The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) says it will conduct an on-site visit to Jamaica from December 1-5 in response to an invitation from Prime Minister Bruce Golding.

The visit will be the commission's first on-site visit to an English-speaking Caribbean country since 1994.

"The commission will observe the human-rights situation in Jamaica, paying special attention to the situation of citizen security, the conduct of the country's security forces, the administration of justice and prison conditions, as well as the situation of women and children, among other topics," the IACHR said in a release. "With this purpose, the delegation will interview government authorities and meet with representatives of various sectors of civil society in Kingston and in the interior of the country."

Strengthen cooperation

The IACHR will also sign an agreement to strengthen institutional cooperation with the Norman Manley Law School at the University of the West Indies, Mona campus.

A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The commission's mandate is to promote the observance of human rights in the region in accordance with the parameters established in the American Convention on Human Rights, which Jamaica ratified in 1978.

The IACHR will also sign an agreement to strengthen institutional cooperation with the Norman Manley Law School at the University of the West Indies, Mona campus.