BVI is one of the Virgin Islands in the Eastern Caribbean, with a population of about 22,000 people. The current Constitution dates from 2007 and contains a chapter on fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual that covers most of the rights contained in the ECHR and ICCPR. The Constitution provides for the creation of a Human Rights Commission that is mandated to investigate complaints about human rights violations, mediate such complaints and make recommendations to public bodies. In November 2010 the Premier announced that legislation to create the Commission would be introduced in the current legislative year.
BVI is currently bound by six UN human rights treaties: Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Convention against Torture (CAT), Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) also applies to BVI and individuals have the right to bring cases to the European Court of Human Rights where no other remedy exists in BVI.
Project activities 2008-2010
Two people from the Gender Affairs Office participated in the CEDAW workshop held in Anguilla in October 2010.
Project plans for 2011
In 2011, BVI will hold a 5 day human rights training for participants from public agencies and civil society from 4-8 July. As a result of the training, the current concerns about human rights will become clearer and the project will respond to those within its mandate.
In BVI, a steering committee is being created to help implement the project. The project contact is Emma Dean (Governor’s Office) and her email is emma.dean@fco.gov.uk