On last night's news you saw the Southside Commander make, like, the umpteenth passionate defence of his southside curfew. Well, he needs to tell it all to UNICEF because that global child advocacy agency clings to the Convention on the Rights of the Child which says in Article 37, quote, "(b) No child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily. The arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child… shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time." Yesterday he told us that his curfew has the same goal as that convention.
Jules Vasquez
"Now there have been some complaints that this is a violation of the convention on the rights of the child, that you are depriving the child of his or her liberty. Moreover, you are doing it arbitrarily, it's not necessarily their fault that they're out there, it's the fault of the adults, who you can't reach so you victimize the children. That is an argument, how do you respond to that?"
ACP. Chester Williams, Commander, Southside
"My respond to that and to those critics is simply this, please tell me what is the primary objective of the United Nation Convention on the rights of a child? And if the objective is not to ensure the well-being and the protection of the child, and I will go further to say this, often times people talk about the right of a child and protection of children. I want to ask them what they have done for the children of Belize City to see that these children are brought up in a safe and secure environment. That these children are afforded the education that they so deserve so that they can have a future just like you and I, I want to challenge them and ask them that. So to those critics that you are talking about Jules, I challenge them to come to the table and tell us what have they done for the children of Belize City and what do they propose to do, to improve the livelihood of the children of Belize City. It is something Jules, that we must address, and as much as one may want to sit and criticize, I challenge them, come to the table. If you have a better idea or a better solution than what we are trying to do, please for Christ sake bring it. We have been here for long enough Jules, do we see any improvement in our society? No. now that a group of people are trying to make a difference, I would ask you and those who want to criticize us, to please come on board, join us in the endeavor to save our children and make our country a better Belize. On that note Jules, thank you very much."
The curfew has gotten political support from the Minister of Human Development, Anthony Boots Martinez who has committed social workers to support it.
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