Dickie on Detention of Minor: “That is not acceptable.”

According to Bradley, the prime minister is ill-advised on the matter involving the teenage minor.  The seasoned attorney then goes on to say that as signatory to several conventions, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Belize has an obligation to protect children.

 

Richard “Dickie” Bradley, Attorney-at-law

“That is an example of the persons around the prime minister who are offering him bad advice. It’s not for the prime minister to be knowledgeable of everything going on in the country, but there are persons who are specifically charged and paid to be responsible. The Minister of Police and the Minister of Human Development… Human Development, that is the ministry, because that inhumane development that is taking place. If they say to the prime minister, PM, we don’t want him in youth hostel or whatever because of so and so, what is the prime minister to do? The prime minister need fi somebody tell ahn, “PM, instruct dehn mek dehn tek da bwai outta jail right now and put him so and so and so. You can even put that child… that is not acceptable. It’s not acceptable fi di Commissioner of Police. We in this country, we are part of the regional and international community of nations, we have wah responsibility to look after children. If we are treating children like that then we are gone, then we are gone, because then dehn di grow up and other lee pickney di grow up and dehn di sih dehn thing and di hear dehn thing. You could know weh kinda influence; you could know weh di talk eena di streets bout Belize, how dehn man deh feel when dehn seh like, “F*** my bwai, dis da weh dehn do wid pickney yoh know, so and so.”