Grenadian crew's attorneys want Foreign Affairs Minister to intervene in Coast Guard clash

Attorneys for the eight-member Grenadian crew reportedly assaulted by Coast Guard officers on March 2 in Trinidad and Tobago’s territorial waters off Chaguaramas have written to ask Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Amery Browne to “take appropriate action.”

The minister was also told the crew including seven Grenadians, one of whom has dual citizenship with the United States, and a Trinidadian – will raise the issue with Grenada’s minister for foreign affairs, the Caricom Secretariat and the Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines, since MV Rayniah J flies that country’s flag, for their intervention.

A similar request will be made of the US Embassy in Port of Spain.

In a letter to Browne on Monday, attorney Om Lalla said to date, although the authorities are aware of the incident, his clients have received no official communication from the State to assure them, and others who trade between the islands, “they can do so legally without being subjected to any unlawful interference, intimidation, threats and abuse by the Coast Guard.”

Lalla said the crew was subjected to unlawful arrest, search, detention and physical and emotional abuse.

He also told the minister the “illegal and unwarranted conduct of the Coast Guard has threatened the safety and livelihood” of his clients and “many other nationals of Grenada who exercise the free passage guaranteed to Caricom nationals to conduct trade between member states.”

The attorney also said the “threat of an investigation” as announced by National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds “offered little comfort” to the crew and others in the maritime industry who enter TT’s waters to do business, “as the loss of confidence in the Coast Guard has already been cemented in the minds of my clients and undoubtedly in the minds of many other Grenadian nationals.”

He said Caricom nationals had "rested comfortably" on the Treaty of Chaguaramas, which provides, inter alia, for the freedom of trade between Caricom countries and incidents such as this do "nothing to build confidence that our government is honouring its treaty obligations.”

Lalla also attached a copy of the letter he sent to the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). In urging the minister to take action, Lalla said the incident was an “international legal” one which went to the heart of “our trade relations with our Caricom neighbours and which may even involve Government’s obligations under the UN convention on the Law of the Sea which TT has ratified.”

In his letter to the CDS, Air Commodore Darryl Daniel, which was also copied to Hinds, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi and acting Police Commissioner McDonald Jacob, Lalla wanted to know if the March 2 incident was isolated or the policy of the Coast Guard.

He also sought assurance that the crew will not be impeded from continuing their normal trading activities between Trinidad and Grenada, nor will the incident affect the free trade and right to free passage guaranteed by Caricom.

Daniel was given seven days to respond.

Lalla also called for all evidence to be preserved and asked for log entries; statements; the names and ranks of each officer involved; and the name of the commanding officer who authorised the search and detention. He also wants any video footage or recordings of the incident.

The MV Rayniah J, an 85-foot cargo vessel, was near the Bocas when the crew reportedly had an encounter with the Coast Guard and were met with hostility which escalated to an assault of the captain and one crew member. who later required surgery.

Lalla told the CDS it was “deeply disturbing” that the Coast Guard was unable to identify a trading vessel.

He said relations between the two countries have always been cordial, with a long history of mutually beneficial maritime activities and commerce.

He warned this incident had the potential to “disrupt these good relations and have diplomatic implications.”

In a statement on the incident, the Coast Guard said an investigation had been started.

“The Coast Guard takes all allegations of this nature very seriously because they affect public perception...which may lead to a breakdown in trust that is a key component for its mission success."

It said the investigation would involve all parties concerned and all efforts were being made to ensure a speedily resolution.

The Coast Guard said it held itself and its membership to the highest standards of conduct, and in no way supported any abuse of power and authority.

Hinds told the Senate the interceptor crew involved in the incident had been removed from seagoing duties until the end of the investigations.

Questions have been sent to Browne for comment.

The eight-member crew is also represented by attorneys Derek Ali and Derrick Balliram.