HANDBOOK TO THE CARICOM
TREATY FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PUBLIC SEX OFFENDER REGISTRIES
Written by Jonathan
Bhagan LLB. L.E.C. for the Caribbean
Committee Against Sex Crimes
This draft handbook
is aimed at explaining and expounding upon the proposed policies
in the draft treaty.
Q: What
is a Treaty how does it work?
A Treaty is an agreement in international law that is entered into by Sovereign Nation States and International Organizations. Treaties bear some similarities to contracts and other forms of agreements between parties.
A treaty may also be called an (international) agreement, protocol, covenant, convention, pact, or exchange of letters, among other terms. Regardless of terminology, all of these forms of agreements are, under international law, equally considered treaties and the same rules apply to all.
A treaty can be used to establish an international organization such as the AGREEMENT ESTABLISHING THE CARIBBEAN COURT OF JUSTICE.
A Treaty is an agreement in international law that is entered into by Sovereign Nation States and International Organizations. Treaties bear some similarities to contracts and other forms of agreements between parties.
A treaty may also be called an (international) agreement, protocol, covenant, convention, pact, or exchange of letters, among other terms. Regardless of terminology, all of these forms of agreements are, under international law, equally considered treaties and the same rules apply to all.
A treaty can be used to establish an international organization such as the AGREEMENT ESTABLISHING THE CARIBBEAN COURT OF JUSTICE.
Treaties
can also be used to recognize fundamental human rights as seen in the International Convention on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR). Once these rights are recognized avenues of
redress can be created whereby citizens of a nation whose rights have been
infringed can bring their case before an international body.
Furthermore Treaties can be used to create
binding obligations for nations to change their domestic laws.
Q: Why is the Caribbean Treaty Against Sex Crimes necessary?
i. To safeguard against
convicted offenders moving from one Jurisdiction to
another.
At present there are insufficient safeguards to deal
with individuals
previously convicted of sex crimes who move from one country to another.
This is illustrated by a report in
the Trinidad Express dated April 30th 2011 where a teacher
previously convicted of sexually assaulting
his pupils
in the United States of
America (USA) was
allowed to teach at an all-girl
school in Trinidad.
Under this treaty offenders like this
would be made to register in any country in
which they reside, and said offender
would be barred from
obtaining jobs
that could
facilitate future
sex crimes.
ii. To
improve the Victims Support policies throughout the Caribbean
Victim support
is crucial in both helping victims make a full recovery and in increasing the conviction rate of these crimes. Most victims of sex crimes never report them out of fear
or shame.
Furthermore, unless a victim is
properly counseled and coached they may be an ineffective witness at trial.
iii. Some Caribbean
Territories have no sex offender’s
registry.
Based on preliminary research, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica are the only
Caribbean countries which have sex offender registry policies. The rest of the Caribbean seems to
be
lagging behind.
.
Q: What are the objectives of the Treaty?
Q: What are the objectives of the Treaty?
1. To establish a regional sex offenders
registry and mandate that signatories establish local sex offenders registries;
2. To create a system of notification to track whenever an offender
moves from one jurisdiction to another and to ensure that sex offenders
registered in non-signatory states are registered when they move into the
Caribbean region. This will work alongside the proposed US International
Megan's Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking (H.R. 4573).
3. To
mandate that signatories bring their laws and policies dealing with sex crimes
in accordance with international law and international best practice.
4. To
mandate that signatories establish victims’ support units in their respective
jurisdictions to provide practical assistance to victims of sex crimes;
5. To mandate that a system of
treatment, rehabilitation and reintegration be established for former offenders
in ensuring that their rate of recidivism is reduced and are able to integrate
into society;
6. To
ensure that a convicted perpetrator of a sex crime is never employed in a
situation that facilitates their predilections; and
7. To
introduce measures that increase the conviction rate of perpetrators of sex
crimes, deter future offenders and also in accordance with human rights law,
protect these offenders from discrimination.
Q: Why create
an Obligation to establish local Sex Offender Registries?
A: Only a handful of countries
in
the Caribbean region
have a sex offender registry laws
in place. Furthermore in the case of Trinidad and Tobago, the present day registry is
kept
highly confidential and parties that have legitimate interest in accessing the
information cannot do so easily e.g. Public
Schools and Universities.
Q: Why create a regional sex offender registry?
A: With the establishment of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy, freedom
of movement was
guaranteed by the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas
for certain classes of individuals. With this freedom
of
movement comes
the risk
of
sex offenders crossing borders and committing crimes with impunity. A regional sex offender’s registry will
ensure
greater protection for
the
citizens of the Caribbean region.
Q: Will this registry be made available to
the
public?
A: More research needs to be done to see if the registry should be made available to
the
public at large like it is
in the USA. There is
a risk
that persons may hunt down these
registered offenders, victimize them or
target them for
criminal
behavior as well. The pros and cons of publishing the registry online must be weighed and analyzed.
