标签： Barbados

At the opening of the third international reparations conference hosted under the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) initiative, a top Caribbean indigenous leader has issued a urgent call: indigenous communities must occupy a core, central role in the region’s fight for reparations for colonial crimes, rather than being sidelined as an afterthought in political and public relations processes.

Delivering the address on behalf of Ricardo Bharath Hernandez, chair of the Caribbean Organisation of Indigenous Peoples (COIP), Damon Gerard Corrie—Taíno Chief, leader of the Barbados Chapter of the United Confederation of Taíno People, and co-president of the Caribbean Amerindian Development Organisation—brought the collective demands of the region’s original inhabitants to the gathering. The conference itself forms a key part of CARICOM’s long-running campaign to secure reparations for two interconnected crimes of colonialism: the transatlantic trafficking and enslavement of African peoples, and the systematic genocide of the Caribbean’s native populations that followed European invasion in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Corrie framed the push for historical reparatory justice as a unified struggle, linking the experiences of indigenous survivors and the descendants of enslaved Africans. He opened his remarks by acknowledging the ancestral nature of the land hosting the conference, paying homage to indigenous ancestors who built the Caribbean’s first thriving civilizations before European arrival.

The devastating toll of European conquest cannot be overstated, Corrie emphasized. Invasion brought systemic violence, forced displacement, chattel enslavement, widespread disease, and the complete destruction of indigenous political and social structures, triggering catastrophic population collapse across the Caribbean and neighboring Guyana. While indigenous communities and their descendants survived centuries of oppression, many continue to face systemic marginalization today: insecure land tenure, lack of formal recognition for customary territorial claims, exclusion from consultation for extractive industry projects on traditional lands, and unequal access to basic public services. In Guyana, these struggles remain particularly acute, tied directly to ongoing conflicts over mining access and control of ancestral territories.

Corrie paid tribute to the traditional indigenous chiefs, or Kaikhs, who led centuries of resistance against colonial violence, pushing back against efforts to erase the realities of the atrocities that accompanied European contact. He linked historical genocide to the intergenerational trauma that continues to shape indigenous communities today. “Many of our peoples were utterly destroyed in genocidal warmongering launched by Christopher Columbus and the European colonizers who followed him,” Corrie said. “The unimaginable horrors our ancestors suffered throughout the centuries still linger in us. We are their descendants, carrying unresolved intergenerational trauma. Standing together with our African brothers and sisters, we unite in demanding reparatory justice, for we are all the living evidence of the greatest crime in recorded human history.”

The conference’s focus on reparatory justice must act as a active call to action, not just symbolic rhetoric, Corrie argued. While he praised CARICOM for its consistent political and financial support for the CARICOM Reparations Commission (CRC) since the body was established in 2013—positioning the regional bloc on the right side of history, he noted—he issued a sharp caution to national governments: indigenous leaders must not be reduced to window dressing for public relations campaigns.

“Reparations must start in the territories of the indigenous survivors,” Corrie stressed. “Please do not merely invite us into the process as a public relations afterthought.”

Corrie also challenged widespread historical misconceptions about indigenous enslavement, pointing out that Amerindian peoples were not only the first populations subjected to chattel slavery in the Western Hemisphere, but also among the last. He highlighted the system of forced indigenous labor on European rubber plantations in the Amazon’s Putumayo province, which continued well into the 20th century, only ending in 1926.

Despite the existence of international frameworks designed to protect indigenous rights, Corrie noted that indigenous voices across the Caribbean remain systematically suppressed, leaving communities marginalized and disproportionately landless. He called on CARICOM member states to fully implement International Labour Convention 169 and the 2007 American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as mandatory minimum standards for governance of indigenous affairs.

“Survivors of these crimes against humanity remain traumatized, often landless, and are the most marginalized social group within the region,” Corrie said. “We submit that despite international declarations, the indigenous voice remains largely ignored, and more often than we want to believe, aggressively suppressed.”

As CARICOM prepares to relaunch its revised 10-point reparations plan, Corrie called for a dedicated indigenous peoples development program to be fully integrated into every level of the regional strategy. Such investment, he said, is essential to address centuries of systemic neglect and create conditions for indigenous communities to thrive. He also appealed to regional governments to launch public education and advocacy campaigns to build broad public support for the reparations cause across Caribbean society.

“We call on CARICOM governments, who are charged with the responsibility to initiate reparatory justice programmes, to educate, motivate, and inspire the people of our collective and united Caribbean civilisation,” Corrie said. “We must ensure that present and future generations realise the full benefit from the human efforts being made on their behalf.”

