Crime in Trinidad and Tobago

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Criminal activity in Trinidad and Tobago has been and still is a controversial topic on the two islands. However, it is as old as Trinidad and Tobago itself.

1 Colonial Beginnings(1500-1920)
2 Prelude to Independence(1921-1962)
3 The Post-Colonial Condition(1963- )
- 3.1 Corruption
- 3.2 Violent Crime/Kidnapping
4 References

[edit] Colonial Beginnings(1500-1920)

As Trinidad and Tobago were colonies, the laws which defined criminal activities were dependent on the laws of the Colonizing state which occupied the land.

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[edit] Prelude to Independence(1921-1962)

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[edit] The Post-Colonial Condition(1963- )

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[edit] Corruption

Five senior PNM officials are currently (May 2006) under investigation by the Integrity Commission.

In a 2004 letter Dansam Dhansook a PNM councillor on the Rio Claro-Mayaro Regional Corporation alleged that he had paid bribes to two Cabinet ministers, Franklin Khan, Minster of Works and MP for Mayaro and Eric A. Williams, Minister of Energy and MP for Port of Spain South. The letter was made public by Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar (UNC) in April, 2005. Dhansook later called a press conference allegedly to recant the allegations, but he failed to show up and later stated to the Trinidad Express newspaper the document in which he had recanted the bribery allegations. Khan resigned his Cabinet position but denied culpability. Prime Minister Patrick Manning was criticised for failing to act on Dhansook's allegations, despite having received the letter more than a year before Persad-Bissessar made the public aware of it. After the matter was made public, Khan resigned his ministerial portfolio. On November 23, 2005, Khan, who is also party chairman, was arrested and charged with six counts of misbehaviour in public office. This was the first time a Trinidad and Tobago politician was charged with corruption while his party was still in power. In addition, allegations that Minister of Housing, Diego Martin West MP Keith Rowley received kickbacks from work on the Scarborough Hospital are under investigation by the Integrity Commission. On June 10, 2005 Persad-Bissessar also alleged that three government Ministers were under investigation by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

On May 31, 2005 Basdeo Panday, together with his wife, Oma and former UNC MP Carlos John and businessman Ishwar Galbaransingh (chairman of Northern Construction Limited) were arrested on corruption charges. The State alleged that the Pandays had received TT$250,000 on December 30, 1998 from John and Galbaransingh in exchange for giving Northern Construction a construction contract for the Piarco Airport Development Project (PADP). Panday refused bail and chose to remain in prison for a short while. UNC Whip Ganga Singh described the arrests as "obviously politically motivated", and compared it to the failure of the police to act on bribery allegations against five PNM MPs. Orlando Nagassar, Deputy Mayor of Chaguanas, called the arrest a "demonic act". In an editorial, the Trinidad Guardian pointed to the fact that a heavily armed SWAT team was sent to arrest Mrs. Panday as politicisation of the matter.

Additional allegations involve an undeclared London based bank account allegedly showing the passage of large amounts of money paid to Panday. Panday's explanation and response to questions by the media and others of the nature of this account was inconsistent. He has also claimed that the account belonged to his wife.

Panday, Mrs. Panday and John were placed on TT$750,000 bail, while Galbaransingh was placed on a $1,000,000. This has been called a punitive bail both by supporters of the UNC and by former Attorney General Ramesh Maharaj, a sometime political opponent of Panday. On June 7 bail was reduced to TT$650,000. After meeting with a delegation from an inter-religious organisation, Panday accepted bail on June 8, after spending just over a week in jail.

On 24th April 2006, Mr. Panday was found guilty on all three counts of failing to declare a London bank account to the Integrity Commission for the years 1997, 1998 and 1999, respectively, contrary to Section 27 (1)(b) of the Integrity in Public Life Act 1987. The sentence handed down by Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicolls calls for two years imprisonment with hard labour on each of the three counts, which are to run concurrently. Additionally, he was fined TT$20,000 on each count and has to forfeit the equivalent of £159,600.35 (approximately TT$1,600,000), which represents the total accumulated year end balances in the bank account for the three years in question. He has indicated that he will appeal. His appointment as Leader of the Opposition was revoked on April 25, 2006.Kamla Persad-Bissessar was his replacement.

The Courts released Basdeo Panday on TT$300,00 bail at 6:30 p.m. on Friday April 28, on the ground of his medical ailments.^[1] Following his release on bail, he tendered his resignation as Chairman of the party on May 1, 2006.^[2]. However, the UNC executive have thus far refused to accept his resignation.^[3]

[edit] Violent Crime/Kidnapping

There has been a sharp increase in violent crime, especially murders and kidnappings for ransom. The crime situation is widely seen as being out of control. The perception that kidnapping specifically targets Indo-Trinidadians has continued to draw severe criticism from political opponents (since the PNM's supporters are mainly Afro-Trinidadians while the Opposition UNC draws most of its support from Indo-Trinidadians). Manning is on the record as saying that he does not see the kidnapping situation as a major problem. His National Security Minister, Martin Joseph has also said that crime is not a serious problem in Trinidad and Tobago.

According to the U.S. Department of State Website ^[4] "While there were no reports of politically motivated disappearances, there was a substantial increase in criminal kidnappings, including kidnappings for ransom. During the year 235 citizens were kidnapped, including 54 for ransom, compared with 177 and 28 respectively, during 2004". and the UK's Foreign and Commonwelth Office advises ^[5] "You should be aware of the risk of indiscriminate terrorist attacks which could be against civilian targets, including places frequented by foreigners. Five small explosions took place in public areas of Port of Spain in the second half of 2005, the last on 14 October. The police are still investigating. You should be aware that there are increasing levels of violent crime, especially shootings and kidnappings. British nationals have been victims of recent violent attacks, particularly in Tobago where law enforcement is weak. Extreme caution is advised if renting villas in the south west, and at villas throughout the island you should ensure that adequate security measures are in place".

A growing number of citizens and some commentators believed that corrupt police officers were involved in kidnappings. In August authorities arrested two members of the special reserve police for their alleged role in a kidnapping characterized by the media as "high-profile" because the two victims were sons of a well-known businessman and one of the police officers was himself a member of a prominent family. Authorities had the two officers under investigation at year's end.