But it
is essential to ensure that this information is made available to every
organization that has
a relevant interest e.g. schools, employers,
immigration authorities
etc.
At present this level of disclosure of information is
not available throughout most of
the
Caribbean.
Q: Is it
necessary to form partnerships with other organizations and
nation states to achieve the objective of
reducing sex crimes?
A: Partnerships with the United States of America (USA), United Kingdom
(UK)
and other nations that have implemented sex offender registries
are necessary for
the
success
of
this policy.
The goal is for every registered offender entering or
leaving the Caribbean region to be monitored. Thus if a registered offender
who is a United States
(US) citizen goes
to the Caribbean region his
movements would be monitored, and vice versa if a Caribbean
person moved to the US or another nation. This data sharing may prove invaluable in
tracking the movements
of
habitual sex offenders and persons
involved in.
Q: What other
laws provide the inspiration and/or
basis of this treaty?
The treaty was in part inspired by the United States’ International Megan's Law to Prevent Demand for
Child Sex Trafficking (H.R. 4573).The Caribbean Treaty against
Sex
Crimes is intended to work in concert
with this US law to
maximize the effectiveness of both. The International
Megan's Law to Prevent Demand
for Child Sex Trafficking (H.R. 4573) is
a bill
that
would require the notification of foreign governments when an American registered as a child sex offender
The bill would require that notice be given to other countries
when registered American sex offenders travel to their countries.[2] The United States
Secretary of State would also be allowed to limit or
place restrictions on the travel
of
convicted sex criminals.[2] Finally, the bill would ask
the
President of the United States to attain
reciprocal deals with other
countries
so that the United States would be
informed when foreign sex criminals travel
to the United States.[2]
Q: Why create an Obligation
for offenders to register with local authorities and
declare their status as an
offender?
A: In order
to prevent sex offenders from slipping through the proverbial cracks in the bureaucratic
process, it is deemed necessary for
offenders
themselves to register with
local authorities of their own volition.
.
Q: How does this Treaty deal with the issue of the differences between the laws dealing with Sex Crimes in each Nation State?
One obstacle to a regional Sex Offenders registry is that each nation state has different laws dealing with Sex Crimes. An act that may be considered aggravated sexual assault under one nation’s legislation may be considered rape in another nation. To deal with this issue a special clause was drafted that provides for the Treaty to deal with sex crimes regardless of what terminology each nation state uses to categorize them. The clause provides for Treaty to deal with any offences that have the same constituent elements as those listed in the Schedule to the Treaty e.g. the act of Grabbing someone’s genitals would be used to categorize the crime in question regardless of what any nation may call said crime.
Essentially a sex crimes equivalency schedule would be created for each nation state. Each sex crime would be categorized according to the acts that constitute the crime and the relevant legislation criminalizing said act in every nation state. Then these acts and their local legislation would be matched up with the terminology used by the schedule of sex crimes provided for in the Treaty. This is necessary in order to bring every nation’s sex offenders registry onto one regional database without conflicts.
Q: How does this Treaty deal with the issue of the differences between the laws dealing with Sex Crimes in each Nation State?
One obstacle to a regional Sex Offenders registry is that each nation state has different laws dealing with Sex Crimes. An act that may be considered aggravated sexual assault under one nation’s legislation may be considered rape in another nation. To deal with this issue a special clause was drafted that provides for the Treaty to deal with sex crimes regardless of what terminology each nation state uses to categorize them. The clause provides for Treaty to deal with any offences that have the same constituent elements as those listed in the Schedule to the Treaty e.g. the act of Grabbing someone’s genitals would be used to categorize the crime in question regardless of what any nation may call said crime.
Essentially a sex crimes equivalency schedule would be created for each nation state. Each sex crime would be categorized according to the acts that constitute the crime and the relevant legislation criminalizing said act in every nation state. Then these acts and their local legislation would be matched up with the terminology used by the schedule of sex crimes provided for in the Treaty. This is necessary in order to bring every nation’s sex offenders registry onto one regional database without conflicts.
This work around will enable the regional
registry to begin operation without each signatory state amending their sexual
offences legislation in their respective parliaments. This will also help
preserve the sovereign right of each state to determine its own local
legislation to some extent; if a signatory to the treaty makes a reservation
against enacting newer legislation dealing with sex crimes they can still be
part of the regional sex offender registry. Furthermore sex crimes equivalency
schedules can be created for every nation who may partner with the sexual
offences registry outside of the Caribbean region e.g. the United States,
Canada, the United Kingdom, nations in Latin America and the European Union.
If however a country has no criminal offence for a particular act that is criminalized on the Treaty e.g. grooming an child for the purposes of trafficking/sexual activity , it would be necessary for that country to bring its laws in line with what is dealt with in the Treaty. However there would still be freedom for said country to enact its own penalties and policies in dealing with said sex crimes.
