State of Emergency Not Off the Table Amid Belize City Gang Violence

The flare of gun violence in Belize City has led the Minister of Home Affairs Kareem Musa to consider implementing a state of emergency (SOE). Over the past month, there has been an uptick in gang related shootings, leading to five men losing their lives. Despite the Belize Police Department implementing several measures to prevent a flare-up of violence in Belize City, this week has seen several shootings. Today, Minister of Home Affairs Kareem Musa spoke on the tensions among gangs in the old capital and what police are doing to prevent further bloodshed. He explained that his ministry is monitoring the situation and closely and is considering the declaration of an SOE.

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs: “That  was on the table  and I can say here now that it still is on the table. We were monitoring it closer to the election where it was extremely heightened. And I think we came fairly close, Commissioner,  to declaring a state of emergency. But it was never done. It was quelled for a bit. But again, now we see other areas are sparking. I know at the time of the election we were specifically looking at six different gangs in Belize City that were going to be a part of the SOE. We’re still monitoring those six gangs and then there are a couple others now as well. And so that is still on the table. I’m not saying that we’re going to declare one this week or next, but it certainly is on the table. We’re in discussions, not just with the commissioner and the police department, but also with the leadership intervention unit to get their feedback because it is that we would want to have a targeted SOE  as opposed to a blanket net cast over everybody.”

The last SOE was implemented in June last year and ran for three months.