In its 2016 Public Statement on St. Lucia IMPACS, the U.S. Embassy in Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean and the OECS, lauded the Government of Saint Lucia for “inviting CARICOM’s Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) to conduct an investigation into allegations that members of the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force committed extra-judicial killings from 2010 to 2011”.
The embassy regretted, however, that “progress on pursuing justice in these killings halted after the report’s issuance in March 2015. Despite the significance of the IMPACS report for human rights, national security concerns, and Saint Lucia’s international reputation, the Government of Saint Lucia has made no meaningful progress towards criminal prosecution in 10 months.”
The U.S. sentiments have been echoed by Police Welfare Association President Travis Chicot. In a STAR exclusive, Chicot lays the blame on the shoulders of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Daarsrean Greene. After comparing the DPP to a farmer who has been hired to plant bananas but opts instead to produce onions, the PWA president stated: “I see the DPP as being very ambitious. But the DPP needs to come out and tell us what’s happening with IMPACS. As we’ve said before, if he has evidence regarding any of the killings, he should prosecute. Let the courts decide the veracity of the evidence.”
Chicot’s statement echoes the words of the EU and the U.S. State Department in the time of Prime Minister Kenny Anthony. Chicot noted: “Eight years going into nine years is a long time. Both the victims and the accused have been hurt by what was widely circulated. This delay has caused the country, and the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force, much suffering. We have not been able to acquire training from some of the best sources within the U.S. and that has greatly affected us. This hard to swallow, bitter pill has also dampened our spirits. We need to hear from the DPP what he can or cannot do. In any case a resolution is long overdue.”
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