Trinidad and Tobago has never been on the UNHRC. However, its performance as a recipient of UPR comments has been less than exemplary, despite its relatively high score from Freedom House. The Trinidadian and Tobagonian government has been largely resistant to receiving and responding to recommendations concerning the serious issues of forced disappearances and respect for international human rights instruments.
It has fared worse on matters of hemispheric norms to defend democracy, abstaining on the OAS Permanent Council vote to hear Secretary General Luis Almagro’s report on the situation in Venezuela, and abstaining again on the OAS General Assembly vote condemning Venezuelan president Maduro’s unconstitutional constituent assembly elections. In both cases, given the tightness of the vote, Trinidad and Tobago’s abstention enabled the Maduro government to avoid regional scrutiny and potential sanctions for violating the OAS’s Inter-American Democratic Charter.
Below is a breakdown of Trinidad and Tobago’s actions and votes at the various venues we are monitoring. For more information click on each title and summary.
Scoreboard:
| Freedom House | |
| Freedom Status | Free |
| Aggregate Score (100 is perfect freedom and protection of rights) | 82/100 |
| Political Rights (scores out of 40, with 40 being the best) | 33/40 |
| Civil Liberties (scores out of 60, with 60 being the best) | 49/60 |
| Reporters Without Borders | |
| World Press Freedom Index (scores out of 100, with 1 being the best) | 24.74 |
| Transparency International | |
| Corruption Perception Index (CPI) | 40/100 |
| Global Rank | 85/180 |
| World Justice Project [1] | |
| Rule-of-Law Index | 0.54 |
| Regional rank | 14/30 |
| Global rank | 55/128 |
| UN Human Development Index | |
| Human Development Index | 0.796 |
| Global rank | 67 |
| Americas Quarterly [2] | |
| Social Inclusion Index | N/A |
| Regional rank | N/A |
United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC or Council)
Trinidad and Tobago has never been on the UNHRC.
UNHRC’s Universal Periodic Review
As part of its mandate to promote human rights around the globe, the UNHRC has instituted a Universal Periodic Review, where, once every four years, each country’s human rights record is examined. Other countries are invited to review the record and make comments and suggestions for improvement. The country under review then acknowledges each comment by either “accepting” the comment, meaning typically that they agree to focus on, or “noting” it, indicating that they disagree and will not be focusing on improvements in this area.
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As recipient: Trinidad and Tobago received 169 recommendations. Accepted 79, noted 90. (only select topics listed below)
| Area | Received | Accepted | Noted |
| Civil society | 2 | 2 | – |
| Elections | – | – | – |
| Enforced disappearances | 6 | – | 6 |
| Extrajudicial executions | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Freedom of association and peaceful assembly | – | – | – |
| Freedom of opinion and expression | 1 | – | 1 |
| Freedom of religion and belief | – | – | – |
| Freedom of press | – | – | – |
| Human rights defenders | – | – | – |
| Human rights violations by state agents | – | – | – |
| Impunity | – | – | 3 |
| Indigenous peoples | – | – | – |
| Internally displaced persons | – | – | – |
| International instruments | 52 | 7 | 45 |
| Justice | 1 | 1 | – |
| Migrants | 8 | – | 8 |
| Minorities | – | – | – |
| Racial discrimination | – | – | – |
| Sexual orientation and gender identity | 16 | – | 16 |
| Torture and CID treatment | 21 | 1 | 20 |
| Women’s rights | 29 | 29 | – |
| Total | 106 | 41 | 65 |
Note: some comments are classified under multiple categories.
As commenter: Trinidad and Tobago has been fairly active in the UPR process, with 166 comments made so far in the second cycle (for data available). With 42% made towards other Latin American and Caribbean countries, it consistently made two to four comments for most, but not all, countries around the globe.
Note: This data is for the 2nd cycle of the UPR. However, the final round of countries were reviewed in November/December 2016, and that data is not yet available to include in our analysis here.[/expandableContent]
UN NGO Committee
Trinidad and Tobago has not been on the committee since 2008.
Inter-American System:
OAS Permanent Council
Under the new leadership of Secretary General Luis Almagro, the OAS has re-found its focus on defending democracy but is still bound by the wishes and will of its members. But the newfound leader’s commitment—and the challenges—were shown at a meeting in June 2016 where Almagro presented his report on the state of democracy in Venezuela and proposed invoking the Inter-American Democratic Charter.
Trinidad and Tobago abstained from voting on whether or not to hear Secretary General Luis Almagro’s report on the situation regarding democracy and human rights in Venezuela under the Inter-American Democratic Charter.
At the 2017 OAS General Assembly, Trinidad and Tobago abstained from both a U.S. and Mexico-backed resolution that urged the Venezuelan government not to convene a constituent assembly that would rewrite the Venezuelan constitution, and from a CARICOM-backed resolution that called on Venezuela to reconsider leaving the OAS.
Inter-American Commission for Human Rights (IACHR or Commission)
Trinidad and Tobago do not contribute financially to the IACHR, even despite the Commission’s recent urgent plea for emergency support.
In December 2020 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights granted protective measures to six Venezuelan migrant children living in Trinidad and Tobago. According to the protection request, the children were at risk of being deported to Venezuela, where they allegedly face risk to their rights to life and personal integrity.
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Hearings:
| Hearing | Issue |
| 173rd | Due Process and Judicial Independence in Trinidad and Tobago |
| 172nd | Complaints of human rights violations of Venezuelan migrants in Trinidad and Tobago |
Voluntary financial contributions to IACHR (as of Sept. 16, 2016):
| Year | Contributions by Trinidad and Tobago | Percentage of Total Contributions to IACHR |
| 2011 | – | – |
| 2012 | – | – |
| 2013 | – | – |
| 2014 | – | – |
| 2015 | – | – |
| 2016 | – | – |
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Electoral Missions
The OAS has not conducted any electoral observation missions in Trinidad and Tobago.
Freedom of Information Laws
Since 2000 the right to information and freedom of information laws have expanded across the region. However, the existence of the laws on the books does not necessarily mean full enforcement.
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| Signatory/Participant in MESICIC* | Yes |
| Constitutional protection* | No |
| Specific law enacted* | Yes- enacted in 1999 |
| Is there a presumption of right?* | Yes |
| Scope/Exceptions/Overrides* | Applies natural persons; all information available, no exceptions; public officials required to assist |
| Received information under FOIA law?** | N/A |
| Received information within a week?** | N/A |
| Received the appropriate information?** | N/A |
*Data taken from the Global Right to Information ratings, provided by the Center for Law and Democracy.
**Information from the 2015 World Justice Project Open Government Index
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Women’s rights:
Protecting women against gender-based violence is a human rights issue often overlooked globally even though it crosses social, economic and national boundaries. And according to the United Nations Population Fund, gender-based violence undermines the health, security, dignity, and autonomy of its victims. Although 16 countries in Latin America had modified their laws to include a specific type of crime referring to the murder of women by 2015, they are not uniformly implemented, and practices to convict perpetrators of gender-based violence are still extremely weak. A 2016 report published by the Small Arms Survey found that Latin America and the Caribbean is home to 14 of the 25 countries with the highest rates of femicide in the world.
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Trinidad and Tobago has a female homicide rate of 5.7 per 100,000 women—the same rate as Colombia. The country saw a strengthening of laws on gender-based violence after the Belém do Pará Convention; however, these efforts have not gone far enough. Currently there is no legislation that addresses sexual harassment or femicide in Trinidad and Tobago.
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