There was a short Senate Meeting in Belmopan today to address some of the important business concluded in last Friday's meeting of the House of Representatives.
The agenda item that sparked the most discussion in the Upper House was the posthumous pardon of Belizean Nora Parham. As viewers know, the pardon is officially known as the Motion to move the Belize Advisory Council to Advise the Governor-General to exercise the Prerogative of Mercy. Whenever it becomes final, the state will right a historical wrong committed against Nora Parham and her family. Her death sentence by hanging on June 5, 1963, will be revoked.
Here's what a few of the Senators had to say when the Leader of Government Business tabled this Motion today:
Beverly Williams - UDP Senator
"Nora Parham was my cousin. I very vaguely remember her. She was an abused woman. Many times, she showed up at my home, as my mother recalls very often to us, bruised and battered. This egregious miscarriage of justice has caused an indelible stain that is forever etched in the annals of our Belizean history."
Elena Smith - Labour Senator
"And as we look around Madam President, and we hear of all other cases of domestic violence, we recently heard the case of the mother and her daughter who were murdered. We realize that the system that failed Nora Parham back then is the same system that is failing these women now."
Janelle Chanona - NGO Senator
"In the community, our members are on the frontlines of domestic and sexual violence work. That Miss Parham's story is not concluded, there is not a full stop now. But truly, that she becomes more than the victim that she was, but truly the catalyst that she can be, and that she can break - as others have called it - this cycle that we're playing out."
Erica Jang - PUP Senator
"It is like what Robert Frost says, Madam President. We've gotten many more miles before we sleep. Belize is still lagging behind on various women's rights issues, including a clear zero-tolerance policy against gender-based violence. However, our Attorney General has continued to lead and advocate judicial reforms in this regard, a signal that all is not lost."
Michael Peyrefitte - UDP Senator
"When we came to the government in 1984, we failed to do this. When the people came to government in 1989, they failed. '93, we failed again, and so on and so forth. I think governments have failed, and this government should be commended for bringing the motion that we can fully support. And why we do, Madam President, both sides give condolences, and we feel the pain of the family of Ms. Parham. I think the family also deserves, Madam President, from both sides of the House, official apologies."