If however a country has no criminal offence for a particular act that is criminalized on the Treaty e.g. grooming an child for the purposes of trafficking/sexual activity , it would be necessary for that country to bring its laws in line with what is dealt with in the Treaty. However there would still be freedom for said country to enact its own penalties and policies in dealing with said sex crimes.
Q: Why place limitations on registered
offenders?
A: It is
essential that limitations be placed on registered sex offenders to
prevent situations
that may allow them to reoffend. It would be absurd for example, to allow a registered offender convicted of child molestation to work at a
kindergarten.
Q: Why is Victims Support necessary?
A: Victims support is essentially assisting
persons in dealing with the consequences
of a crime. It entails
providing the emotional and practical help needed to overcome the
trauma inflicted by criminal activity. Victims
support
is not just specialized psychological counseling. Sometimes it involves
being there to help a victim of rape, staunch profuse
bleeding and change out of torn and tattered clothing. It is usually an emotionally draining process for both victim and counselor.
Victims support is
essential
in aiding persons
in reporting crime and in bringing perpetrators
to
justice. Victims
of
sex crimes rarely report
crimes out of fear or shame. In the case of child sexual
abuse the problem is compounded by their dependence on
an
adult to take them to the police station to make a report. Victims support
is what bridges
the
gap between the trauma of the crime and making the report
to the police.
According to the US Justice Department, National
Crime Victimization Survey:
2008-2012 only 2% of rapists will ever
serve a day in prison. Furthermore 68% of sexual assaults are not reported to the police. Better
victims support is essential in aiding in increasing the number of successful convictions in our
region. While proper data seems to be lacking, one gets the impression that victims
support is severely lacking in the
Caribbean region.
Q: What is the Victims Advocacy Service Center (VASC)
A: This is policy created by the Organization for
Abused and Battered Individuals
based
on
similar models
in the US, UK and Europe. The VASC shall be a supplementary
agency which provides a safe space for
victims to acknowledge and address the crimes committed against them. It shall function as
a necessary bridge between victims, law
enforcement, medical professionals
and the judiciary, to facilitate the effective administration of justice.
The VASC shall also provide sensitivity training
to the family members of victims, civil society, medical
and legal professionals and law enforcement agencies, as well as the general public. This
is to ensure that the administration
of justice is victim-focused. It shall facilitate the empowerment of victims through lobbying for
the
provision of transitional
housing facilities, the promotion of education as an emancipative tool, counseling, job creation and financial support. This will serve as
a foundation to economic stability and self-sufficiency.
Alongside these goals, the VASC shall offer victim assistance services, including
the
provision of information on victimization, crime-prevention, legal rights and
protections, the criminal
justice process, safety planning and services offered through other agencies.
The VASC shall offer practical
assistance with emotional health and support,
compensation applications, dealing with creditors,
landlords and employers,
the acquisition of housing and transportation and notification on the investigation and
court processes, as
well as
the
release of offenders.
Q: Why is it necessary to establish Victims Advocacy Service Centers throughout
the
Caribbean?
A: A core goal
of
the treaty is to establish Victims
Advocacy Service Centers throughout the Caribbean by creating a legal obligation for
states signing the treaty to do so. This is essential
in order to help victims
of
sex crimes.
It is believed that Victims
Advocacy Service Centers will help increase the
conviction rate of sex crimes
and thus make the Sex Offenders Registry more effective. Once the conviction rate increases
there will be less
sex
offenders and human
traffickers
on
the streets, and the incidences of these crimes
ought to decrease as a result.
Q: Why should parties to the treaty provide more funding
to civil society organizations?
A: Civil Society organizations are
the main providers
of support
to
victims of gender
based violence worldwide. These organizations are more versatile than government
based institutions and fill the niches that state departments may be unable to reach.
It is essential
that they be provided financial
support
in order
to better
serve victims of
gender
based violence which includes sex crimes.
Q: Why provide treatment rehabilitation for
past or potential offenders?
A: A core goal
of
the criminal justice system is to rehabilitate offenders so that they
become productive members of society once more. It is in the best interest of society as
a whole that offenders be empowered to leave their antisocial and self-destructive
behaviors behind and recover from whatever psychological
disorder may be behind their crimes.
In a handful
of
instances
persons suffering from disorders such as pedophilia
voluntarily turn themselves in or
ask for help in overcoming their condition. Some mechanisms
ought to be put in place to allow these persons
to
get the help they need before they hurt innocent people.
Q: Why assist registered
offenders in finding employment?
A: It is always
difficult for
an ex-convict to find employment,
even more
so for someone
who may be placed on a public
sex
offender registry. Research has shown that persons
on
a public
sex offender’s registry in the US may be at a higher risk
of
recidivism (going back
to
their criminal ways) due to the pressures
involved. Furthermore
the
government
has an interest in ensuring that registered offenders are
not placed into jobs that may facilitate
their predilections
and tempt them
to reoffend e.g. pedophiles
should be kept
away from schools.
