Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06NASSAU277
2006-02-17 13:53:00
SECRET
Embassy Nassau
Cable title:  

SECURITY ENVIRONMENT PROFILE QUESTIONNAIRE (SEPQ)

Tags:  ASEC AMGT PTER 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
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)

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