To contextualize the ongoing struggle, the Taíno—an Arawakan-speaking indigenous group—migrated to the Caribbean from northern South America more than 2,000 years ago. By the time of European contact, Taíno communities were the dominant population across the Greater Antilles, the Bahamas, and parts of the northern Lesser Antilles, building settled, complex societies centered on cassava cultivation, fishing, trade, craft production, and traditional chiefly governance.

Barbados, the host of this year’s conference, sits at the eastern edge of the historical indigenous Caribbean world. Archaeological evidence documents successive waves of Amerindian settlement across the island, from Chancery Lane in Christ Church to Heywoods in St Peter, with remains of Saladoid, Troumassoid, and later Suazoid cultural traditions. Historians and archaeologists note that pre-colonial Barbados had its own distinct, evolving cultural patterns, so the island cannot be simplified as solely a “Taíno island.” By the time English settlers colonized Barbados in 1627, no indigenous population remained on the island.

A heated debate over proposed criminal justice reforms in Barbados has emerged after the nation’s top judge called for sweeping changes to trial procedures, drawing sharp criticism from two senior defence attorneys who warn the changes would erode long-held protections for accused people.

During the official opening of the 2024 legal year on Monday, Chief Justice Leslie Haynes told attendees at the No. 1 Supreme Court that Barbados should scrap the longstanding requirement that defendants give consent before their case is heard by a judge alone instead of a citizen jury. Haynes argued that the existing consent rule undermines the core intent of the current judge-alone trial legislation. Pointing to policy frameworks already adopted in other nations, he recommended the change particularly for drug and firearms possession offences, framing the shift as a way to speed up court processes while still upholding core principles of fairness.

“Judge-alone trials can deliver the efficient administration of justice we need, while keeping fairness and equity at the centre of the process,” Haynes said in his address.

But Verla De Peiza, one of the defence attorneys speaking out against the proposal, says forcing compulsory judge-alone trials would put Barbados in an outlier position globally. After reviewing trial policies across dozens of jurisdictions, De Peiza noted only a small number of countries require all defendants to face judge-only trials in specific case types. She pointed to context-specific reforms in other nations: South Africa scrapped jury trials entirely to address systemic racial bias in jury selection, while New Zealand only imposes compulsory judge-alone trials for low-level, less serious offences. No major common law nation has adopted the broad change Haynes is proposing, she argued.

De Peiza warned the proposal is just the latest in a series of incremental changes that have steadily chipped away at fundamental fair trial protections, including the presumption of innocence that forms the backbone of common law criminal justice. She outlined a string of recent shifts, including cuts to the right of unsworn statements, restrictions on the right to silence, the introduction of mandatory minimum sentencing, tighter bail rules, and a pending parliamentary bill that would expand how previous convictions can be used during sentencing.

“Drip by drip, these changes whittle away at protections that have existed for centuries,” De Peiza told local outlet Barbados TODAY. “It increasingly feels like the priority is securing convictions and improving clear-up rates, not delivering actual justice – and that is deeply concerning.” She also criticised the government’s approach to criminal justice reform as fragmented and reactionary, saying changes are being made piecemeal rather than as part of a comprehensive, consultative overhaul. Instead of scrapping long-tested legal principles, De Peiza called for a full public consultation to draft a new, unified national criminal code.

Fellow defence attorney Shadia Simpson echoed those concerns, noting that nearly all recent criminal justice reforms in Barbados have tilted heavily in favour of the prosecution and the state, steadily reducing the procedural rights defendants rely on to secure a fair trial. While Simpson acknowledged that judge-alone trials offer clear benefits for certain types of cases – including those involving complex legal questions or extensive negative pre-trial publicity that could prejudice a jury – she stressed that defendants should retain the right to choose their trial format.

Simpson noted that jury trials offer unique advantages for many accused people, giving them the opportunity to be judged by a panel of peers from their community. “Juries reduce the risk of individual judicial bias or prejudice, and defendants should absolutely have the right to choose that option,” she said.

In his opening address, Chief Justice Haynes also noted that most major common law countries including the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia have already eliminated defendants’ right to make an unsworn statement from the dock, and Barbados is currently considering the same change. But Simpson defended retaining the right, arguing it can be a critical lifeline for vulnerable defendants. She noted that for unrepresented accused people or those with limited formal education, the courtroom environment is often deeply intimidating. An unsworn statement allows these defendants to lay out their version of events without interruption, and in a setting that lets them speak more calmly and clearly than they would under cross-examination. For many defendants, it is the only opportunity they get to share their side of the story with the court, she added.

