SECURITY ENVIRONMENT PROFILE QUESTIONNAIRE (SEPQ)

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 NASSAU 000277 SIPDIS DS/IP/ITA, DS/IP/WHA. DS/ICI/CI E.O. 12958: DECL: OADR TAGS: ASEC AMGT PTER SUBJECT: SECURITY ENVIRONMENT PROFILE QUESTIONNAIRE (SEPQ) - SPRING 2006 REF: SECSTATE 17684 Classified By: Classified By: RSO John V. Kane, Reason 1.5(d) ¶1. (SBU) Demonstrations ¶A. Are there any ethnic or religious communities in country that are capable of carrying out significant Anti-American demonstrations? - No ¶B. Have there been Anti-American demonstrations in the country within the last 12 months? - No ¶C. Have these demonstrations taken place near or in front of U.S. diplomatic facilities? - N/A ¶D. What is the average size of an Anti-American demonstration? - N/A ¶E. Are these Anti-American demonstrations usually triggered by U.S. Foreign policy initiatives, military actions, or by domestic issues? - N/A ¶F. Are these demonstrations generally violent or peaceful? - N/A ¶G. If violent, have any demonstrations resulted in damage to US property or injuries to USG employees? - N/A ¶H. If violent, have any demonstrators ever penetrated our perimeter security line? - N/A ¶I. Have there been anti-government demonstrations in the country within the last 12 months? - no ¶J. Have these demonstrations taken place near or in front of U.S. Diplomatic facilities? - N/A ¶K. What is the average size of an anti-government demonstration? - N/A ¶L. Are these demonstrations generally violent or peaceful? - N/A ¶M. If violent, have any demonstrations resulted in damage to USG property? - N/A ¶2. (SBU) Macro Conflict Conditions ¶A. Is the host country currently engaged in an interstate or intrastate conflict? (This may include battles between organized and violent drug cartels) - No ¶B. If an intrastate conflict, is it an insurgency that is limited to a specific region or a countrywide civil war? - N/A ¶C. If limited to a specific region, are any U.S. Diplomatic Facilities located in this region? - N/A ¶D. Have any of the factions involved in these intrastate conflicts signaled or demonstrated an Anti- American orientation? - N/A ¶3. (C) Host Country Capabilities ¶A. Are law enforcement agencies professional and well-trained? - The Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) are a professional police organization and are reasonably well trained. They suffer from a lack of material and personnel resources, which causes difficulty in responding to USG inquiries in a timely manner. ¶B. Have they been trained by U.S. Agencies? If so, please elaborate on effectiveness of training. - Yes. The RBPF frequently receives training from U.S. Agencies, to include ATA, FBI, DEA and NAS funded training. The RBPF also has a close working relationship with the Broward County(Florida) Sheriff's Department and has received training through this relationship. ¶C. Are law enforcement agencies confronted with serious, widespread corruption inside their agencies? - No. ¶D. Are the intelligence services professional and capable of deterring terrorist actions? - Somewhat. The RBPF has the only intelligence gathering apparatus in the Bahamas. It is rudimentary, but continues to develop with USG assistance. They are frequently slow to take action or initiate investigations. They lack modern equipment with which to identify, catalog, or monitor terrorists or terrorist activity in the Bahamas. ¶E. Have the intelligence services been cooperative with U.S. Embassy requests for information and support? - Yes, but with frequently slow response times. ¶F. Assuming there have been significant terrorist threats in recent years, have host country security services been able to score any major anti-terrorism successes? ) N/A ¶G. Has host country been responsive (re: timeliness and allocation of resources) to Embassy requests for protective security? - Yes ¶H. How does the embassy assess the overall security at major airports in the country? (Excellent; Very Good, Good/Average; Poor) - Average/Poor ¶I. How effective are Customs and Immigration controls agencies? (Effective; Average; Ineffective) - Average ¶J. How effective are border patrol forces? (Effective; Average; Ineffective)- Average ¶4. (SBU) Anti-American terrorist groups ¶A. Are there indigenous, Anti-American terrorist groups in country? - No ¶B. If yes, how many? Please name groups. - N/A ¶C. Have these groups carried out an Anti-American attack within the last 12 months? - N/A ¶D. Were any of these lethal attacks? - N/A ¶E. Have these groups attacked U.S. Diplomatic targets? - N/A ¶F. Have these groups attacked U.S. Business, U.S. military, or U.S. Related targets? - N/A ¶G. Have these groups limited their attacks to specific regions or do they operate country-wide? - N/A ¶H. If their attacks are limited to regions, are there any U.S. Diplomatic facilities located in these regions? - N/A ¶5. (SBU) other indigenous terrorist groups ¶A. Are there other indigenous terrorist groups (not Anti-American) in country? - No ¶B. If yes, how many? Please name groups. - N/A ¶C. Have these groups carried out attacks in the capital or in areas where U.S. Diplomatic facilities are located? - N/A ¶D. Were these attacks lethal and/or indiscriminate? - N/A ¶E. Have any Americans ever been killed or injured in these attacks? - N/A ¶6. (S/NF) Transnational Terrorist Indicators ¶A. Are there any foreign terrorist groups that have a presence in country? Provide names. - No definitive information is currently available, but financing links are currently being investigated by FBI and ROAL. ¶B. How does the EAC assess this presence? Is it an operational cell? Financial cell? Support cell? Propaganda cell? - Current information indicates that there may be support and financial cells in the Bahamas. ¶C. Is the host government sympathetic to these groups? - No ¶D. Are there suspect Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the country that have a relationship with any of these groups? - No ¶E. Are there any ethnic or religious communities in country that are sympathetic to these groups? - Yes, there is an Islamic community building a mosque in Nassau from which some threat information was obtained. ¶F. How does the EAC assess the level, intent, and scope of hostile intelligence services (Iran, Iraq, Syria, Serbia, Sudan, et. al.) in country relative to potential Anti-American terrorist acts? ) Cuba and China have a presence in country. Two known Cuban Intelligence Officers are working at the Cuban Embassy. Post is not aware of any Chinese Intelligence Officers in the Bahamas but approaches have been made to USG officials that have previously been reported. Post is unable to make a full assessment at this time but there does not appear to be imminent hostile intent. The leader and other members of the mosque are currently under investigation by the FBI and ROAL. ¶G. How does the EAC assess the availability of weapons and explosives in country or from nearby countries for hostile terrorist elements? - Smuggling in the Bahamas is easy and occurs frequently. Historically, the Bahamas has been the point of entry for illegal migrants, drugs, and contraband into the Southeast United States. Weapons are easily obtained, either locally or from other countries. Most frequently the weapons are smuggled from the United States to the Bahamas. ROOD