Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06PORTOFSPAIN357
2006-03-21 14:22:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Port Of Spain
Cable title:
US PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION DISCUSSES
how-toVZCZCXRO6654 PP RUEHGR DE RUEHSP #0357 0801422 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 211422Z MAR 06 FM AMEMBASSY PORT OF SPAIN TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6584 INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS PORT OF SPAIN 000357
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR WHA/CAR, INL/LP
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KCRM TD
SUBJECT: US PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION DISCUSSES
PRISONER REHABILITATION DURING ANNUAL T&T VISIT
UNCLAS PORT OF SPAIN 000357
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR WHA/CAR, INL/LP
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KCRM TD
SUBJECT: US PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION DISCUSSES
PRISONER REHABILITATION DURING ANNUAL T&T VISIT
1. SUMMARY: The U.S.-based National Association of
Blacks in Criminal Justice (NABCJ) partnered with the
Trinidad and Tobago Prison Service (TTPS) for their 5th
annual training summit and cultural exchange in
Trinidad and Tobago. The Government of Trinidad and
Tobago funded this year's week-long program which
focuses on restorative justice (loosely defined) and
rehabilitation in prisons. END SUMMARY.
2. The U.S.-based National Association of Blacks in
Criminal Justice (NABCJ) began its 5th annual training
summit and cultural exchange in Trinidad and Tobago on
March 6. NABCJ and the Trinidad and Tobago Prison
Service (TTPS) have collaborated since 1998, starting
with a prisoner transfer that put a Trini-American
prison warden in touch with the TTPS. Beginning in
2001, NABCJ has conducted an annual training program
and cultural exchange in Trinidad and Tobago with the
TTPS. NABCJ has also "adopted" the Five-Rivers School
and engages in informal international mentoring
arrangements with T&T criminal justice practitioners.
3. The Government of Trinidad and Tobago (GOTT)
continues to be committed to the exchanges. The GOTT
fully funded this year's summit to the tune of TTD
300,000 (approximately USD 50,000). Additionally,
Minister of State in the Ministry of National Security
Senator Fitzgerald Hinds attended NABCJ's last annual
conference in Texas in 2005 to ensure the links
continue. Minister of National Security Senator Martin
Joseph and Minister of State Hinds as well as Chief
Justice Satnarine Sharma attended this week's opening
assembly, indicating strong support for the initiative
across the legislative and judicial branches of
government.
4. This year's week-long program focuses on
restorative justice and rehabilitation in prisons.
(NOTE: Though "restorative justice" usually refers to
administering justice so as to restore the victim,
participants used the term interchangeably with
rehabilitation, perhaps referring to the aim of
"restoring" criminals to society as good citizens. END
NOTE.) The TTPS has already made strides towards the
restorative model as it implements the GOTT's Vision
2020, which aims to achieve developed status for T&T by
the year 2020. Prison Commissioner John Rougier stated
during his opening address that the TTPS is well on its
way to reaching this goal early, by 2015. He claimed
that recidivism decreased by 10 percent last year.
(NOTE: Rougier did not provide any context or
methodology for this figure, making it difficult to
evaluate. END NOTE.) The prisons have instituted a
number of educational and vocational programs,
providing opportunities for inmates after they are
released, reducing the lure of crime. He noted plans
to build specialized prisons, such as for juvenile
females and for inmates over 60 years old, and for
improved family facilities.
5. Chief Justice Sharma, though not scheduled to
speak, took the opportunity to applaud Rougier's vision
of prison reform. He revealed that he had assigned a
high-level magistrate to work with the TTPS to improve
collaboration between the prisons and the judicial
system, focusing on rehabilitation. Sharma further
cautioned that while discussing reform is good,
implementation of reform is always the most difficult
due to people's "fossilized mindsets" that make change,
even change for the better, nearly impossible without a
struggle. Sharma further exhorted all those present to
remember that prisoners must be treated with dignity as
dehumanizing inmates only serves to reinforce criminal
tendencies, and that the litmus test of any society is
how its members treat the least privileged.