Despite their strong opposition to the proposed changes to trial procedure and unsworn statement rules, the two attorneys found common ground on another proposed reform: the creation of a dedicated Public Defenders’ Office. Both backed the plan as a critical step to improve access to legal representation and tackle the growing backlog of criminal cases clogging Barbados’ courts.

De Peiza explained that the current legal aid fee structure has not been updated in more than 20 years, making it impossible to attract young, new lawyers to work criminal cases. A dedicated Public Defenders’ Office would offer salaried positions for early-career attorneys, while also providing structured mentorship from more experienced practitioners to help them build their skills. “This would also go a long way toward easing the backlog we currently face, because right now we have far too few lawyers working at the criminal bar,” she said.

Simpson agreed, noting that a dedicated public defender system would offer much-needed job security to incentivize young lawyers to enter criminal practice. More working criminal defense attorneys would directly translate to faster resolution of pending cases, clearing the backlog more quickly than any other policy change, she argued. However, Simpson cast doubt on the idea that simply increasing funding for the existing Community Legal Services Department would deliver the same result, noting that most defendants seeking legal aid specifically request to be represented by more experienced attorneys, a gap the current system cannot fill.

Barbados’ Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Fisheries Santia Bradshaw has formally confirmed that technical and fisheries teams are currently conducting a full assessment to map out the required scope of work and projected funding for restoring the aging haul-out facilities at Tent Bay, a move that comes after local fishing representatives raised urgent alarms over accelerating shoreline erosion and repeated structural failures of existing infrastructure last month.

The official review was triggered after Moonesh Dharampaul, president of the Black Fin Fleet Co-operative Society, publicly highlighted the growing risks fishers face from disappearing shoreline and the lack of functional, safe facilities to pull vessels out of the water. Bradshaw noted that the Fisheries Division has partnered with engineering experts from the Scotland District road infrastructure project to evaluate the site and outline a clear path forward, building on her past experience leading the public works portfolio when the Scotland District upgrade was first launched.

“The chief fisheries officer and our entire fisheries team are on the ground working through every detail of the Tent Bay situation,” Bradshaw explained in a recent statement. “Given my previous role at the Ministry of Public Works, I know that the Scotland District project team, which oversaw the regional road upgrade, has deep local knowledge of this coastline, so our officials are now in active discussions with both the ministry and the project leadership to address the concerns that fishers have brought forward.”
Bradshaw emphasized that the Tent Bay site has a decades-long history of failed engineering attempts to support local fishing and marine traffic. She revealed that multiple haul-out structures have been constructed at the location over the years, but past projects likely skipped critical preliminary geotechnical and coastal assessments, resulting in repeated structural collapse that has left the facility unusable for many fishers today.

Complicating the restoration effort, the original Scotland District road upgrade initiative never included allocations or planning for marine infrastructure improvements at Tent Bay, meaning a full independent assessment is required before any public funding can be allocated to the project. “The Scotland District project was always focused on road improvements, not haul-out facility upgrades, so our fisheries team has to start from scratch to figure out exactly what this site needs, and how much public investment will be required to properly restore it,” Bradshaw said.

The minister also cautioned that any immediate work at Tent Bay must be balanced against the island’s broader national budget constraints and existing commitments to large-scale coastal infrastructure projects across Barbados. The government currently has active maritime infrastructure upgrades underway at multiple sites, including Conset Bay, where a contract for a new boat yard facility has already been awarded, alongside planned upgrades to the local community centre and the main landing site and associated buildings.

Bradshaw made clear that the Mia Mottley administration cannot address every long-standing gap in the country’s maritime infrastructure in a single budget cycle, and appealed to Tent Bay’s fishing community for patience as the government works through competing priorities. “We simply can’t deliver upgrades to every facility across the island all at once,” she stated. “We’ve asked stakeholders to understand that we face both operational capacity limits and significant financial constraints that require us to phase projects. Even the planned upgrades to the Oistins facility required securing international funding to move forward, which demonstrates the scale of the investment we’re working with.”

While Bradshaw reaffirmed that Tent Bay’s restoration remains on the government’s long-term list of priorities, she noted that immediate national focus has shifted to post-disaster recovery work following Hurricane Beryl, and to expanding safe shelter facilities for fishing vessels along vulnerable coastlines to prevent repeated destruction during future severe weather events.

“Tent Bay is absolutely on our radar, but right now we have prioritized sites that suffered severe damage from Hurricane Beryl, as well as coastal locations on the eastern side of the island that can provide safe harbour for large numbers of fishing vessels,” she explained. “If another storm like Beryl hits, we need to give boat owners the ability to pull their vessels up onto safe shore along the eastern coast, so we don’t see a repeat of the widespread vessel destruction we saw last year.”