Dr. José Raúl Perales, Senior Associate, Latin American Program, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Mr. Francis Forbes, Director, Implementing Agency for Crime and Security, CARICOM
Dr. John Rapley, President and Director of Research, Caribbean Policy Research Institute, Jamaica
Ms. Folade Mutota, Co-Founder, Women’s Institute for Alternative Development, Trinidad and Tobago
Dr. Johanna Mendelson-Forman, Senior Associate, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Ladies and Gentlemen

Permit me first of all to express my gratitude to the Wilson Center, and particularly to Dr. José Raúl Perales, for organizing this very timely conference on a subject of great relevance for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

I know that efforts were made to secure the participation of one of the authors of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)/World Bank Report on Crime, Violence and Development in the Caribbean, Dr. Gabriel Demombynes, and the Chairman of the External Advisory Committee, Professor Anthony Harriott, but that they were unable to be here, as they were already committed to other activities related to the very topic we are discussing today. I am however, pleased to note that Ms. Folade Mutota, who co-wrote a background paper on which the Report’s chapter on firearms is based, is here with us.

I therefore welcome this opportunity to share with you some of my own thoughts on issues of security and insecurity, with particular regard to crime and violence, and the impact thereof on development in the Caribbean.

The Challenges facing the Caribbean

The problems and challenges posed by crime and violence in the Caribbean have been for some time a vexatious issue for the region’s policy makers, and it is noteworthy that the international community is taking an increasing interest in the subject.

Security challenges are posing serious social and economic challenges for the smaller economies of the Caribbean, particularly for those that depend heavily on tourism.

I, like many others from or concerned with the Caribbean, regard the UNODC/World Bank Report as a major contribution to the development debate in the region and it is a useful point of reference for our discussion today..

As you know, the Report found that high rates of crime and violence in the Caribbean are undermining growth, threatening human welfare and impeding social development. Indeed, the Report argues unambiguously that crime and violence are a development issue, having direct effects on human welfare in the short term and on economic growth and social development in the longer term.

History and geography can be and are usually blamed for many of the ills afflicting the region and rising levels of violent crime are no exception. More and more, it appears that the gains of Independence are being undermined by threats to national sovereignty and governance, resulting in the vicious circle some of our countries now find themselves in: stunted or inequitable development, increasing poverty, higher crime rates and growing insecurity, corruption and the undermining of the State, poor governance and around again.

One of the most worrying issues the region has to contend with is its status as a major trans-shipment point for narcotics and its vulnerability to drug trafficking. The UNODC/World Bank Report has established that the drug trade is at the core of violent crime in the Caribbean, where murder rates are higher than in any other region of the world and assault rates are significantly above the world average.

To compound matters, fighting drug trafficking and narco-related crime diverts criminal justice resources needed for other important activities; and at the same time, increases and embeds more violence, undermines social cohesion and contributes to the widespread availability of firearms.

And worse yet, the drugs are not just passing through the region, as the Caribbean is increasingly becoming a market for illegal drugs, targeted particularly at youth.

It is a truism that crime has a negative impact on legitimate business and investment. As crime increases, access to financing declines, spending on formal and informal security measures increases, and worker productivity declines. Moreover, fighting crime diverts limited economic resources from other critical human development sectors such as health and education. This is, unfortunately, all too true in the Caribbean, where, for example, estimates suggest that reducing the homicide rate by one third from its current level could more than double the region’s rate of per capita economic growth.

Transcending National and Regional Boundaries

Many of the challenges facing the Caribbean transcend national and regional boundaries.

Demand for drugs emanates from Europe and the United States. On the other hand, the supply of hard drugs like cocaine emanates from Latin America and flows northward via the under-manned, porous borders and open waters of the region.

I therefore support the view that interdiction in the Caribbean needs to be complemented by other strategies outside the region: principally demand reduction in consumer countries and eradication and/or alternative development in producer countries.

Likewise, many weapons that are trafficked in the region are brought from the United States, contributing significantly to a worsening gun culture, the escalation and perpetuation of violence and the undermining of stability. Policies should, inter alia, focus on limiting the availability of legal firearms, and addressing interdiction at source and at destination, with accompanying education and meaningful alternatives for youth.

Then there is the problem of deportees. Many of them with no social or emotional relationship with the country where they were born and many armed with “post-graduate” qualifications in crime and access to sophisticated criminal networks, are sent back from the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada to the region, where inadequate social services cannot re-integrate them into society and resource-challenged police forces cannot deter them from putting their knowledge and skills to dangerous effect.

I am pleased to note that it was announced last week by the CARICOM Secretariat that the US State Department has taken steps towards a special resettlement programme for deportees from the US, which will afford them job training and placement. The resettlement programme, which is an extension of a pilot project in Haiti, will be conducted by USAID and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), working with governments and other local partners, including NGOs, in The Bahamas, Guyana and Jamaica. This initiative is, I am also pleased to note, a direct result of strong representation made by CARICOM leading up to and during the Conference on the Caribbean, held in Washington, last June.