6. COMMENT: We are pleased to see the initiative
taken by the NABCJ and by the GOTT to ensure that this
cooperation continues. We welcome the positive
outcomes that are likely to flow from this ongoing
cross-cultural interaction. END COMMENT.
AUSTIN
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR WHA/CAR, INL/LP
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KCRM TD
SUBJECT: US PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION DISCUSSES
PRISONER REHABILITATION DURING ANNUAL T&T VISIT
1. SUMMARY: The U.S.-based National Association of
Blacks in Criminal Justice (NABCJ) partnered with the
Trinidad and Tobago Prison Service (TTPS) for their 5th
annual training summit and cultural exchange in
Trinidad and Tobago. The Government of Trinidad and
Tobago funded this year's week-long program which
focuses on restorative justice (loosely defined) and
rehabilitation in prisons. END SUMMARY.
2. The U.S.-based National Association of Blacks in
Criminal Justice (NABCJ) began its 5th annual training
summit and cultural exchange in Trinidad and Tobago on
March 6. NABCJ and the Trinidad and Tobago Prison
Service (TTPS) have collaborated since 1998, starting
with a prisoner transfer that put a Trini-American
prison warden in touch with the TTPS. Beginning in
2001, NABCJ has conducted an annual training program
and cultural exchange in Trinidad and Tobago with the
TTPS. NABCJ has also "adopted" the Five-Rivers School
and engages in informal international mentoring
arrangements with T&T criminal justice practitioners.
3. The Government of Trinidad and Tobago (GOTT)
continues to be committed to the exchanges. The GOTT
fully funded this year's summit to the tune of TTD
300,000 (approximately USD 50,000). Additionally,
Minister of State in the Ministry of National Security
Senator Fitzgerald Hinds attended NABCJ's last annual
conference in Texas in 2005 to ensure the links
continue. Minister of National Security Senator Martin
Joseph and Minister of State Hinds as well as Chief
Justice Satnarine Sharma attended this week's opening
assembly, indicating strong support for the initiative
across the legislative and judicial branches of
government.
4. This year's week-long program focuses on
restorative justice and rehabilitation in prisons.
(NOTE: Though "restorative justice" usually refers to
administering justice so as to restore the victim,
participants used the term interchangeably with
rehabilitation, perhaps referring to the aim of
"restoring" criminals to society as good citizens. END
NOTE.) The TTPS has already made strides towards the
restorative model as it implements the GOTT's Vision
2020, which aims to achieve developed status for T&T by
the year 2020. Prison Commissioner John Rougier stated
during his opening address that the TTPS is well on its
way to reaching this goal early, by 2015. He claimed
that recidivism decreased by 10 percent last year.
(NOTE: Rougier did not provide any context or
methodology for this figure, making it difficult to
evaluate. END NOTE.) The prisons have instituted a
number of educational and vocational programs,
providing opportunities for inmates after they are
released, reducing the lure of crime. He noted plans
to build specialized prisons, such as for juvenile
females and for inmates over 60 years old, and for
improved family facilities.
5. Chief Justice Sharma, though not scheduled to
speak, took the opportunity to applaud Rougier's vision
of prison reform. He revealed that he had assigned a
high-level magistrate to work with the TTPS to improve
collaboration between the prisons and the judicial
system, focusing on rehabilitation. Sharma further
cautioned that while discussing reform is good,
implementation of reform is always the most difficult
due to people's "fossilized mindsets" that make change,
even change for the better, nearly impossible without a
struggle. Sharma further exhorted all those present to
remember that prisoners must be treated with dignity as
dehumanizing inmates only serves to reinforce criminal
tendencies, and that the litmus test of any society is
how its members treat the least privileged.
6. COMMENT: We are pleased to see the initiative
taken by the NABCJ and by the GOTT to ensure that this
cooperation continues. We welcome the positive
outcomes that are likely to flow from this ongoing
cross-cultural interaction. END COMMENT.
AUSTIN