Johannesburg. 1 September 2011. CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation has joined local civil society groups to call upon the parliament of Trinidad and Tobago to reject the proposed three-month extension of a State of Emergency, due to be voted on on Friday, 2 September 2011.
The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago has been under a draconian state of emergency since 22 August 2011. Over 800 citizens have been detained, many for minor offences such as breaking the recently imposed 9pm - 5am curfew. Although the state of emergency was imposed in response to a surge in drug-related crime and national security, the government has shown little sign of relenting in its use of the emergency laws.
“The State of Emergency, inappropriate legislation and broad implementation of a curfew represent a disproportionate interference with the fundamental rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly enshrined both in the constitution of Trinidad and Tobago and throughout international human rights law,” said Netsanet Belay, Director of Policy and Research at CIVICUS. “After just two weeks, Trinbagonian citizens risk signing away civic freedoms that have taken forty-nine years of hard struggle and nation-building to win.”
The country, famous for its Carnival and community spirit, celebrates its 49th year of independence from colonial rule on Tuesday.
Using the controversial Anti-Gang Act 2011, supported by the Bail Amendment Act 2011, the state has effectively been able, under the guise of ‘prevention’, to detain persons falling within the vaguely defined category of “members of a gang” and to hold them without laying formal charges for up to 120 days. According to reports, the absence of a mechanism to notify family members of the detention of their loved ones has been a source of great distress to many parents concerned about the whereabouts of their children.
With the breakdown of normal life for many citizens in Trinidad and Tobago, CIVICUS has received reports of resentment brewing in traditionally marginalised areas in response to alleged victimisation and harassment by police.
“Persistent crime and personal insecurity are very real threats to many Caribbean nations and need to be taken seriously,” said Belay. “Nevertheless, the trend we are witnessing across the Caribbean region of using disproportionate security-based measures will only weaken trust in state institutions and could lead to a virtual close down of space for citizens and civil society participation.”
“If parliamentarians in Trinidad and Tobago choose tomorrow to extend the State of Emergency, the effect on community, civic life and the national psyche will be long-lasting, highly damaging and irreversible,” he added.
Should Trinidad and Tobago’s parliamentarians fail to reject the motion to prolong the State of Emergency tabled in the House of Representatives on Friday 2 September, it will leave citizens without basic universal rights of freedom of expression, association and assembly, and with little sign of recovering them in the near future, said CIVICUS.