The Belize government says it has approved ‘a limited waiver of diplomatic immunity’ to facilitate an investigation by Canadian authorities concerning an alleged incident of a domestic dispute.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade said it had received a report from the State Representative of Belize to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) earlier this week, concerning the alleged incident.
While it did not go into details of the domestic dispute, the government said that it also received ‘a diplomatic request from the Embassy of Canada in Guatemala regarding the same incident.
‘The request sought Belize’s consideration of a limited waiver of diplomatic immunity to facilitate an investigation by Canadian authorities,’ the ministry said, adding ‘following a careful review of the request and the information provided, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade approved a limited waiver of diplomatic immunity and formally communicated this decision to the Embassy of Canada by diplomatic note’.
The ministry said it conducted the necessary checks to ensure the ‘safety and security of all parties involved’ and that Belize will continue to cooperate fully with Canadian authorities to resolve this matter.
‘The Government of Belize reaffirms its zero-tolerance policy toward all forms of gender-based violence,’ it added.