Pan-Caribbean security system needed

by Norman Girvan

Countries in the Greater Caribbean region have some of the highest homicide rates in the hemisphere and in the world. The table and chart show the rates for 2000 for the regional countries for which the data are available, compared to the United States.

Several countries not shown in the chart have seen an alarming rise in homicide rates in the past 2-3 years; among them Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and St Lucia.

In previous columns we have examined data underlining the widely held view that one factor in the high and/or rising homicide rates is the spread of transnational crime in the region and geo-economic shifts in narco-production and narco-trafficking.

It is now recognized that transnational crime and rising violence are subjects that cannot be handled by nation-states acting on their own. Regional, hemispheric and global strategies are necessary.

The United Nations Treaty against Transnational Organized Crime has been addressing the issues from the perspective of security. In June of 2002 at its General Assembly held in Barbados, the OAS adopted the Inter-American Convention on Terrorism. And in May of 2003 the OAS will hold a Special Conference on Security in Mexico. A major issue will be the proposal for a multi-dimensional approach to security that embraces its economic, public health and environmental aspects.

In January the Second OAS Meeting on the Special Security Concerns of Small Island States held in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, adopted the Kingston Declaration on the Security of Small Island States. The meeting heard a report from the OAS Secretariat on the safety aspects of the shipment of nuclear waste through Caribbean waters.

CARICOM delegations were adamant on this issue. Led by Barbados, they insisted that no level of risk is acceptable, given the potentially catastrophic effects of an accident or terrorist action involving the release of radioactive material.

The CARICOM Regional Task Force on Crime and Security made a presentation calling for consideration of a Pan Caribbean Partnership for Crime and Drugs envisaging "all the states and jurisdictions falling within the Caribbean Sea."

The Association of Caribbean States is ideally suited as a framework for such an initiative. ACS political leaders have on several occasions made declarations on terrorism and security. Now it has been decided to have security as major item for the meeting of the Executive Board of the ACS Ministerial Council to be held in Santo Domingo in mid-March, where a range of possible initiatives will be considered.

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Professor Norman Girvan is Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States. The views expressed are not necessarily the official views of the ACS. Feedback can be sent to mail@acs-aec.org.