Civil liberties must remain intact

THE EDITOR: There is a general consensus in the present administration that they could legislate away the crime situation. The Government’s crime plan is now reduced to an exercise in futility.

The National Security Minister describes his plan as “a comprehensive scheme” but his plan centres around punishment rather than deterrent. Mr Chin Lee said “the legislation would create a wide range of offences for which the penalties range from death in cases of murder to imprisonment for 30 years.” The “holistic” plan he proposes says nothing of how to bring the crime fight to the communities and homes of Trinidad and Tobago. Empowering citizens to get rid of this societal plague is the only way. In its current form this crime plan will only affect statute books, not crime statistics.

But some credit must be given in the proposed Terrorism Bill. As in all legislation one must be weary of surrendering individual rights to the executive without any recourse in the courts. An example, in the United States where arrests could be made without warrants, conducting unreasonable searches and seizures, wantonly destroying property, using physical brutality against suspects and detaining suspects without charges for prolonged periods. This will not be acceptable. The Opposition must ensure that civil liberties remain intact as such power might corrupt an already fragile government.

COLIN J PARTAP
London, England