Human rights director: Not enough answers on claims of sex assaults on migrants

"If that was an effort by the State in accountability and transparency, I would say it missed the goal of that."

This is how Denise Pitcher, executive director of the Caribbean Centre for Human Rights, feels about a press conference held by the Ministry of National Security on allegations of sexual assault on a migrant.

She said the press conference "left more questions than answers."

Last week, the ministry's Counter Trafficking Unit revealed police were investigating the disappearance of a Venezuelan woman who had been detained at the Chaguaramas Heliport. She disappeared after an alleged incident of sexual assault.

But at the press conference on Sunday, ministry officials said while the woman has been found, there was no evidence of sexual assault at the heliport.

Sr Supt Claire Guy-Alleyne, head of the police Special Victims Department, said CoP Erla Harewood-Christopher had asked her to inquire about any alleged misconduct at the heliport, which she then visited with a team of officers.

"Several persons were interviewed and certain information was disclosed.

"No sexual exploitation was disclosed at that location."

The woman was found at a Chaguanas bar on May 26 and was then sent to the Immigration Detention Centre and then into the care of the Counter Trafficking Unit.

Newsday asked if the migrants were given safeguards such as privacy to be able to talk freely to police investigators without fear of victimisation by those guarding them.

Guy-Alleyne said they were.

Speaking with Newsday on Monday, Pitcher said it was concerning that neither National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds nor a representative of the Coast Guard was at the press conference.

The Coast Guard is assigned to the heliport.

"I mean, clearly there seems to be some effort by the Ministry of National Security to respond to this, but I don't think they're approaching it in the correct way.

"Okay, if you want to say you've interviewed this person, I mean, the thing is, there a're ongoing people in the heliport, right? It doesn't say the population is not the same at any given point in time. If you want to say you've done an interview on June 1, chances are there are different people on June 5."

Pitcher also recently spoke at a joint select committee (JSC) of Parliament meeting on human rights, equality and diversity, at which she expressed displeasure over the conditions of detention centres in TT.

"The heliport does not operate under the same policies and procedures as IDC in a Aripo. And the next thing, too, is that it's very telling that after this girl was picked up by the police, she was not returned to the heliport.Because if the heliport is operating and there's nothing (wrong), then you would have no problem sending her back to the heliport."

She said the police response was not a thoughtful one.

At the same JSC meeting, the police said they have no real authority at the heliport and can only act when called upon.

Pitcher continued, "I've watched this video (press conference) at least three times. There's a lot to unpack.

"They're vulnerable, there's a power imbalance as well too. They're fearful for their safety, their security.

"This is an authoritative body, so they're not going to feel safe and secure, because when the police leave, again, the police has no jurisdiction over that facility. And if the police leave, what will happen to them?"

She said although police said the approach was very "victim-centred," she disagreed.

"They would have taken other precautions to make sure that the asylum-seekers, migrants, refugees in the heliport felt safe enough to share information."