CARIBBEAN TODAY


F nT U R 6


Caribbean states among world's major money launderers U.S.


WASHINGTON The
United States has named
four Caribbean community
(CARICOM) member states
among 59 major money laun-
dering jurisdictions.
 In its 2009 International
Narcotics Control Strategy
Report, the State Department
identified Antigua and
Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize
and Haiti among "jurisdictions
of primary concern, whose
financial institutions engage in
currency transactions involving
significant amounts of pro-
ceeds from international nar-


cotics trafficking.
 "The category
'Jurisdiction of Primary
Concern' recognizes this rela-
tionship by including all coun-
tries and other jurisdictions
whose financial institutions
engage in transactions involv-
ing significant amounts of pro-
ceeds from all serious .rineI .
 The State Department
also listed nine CARICOM
states as "Jurisdictions of
Concern". They are Barbados,
Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica,
St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia,
St. Vincent and the


Grenadines, Suriname and
Trinidad and Tobago.
Dominica is named among
"Jurisdictions Monitored".
 The agency said
"Jurisdictions of Concern" and
"Other Jurisdictions
Monitored" are identified on
the basis of several factors,
including whether the country's
financial institutions engage in
transactions involving signifi-
cant amounts of proceeds from
serious crimes; the extent to
which the jurisdiction is or
remains vulnerable to money
laundering, notwithstanding its


money laundering countermea-
sures, if any; and the nature
and extent of the money laun-
dering situation in each juris-
diction, whether it involves
drugs or other contraband.

SUSCEPTIBLE
 The State Department
said Antigua and Barbuda
runiL in, susceptible to money
laundering due to its offshore
financial sector and Internet
gaming industry".
 On The Bahamas, the
agency said money laundering
is primarily related to finan-


cial fraud and the proceeds of
drug trafficking.
 Money laundering, prima-
rily related to narcotics traf-
ficking, and contraband smug-
gling, is 'uIp. kILd to occur
through onshore banks oper-
ating in Belize", it added.
Haiti is seen as a "major drug-
transit country with money
laundering activity linked to
the drug trade and to kidnap-
ping".

- CMC


U.S. accuses Caribbean of widespread human rights abuses


(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3)
dures, remained a problem",
the report further stated.
 In addition, the State
Department said while the
law provides for criminal
penalties for official corrup-
tion, "the government did not
implement the law effective-
ly", pointing to the World
Bank's worldwide governance
indicators that reflected that
"government corruption was a
serious problem".

HARSH ON HAITI
 The report was equally
harsh on Haiti, identifying
among the impoverished coun-
try's human rights problems
the "failure to hold timely par-
liamentary elections; alleged
unlawful killings by Haitian
Nation Police (HNP) officers;
ineffective measures to
address killings by members of
gangs and other armed groups;
HNP participation in kidnap-
pings; and overcrowding and
poor sanitation in prisons".
 Others grouses listed were
"arbitrary threats and arrests;
prolonged pre-trial detention;
an inefficient judiciary subject
to significant influence by the
executive and legislative
branches; severe corruption in
all branches of government;
violence and societal discrimi-
nation against women; child
abuse, internal trafficking of
children, and child domestic
labor; and ineffective enforce-
ment of worker rights".
 The State Department
said organized criminal gangs
were primarily responsible for
the "arbitrary or unlawful
deprivation of life".
 It said prisons and deten-
tion centers throughout the
French-speaking country
remained overcrowded, poorly
maintained, and often unsani-
tary, and many prisoners and
detainees suffered from a lack
of basic hygiene, malnutrition,
poor quality health care, and
the presence of rodents.
 The report noted efforts
to reform the Haitian National
Police remained incomplete,
and officers were occasionally


implicated in corruption, kid-
napping, and narcotics traf-
ficking.
 "In practice, authorities
widely ignored the constitu-
tionally provided right to a
fair public trial", the reported
noted.