I believe that all deporting countries should contribute to the cost of re-integration programmes. Otherwise, crime and instability will simply be re-exported to those very countries.

All of the above also contributes to the growth of transnational organized crime, supported by increased access to sophisticated weaponry, greater mobility of persons and state-of-the-art communications.

The emergence of terror networks and the linkages between criminal gangs and terrorists are also cause for serious concern. Since the tragic events of September 11, 2001, Caribbean countries have had to invest heavily in counter-terrorism measures. Such investments have also meant a dramatic shift in capital resources and obligations away from critical social and economic infrastructure projects. Keep in mind that the resources applied by the Department of Homeland Security for counter-terrorism activities exceed the combined GDP of several Caribbean countries.

And we have not even taken into account economic dislocations and natural disasters that devastate not only economic infrastructure but also security and capacity and create a breeding ground for poverty, marginalization and crime.

The phenomenon of violent crime and insecurity therefore requires a coordinated regional and international response that transcends national and regional boundaries.

OAS Action

For the OAS, building peaceful societies and prosperous economies is of critical importance. Security challenges are clearly counterproductive to these objectives.

In 2002, the OAS General Assembly adopted in Bridgetown, Barbados, a multidimensional approach to hemispheric security, which entailed an expanded definition of security in the Americas that moved beyond unilateral territorial protection to encompass a complex combination of political, economic, environmental and human security threats. With multidimensional security as one of the pillars of the Organization, the OAS has established a policy frameworks and institutional mechanisms to deal with major security challenges.

CICAD, the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission, deals with drug trafficking, interdiction, and prevention of drug consumption. The adoption of the Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism (MEM) to assess the efforts of Member States in combating illegal drug trafficking is one of the many success stories in this regard.

The Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacture of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related Materials (CIFTA) is the first binding regional agreement that explicitly addresses small arms, light weapons and explosives.

The Inter-American Committee on Terrorism (CICTE) has programmes of technical assistance and specialized training that target six areas: border controls, financial controls, critical infrastructure protection, counter-terrorism legislative assistance, terrorism crisis management exercises, and policy development and coordination. In the past two years, CICTE has spent over $2 million in security training for Caribbean countries, funded to a large extent by the United States.

The OAS Department of Public Security covers Trafficking in Persons, Transnational Organized Crime, Gangs, Small Arms and Light Weapons, Humanitarian De-mining, and the Concerns of Small Island States (including natural disasters). In 2008, the Department will host an Anti-trafficking in Persons Awareness-Raising Seminar, in which 13 Caribbean nations will be participating. Among the several objectives, the OAS will be addressing the importance of developing comprehensive legal frameworks to combat Trafficking in Persons.

On the whole, the OAS is working closely with regional governments, as well as with other international, regional, sub-regional organizations and security agencies within and outside the Western Hemisphere, with the ultimate objective of creating and strengthening partnerships to confront the challenges of security in the Caribbean and across the Americas.

Conclusion

In my view, multidimensional security threats require multidimensional, multidisciplinary and innovative responses. I firmly believe that a holistic, integrated approach to security and crime prevention must address development, good governance and the rule of law, as well as crime prevention. I put forward the following for discussion and consideration.

There is a need to continue to strengthen law enforcement through increased training and technical assistance.

We must promote greater cooperation in intelligence sharing with regard to threat detection and deterrence.

All countries have to recognize that national threats can have regional implications, therefore necessitating a multilateral approach, such as that being pursued through the existing OAS institutional arrangements, to strengthen crime prevention and criminal justice systems..

All need to acknowledge that consultation on strategic and tactical responses to cross-border security issues is necessary and does not pose a threat to national sovereignty.

The United States can develop concrete programmes of cooperation, at both the federal and state levels, especially between US states on the Eastern Seaboard and Caribbean countries, to unite the so-called Third Border.

Governments need to invest more in economic, social, education and prevention policies that can help to combat the challenges of drugs, guns and gangs, through, for example, poverty eradication and youth development programmes.

I believe that while a short term impact and immediate response is necessary to address some of the immediate problems, a more structural solution will only be achieved through a strategic approach addressing the underlying causes of insecurity and instability.

I believe that the OAS is on the right track. By leveraging the strengths of Member States to work together in developing their capacity, we are building a mechanism for sustainable security.

The key to our success in combating security challenges will be to reconcile the relationship between security and development, and to move forward with an integrated, multidimensional approach that emphasizes greater cooperation and partnership to confront common challenges.

In closing, I would like to refer to the Third Border Initiative (TBI) as an example of and opportunity for developing this approach. As you know, the TBI was developed to focus US-Caribbean engagement through targeted programmes of new and ongoing activities designed to enhance cooperation. It is an explicit recognition that the security and development issues of neighbouring states have the potential to have a direct impact on security in the United States and vice versa. Proximity always leads to issues of mutual interest, which can only be resolved or addressed in an environment of mutual respect, thorough understanding of the needs of each other and a friendly climate of engagement.

I thank you.