Over $300,000 in Damages for 2020 SOE Sparks a Crisis of Legitimacy in Crime Policy

By Omar Silva | Editor/Publisher

 National Perspective Belize | DIGITAL 2025

www.nationalperspectivebz.com

Belize City: Monday 20th  May 2025

A bombshell ruling from the High Court has just delivered a historic reprimand to the Government of Belize—one that reverberates all the way to the desks of Minister of Home Affairs and Police Kareem Musa and Commissioner Richard Rosado, who now preside over a law enforcement apparatus using the very same tools the Court has deemed unconstitutional.

Justice Nadine Nabie’s landmark decision ruled that the 2020 mass detention of 16 men under a State of Emergency (SOE) declared by the previous administration was unlawful, excessive, and unconstitutional. The result: the Government is now liable for over $300,000 in compensation, with individual payouts ranging from $12,000 to $25,000—a vindication of constitutional rights, and a humiliation to both the People’s United Party (PUP) and the United Democratic Party (UDP), who have successively relied on SOEs as a "quick fix" to crime.

🔴 A Political Hot Potato Now in Musa’s Hands

Though the 2020 SOE was enacted under then-Minister of National Security Michael Peyrefitte (UDP), the political hot potato now rests in the lap of Kareem Musa, the sitting Minister, whose government declared another near-identical SOE just two weeks ago, with blanket detentions on Belize City’s southside.

The parallels are alarming.

The same legal machinery, the same language of "returning normalcy," and the same disregard for due process have re-emerged—despite a High Court ruling denouncing that very practice.

What is Musa's defense? So far, silence. Not a word from the minister’s office on how the ruling affects the current SOE, or whether the same unconstitutional methods are again being deployed. This silence is deafening, and it raises one burning question: Has the Government learned nothing from its past errors?

🔵 Commissioner Rosado: Ignoring the Writing on the Wall?

For Commissioner Richard Rosado, the ruling cuts deep into the police department’s operational philosophy. His recent statements—“We will do what we need to do”—echo the same bravado that Justice Nabie has now ruled unlawful. His insistence on "doing everything within the context of the law" rings hollow when viewed against the court’s findings: no judicial oversight, no lawful justification, no regard for constitutional liberties.

If the department continues to use SOEs as a policing tool without airtight legal procedure, Rosado may soon find himself presiding over a flood of new lawsuits, potentially costing taxpayers millions.

⚖️ Legal Fallout: Court Opens the Floodgates for Claims

Prominent attorney Dickie Bradley, a fierce advocate for constitutional rights, welcomed the ruling as a "signal victory" for the rule of law. He has since called on all persons detained under any past or present SOE to seek legal redress, arguing that the same defects apply to ongoing detentions.

Bradley did not mince words:

“When you start to violate rights, it just grows and grows... People that have nothing to do with guns are locked up right now.”

The court’s findings expose the Governor General’s rubber-stamping of SOEs based on false or inflated police reports. This suggests a deep institutional failure, one that implicates not only politicians and police, but also constitutional officers entrusted to act independently.

⚠️ Conflicting Rulings: A Legal Crisis Brewing