POLICE KILLINGS IN TT

TRINIDAD and Tobago continues to be a country that respects the human rights of its citizens, but “police killings during apprehension and while in custody, and reports of police and guard abuse of prisoners, poor prison conditions and significant violence against women remained problems.” These were the findings of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour released in its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2003. The report, dated February 25, said in a country of 1.3 million where elections are generally free and fair with an independent judiciary, there existed “credible reports of police and prison personnel abusing prisoners in incidents that involve beatings, pushing and verbal insults.”

The report said an Amnesty International (AI) team visited TT last November and “found evidence of ‘rough’ treatment of suspects.” The AI’s conclusion was drawn following walking tours of neighbourhoods. The AI said that the police “were obviously roughing up suspects.” The Human Rights report identified several cases showing “torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.” These included the May 2003 incident where Uriel Mitchell claimed masked police officers repeatedly beat him with an electrical cable, and kicked and slapped him during an interrogation at his Chaguanas home. There was also an incident in June where Lendl Perez, a Gasparillo resident, claimed that police entered his home and proceeded to pistol-whip and kick him before taking him into custody. Perez was later charged with resisting arrest. The report said it also got reports from Laventille and Sea Lots neighbourhoods alleging police and army units, conducting raids in May, harassed and beat residents during the exercise. The police claimed to have shot their guns in the air to frighten the residents. Similar claims of police brutality were made by residents of El Socorro in June.

The report also stated under arbitrary and unlawful deprivation of life, that while there were no reports of police killings, the police killed a number of persons during arrest or questioning in circumstances that were under investigation. Among the examples were the May 25 incident where a police officer shot Gideon Edwards, who apparently had become mentally deranged. Police alleged that he had wielded a knife during the incident. On May 27, police shot and killed two men, one in Toco and another in Port-of-Spain. On May 31, police killed a man in Bagatelle when he tried to escape questioning. There was also the incident on September 5, where police in San Fernando arrested Shaun McLeod for using obscene language. The police allegedly beat McLeod while in custody, and he died the same evening at the San Fernando General Hospital. An autopsy revealed McLeod died of blunt trauma to the head. A police officer was charged with manslaughter. The trial is pending. And three prison officers were indicted for the 2001 death of prisoner Anton Cooper.

Regarding prison conditions, the report noted that it was poor with 900 prisoners being held at the Frederick Street prison which was built to accommodate 250 prisoners. The report said diseases such as chicken pox, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and viruses spread easily, and prisoners had to purchase their own medication. As of October last year, there were a total of 2,450 inmates at the nation’s prisons. On violence against women, the report said abuse of women continued to be a significant problem. It said there were increased media coverage of domestic abuse cases, and murder, rape and other crimes against women were reported frequently. It is believed that many sexual crimes were unreported. The report also said that sexual harassment was a problem, but there were no laws pertaining to the issue.