TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

In the context of the UPR, Amnesty International has made the following recommendations to Trinidad and Tobago

The Death Penalty:

To immediately establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty, and to commute without delay all death sentences to terms of imprisonment;

To immediately remove all provisions in national law which are in breach of international human rights law, in particular by abolishing all provisions which provide for mandatory death sentences;

To ensure rigorous compliance in all death penalty cases with international standards for fair trial;

To refrain from proposing and adopting legislative and constitutional amendments which could result in the resumption of executions in violation of international human rights law and standards;

To ratify without reservations the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at abolition of the death penalty.

Discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons:

To repeal all provisions that criminalize same sex relations, including in the Sexual Offences Act;

To repeal provisions in the Immigration Act that are discriminatory against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons.

Excessive use of force by the security forces/ lack of independent investigations:

To ensure that all complaints of human rights violations by the security forces are subject to immediate, thorough and independent investigation, and that those found responsible are brought to trial in an expeditious manner;

To amend the Police Complaint Authority Act in order to ensure that the Police Complaint Authority has the necessary powers to investigate all alleged misconduct and allegations of human rights violations by members of the police force, including killings and torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment;

To ensure that the Police Complaint Authority has the power to refer cases for criminal prosecution to the public prosecutor and to suggest disciplinary measures to police departments;

To ensure that adequate resources are allocated to the Police Complaint Authority in order for it to effectively perform its investigative tasks, including funds to hire and train independent skilled investigators;

To ensure that members of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service are adequately trained on the appropriate use of force and firearms in accordance with international standards, including the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials;

To reform the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service in order to ensure that it is a representative of and responsive and accountable to the community as a whole;

To ratify and implement the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and its Optional Protocol, and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

Administration of justice :

To take adequate measures aimed at reducing court backlogs, expedite trials and reduce the length of pre-trial detentions, in line with international standards for fair trial;

To increase the number of attorneys-at-law in the Department of Public Prosecutions;

To provide adequate protection to all state witnesses in criminal trials, including by enhancing the Witness Protection Programme.

Violence against women and girls:

To establish specialized rape and sexual offences units within the police stations and to train police officers in adequately dealing with complaints of domestic violence;

To ensure satisfactory investigation and prosecution of cases of gender-based violence;

To increase the number - as well as strengthen the capacities and effectiveness - of shelters for victims of gender-based violence and their children;

To ensure the adoption and the co-ordinated implementation of the National Policy on Gender and Development.

Ratification of international human rights instruments:

To ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families;

To re-accede without reservations to the first Optional Protocol to the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights and to the American Convention on Human Rights.

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Trinidad and Tobago: Amnesty International's submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review

Other Amnesty International documents on Trinidad and Tobago

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