Mary Francis Renews Call For A National Human Rights Commission

Mary Francis, Director of the National Centre for Legal Aid and Human Rights Inc., has  commended the government’s disability awareness efforts, while renewing her call for establishing a National Human Rights Commission in Saint Lucia. Francis emphasised the urgent need for mechanisms to protect the rights of vulnerable populations, particularly persons with disabilities. “I think it’s a very good thing, a good approach that has been taken in terms of increasing awareness about the rise of persons with disabilities, persons with disabilities in Saint Lucia,” she said. “For some time now, there’s been lots of advocacy done by the organisation for persons with disabilities. And I think for the longest—over 20 years the policy was supposed to be in the making. Now there’s a policy.” Francis highlighted progress made in the development of regulations and Saint Lucia’s adherence to international standards such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. However, she stressed that without mechanisms for redress, policies alone are insufficient to protect human rights. “What is really missing in Saint. Lucia is a redress mechanism,” she told St. Lucia Times. “There should be a network. There should be an umbrella body. And for years,...