BASSETERRE, St. Kitts –THE 2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices suggest that though the government of St. Kitts and Nevis is generally respectful of human rights, the twin-island Federation struggles with issues of the use of excessive force by police and poor prison conditions.
The Reports were released days ago by the US Department of State and focus on countries in Africa, East Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Eurasia, Near East and North Africa, South and Central Asia, and the Western Hemisphere within which the Caribbean falls.
Similar to many other Caribbean countries, St. Kitts and Nevis did not fare well on the issue of prison conditions. The report pointed specifically to overcrowding, scarcity of resources and conditions under which prisoners had to live.
“...Built in 1840, the prison on Saint Kitts had an intended capacity of 150 prisoners but held 262 prisoners as of October 31; some prisoners slept on mats on the floor. There were separate facilities for men and women. The prison staff periodically received training in human rights. The government permitted prison visits by independent human rights observers, although no such visits were known to have occurred during the year.”
SKNVibes contacted Superintendent of Prisons Franklyn Dorset who said he had not seen the report and therefore could not provide a comment. He suggested that contact be made with the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security, Astona Browne, on the matter.
The reports’ authors state, for St. Kitts Nevis, there are no reports that “the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings” nor were there any reports of “politically motivated disappearances”.
According to the statement, there have also been no reports of government officials engaging in acts of torture or any other inhumane and or degrading castigation.
It conversely suggests however that “...due to an increasing number of violent incidents involving police, law enforcement officials came under increased scrutiny, and in June the Sun newspaper reported that citizens were becoming increasingly afraid of reporting crime because of the heavy-handedness with which police carry out their duties”.
In support thereof, the report makes reference to a number of instances involving police officers and civilians which ended in the civilians being injured, arrested and charged while the law enforcement officers were not.
“On January 18, after an altercation with two other men, police shot and injured Devon Albertine, who was carrying a machete used to sell coconuts on the streets. The police attempted to disarm him; however, Albertine wrestled his machete away from police and began to walk away. Defense Force solders arrived and shot Albertine twice while he was attempting to leave the area. Authorities charged Albertine with assault and use of threatening language.
“On January 29, police, using nonlethal ammunition, shot Beko Lapsey during execution of a search warrant. Authorities brought no charges against the police officers who shot and wounded Alister Henderson in June 2007 or against officers who shot and wounded Ivan James in October 2007. Both Henderson and James were sentenced for crimes they committed.
“Authorities brought no criminal charges against Constable Alister Huggins, whom the Police Disciplinary Tribunal found guilty of "discredible conduct" in December 2007 for stealing money during a search at a Rastafarian community. The tribunal sentenced Huggins to be confined to barracks for 28 days.”
SKNVibes spoke with Commissioner of Police Austin Williams concerning this aspect of the report and he said he could not provide comments having not seen the report.
This media house also made attempts to contact Permanent Secretary Astona Browne and was told that she was out of office attending a meeting. Subsequent attempts to contact Browne were unsuccessful.
Erasmus Williams, Press Secretary to the Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas, was also contacted and he too informed that he could not comment having not seen the report.
