although Dutch-

Speaking, also shares many characteristics with its neighbouring countries, including its membership in the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM.). Today, almost all Caribbean countries share the reality of uneven economic development and are affected by issues characteristic of small island states: energy insecurity; waste management; the severe impacts of natural disasters and climate change and the global financial turmoil.

Because of these common characteristics, similar human rights issues are found across the region.  Lack of awareness of human rights is common throughout the region.  The use of the death penalty and corporal punishment is a concern.  Small indigenous populations in some countries have been subjected to discrimination, as have migrants.

In addition, over the last decade, most Caribbean territories have experienced high rates of violent crime due to the activities of criminal gangs and increased trafficking in narcotics and small arms. Violence against women and children is rife. Problems in the administration of justice, including juvenile justice, police brutality and unsatisfactory prison conditions are present in all countries. Discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, national or ethnic origin, sex, descent, sexual orientation and gender identity is also of great concern.  Moreover, there are concerns about trafficking in persons and freedom of the press.

National protection systems are overall insufficient or inadequate, with weak national human rights institutions and civil society with differing levels of organization throughout the Caribbean sub region.

Thematic priorities

a) Strengthening the effectiveness of international human rights mechanisms with a focus on: ratification; submissions of reports by States, civil society actors, the NHRI and United Nations entities to treaty bodies, special procedures and the UPR; special procedures visits; and the establishment of national participatory bodies for reporting and implementing recommendations of human rights mechanisms.

b) Integrating human rights in development and the economic sphere with a focus on: the integration of recommendations from human rights mechanisms and a human rights-based approach in United Nations work.

c) Enhancing equality and countering discrimination with a focus on: legislation and policies on non- discrimination and equality.

d) Widening the democratic space with a focus on: national human rights institutions.

e) Combating impunity and strengthening accountability and the rule of law with a focus on: death penalty and counter-terrorism