DOES TT's law-enforcement apparatus have a problem with foreigners?
Recent events suggest so.
On March 2, Grenadian sailors were reportedly beaten by TT Coast Guard officers after being intercepted.
Mere weeks earlier, a Venezuelan baby died in his mother's arms in a shooting incident at sea also involving Coast Guard officers.
On Wednesday, a High Court judge awarded a Nigerian man almost $1 million in damages after he was apprehended, beaten and shot by three officers who disregarded the fact that he had simply evacuated a burning building. Not only was he subject to unlawful force in this incident from seven years ago, but he was also wrongly prosecuted and his matter left to linger in court. It was adjourned 40 times, leading the judge to conclude 'malice has to be inferred.'
In all of these cases, it is not clear what consequences have or will be faced by individual officers found to have done wrong.
The Coast Guard officers said to be involved in the incident featuring the Grenadian vessel were reportedly removed from seagoing duties pending the conclusion of an investigation. However, it is not even clear whether this means they are free to continue to function in other areas.
Meanwhile, the Grenadian government has been awaiting information on this incident and no definitive timeline has been set for producing the investigative findings.
Similarly, the probe into the death of the Venezuelan baby has been, we imagine, going on for weeks, or else, if concluded, the findings have not been disclosed to the public with any degree of urgency.
Even when court cases are brought against the State, as in the instance of the Nigerian national, Kennedy Leckwachi, the payment of damages is a matter for the Treasury, not for individual officers.
As we have seen when it comes to instances of wrongdoing in relation to our own nationals, such officers remain subject to relatively tepid enforcement of professional standards as well as toothless regulatory agencies.
The treatment of Venezuelan refugees has already painted a particularly grim picture internationally of official xenophobia locally being enforced through officers who often follow the cues set by those above them.
It seems official policies have paid little to no heed, for instance, to the need not to separate families, deport children or endanger women and children. International agencies looking on have frequently expressed concern over human rights violations as well as violations of basic international treaties.
Parliament is set next week to examine legislation in relation to the entry of Caricom workers.
But before the Government looks to burnish its credentials with regard to embracing foreign nationals here, it should examine how officers of the State routinely mistreat some of these foreigners, including those who have clearly done no wrong.
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