JAMAICAN INJUSTICE
 In Jamaica, the State
Department said serious prob-
lems comprised "unlawful
killings committed by mem-
bers of the security forces,
abuse of detainees and prison-
ers by police and prison
guards, poor prison and jail
conditions, impunity for police
who committed crimes, an
overburdened judicial system
and frequent lengthy delays in
trials, violence and discrimina-
tion against women, traffick-
ing in persons, and violence
against suspected or known
homosexuals".
 It said the police employed
"lethal fI ,rn, 'in apprehending
criminal suspects on many
occasions, which resulted in
224 deaths during 2008, a drop
from the 272 fatal police shoot-
ings of civilians in 2007.
 Although the law prohibits
such practices, reports of physi-
cal abuse of prisoners by guards
continued, despite efforts by
the government to remove abu-
sive guards and improve proce-
dures, the report stated.
 "Prison conditions
remained poor, primarily due
to overcrowding and poor
sanitary conditions", it noted,
adding that medical care also
was poor, primarily a result of
having only three full-time
doctors, one full-time nurse,
and one psychiatrist to cover
13 facilities with 4,790 inmates
across the island.
 In addition, the State
Department said the Jamaica
Forum for Lesbians, All
Sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG)
continued to report human
rights abuses, including "arbi-
trary detention, mob attacks,
stabbings, harassment of
homosexual patients by hospi-
tal and prison staff, and tar-
geted shootings of homosexu-
als. Police often did not inves-


tigate such incidents".
 In Antigua and Barbuda,
the U.S. agency said there
were "occasional reports of
police brutality, corruption,
excessive force, discrimination
against homosexuals, and alle-
gations of abuse by prison
guards".
 The report said prison con-
ditions in Antigua and
Barbuda were very poor and
that the country's only prison,
which housed 229 convicted
prisoners at the end of last
year, "overcrowded, did not
have toilet facilities, and slop
pails were used in all 122 L l .1
 It attributed overcrowd-
ing, in part, to a law that limit-
ed the ability of magistrates to
grant bail to those accused of
certain offences.

DISCRIMINATION
 The report stated, in The
Bahamas, there were "com-
plaints of abuse by police and
prison and detention centre
guards, poor detention condi-
tions, poor functioning of the
judicial system leading to
delays in trials and lengthy
pre-trial detention, violence
against women and children,
and discrimination against
persons of Haitian dL nLI .I
 The State Department
said violence against women
was also a rh Lou, wide-
spread problem" in The
Bahamas.
 In Barbados, the U.S. said
problems included excessive
use of force by police, poor
prison conditions, and societal
violence against women and
children.
 "While the constitution
specifically prohibits torture
and inhuman or degrading
punishment or other treat-
ment, there were reports that
police sometimes used exces-
sive fIrt. it stated.
 Belize was another coun-
try cited for lengthy pre-trial
detention, with the State
Department also identifying
domestic violence, discrimina-
tion against women, sexual
abuse of children, trafficking in
persons for sexual and labor
exploitation, child labor and


human rights problems, includ-
ing brutality and use of exces-
sive force by security forces.

CORRUPTION
 Human rights problems in
Grenada included allegations
of corruption, violence against
women, and instances of child
abuse, the State Department
reported. It said prison condi-
tions generally met interna-
tional standards, with the
exception of overcrowding,
describing it as "significant".
It claimed the 386 prisoners,
of which nine are women, are
held in space designed for 98
persons.
 Poor prison conditions,
violence against women and
children, and adverse condi-
tions experienced by indige-
nous Kalinago (Carib) Indians
were the main human rights
issues in Dominica, the report
stated.
 Excessive force by police,
poor prison conditions, cor-
ruption, and violence against
women were the major human
rights problems in St. Kitts
and Nevis, the report noted.
Prisons were overcrowded,
and resources remained limit-
ed. In addition, it said violence
against women was a problem,
but there were "no prosecu-
tions or convictions for domes-
tic violence during the year".
 In St. Lucia, problems of
abuse of suspects and prison-
ers by the police, long delays
in trials and sentencing, vio-
lence against women, and
child abuse predominated.
According to the State
Department, corruption had
become a serious issue.
 "Observers expressed con-
cern that the country was mov-
ing backwards in terms of
transparency and accountabili-
ty," it stated, adding that there
was also "widespread concern
that some members of the gov-
ernment (was) associated with
known narcotics traffickers".
 The State Department
said "impunity for police who
used excessive force, poor
prison conditions, abuse of
official position by govern-
ment officials to circumvent


the judicial process, an over-
burdened court system, vio-
lence against women, and
abuse of children" were the
major problems in St. Vincent
and the Grenadines.

- CMC
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 Vol. 20, Number 4 MAR. 2009

 PETER A WEBLEY
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March 2009