JAMAICA: AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH NEW MINISTER OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINGSTON 000470 SIPDIS WHA/CAR FOR TILGHMAN, INL/LP FOR BOZZOLO E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/21/2018 TAGS: SNAR PREL GOV JM SUBJECT: JAMAICA: AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH NEW MINISTER OF NATIONAL SECURITY, COL. TREVOR MACMILLAN Classified By: DCM James T. Heg for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d) ¶1. (SBU) Summary: May 19, Ambassador Johnson met Jamaica's new Minister of National Security, Col. Trevor MacMillan. MacMillan, who is usually quite talkative, was surprisingly taciturn. In addition to providing MacMillan with brief snapshots of our current law enforcement, military and counter terrorism programs, we discussed U.S. deportees, the future of the Financial Investigative Division and our desire to see Jamaica renew the contracts of the international police officers it has as senior staff officers. End Summary. ¶2. (C) MacMillan was joined at the meeting by his Permanent Secretary, Gilbert Scott, and his Senior Director for Policy, Ann Marie Barnes. MacMillan, who normally is never at a loss for words was unusually subdued and gave only vague answers to our questions regarding his plans to tackle crime and violence and how he as minister would deal with mustering support for the upcoming launch of the Police Strategic Review. It is our suspicion that the presence of his Permanent Secretary and Ms. Barnes, who are both hold overs from the previous People's National Party 18-year reign may have been an inhibiting factor. ¶3. (SBU) MacMillan informed us that he would be meeting in a few hours with the Minister of Finance, Audley Shaw to agree upon the division of authority between the two ministries concerning the Financial Investigative Division, the Asset Recovery Agency, and the Revenue Protection Division. After being briefed by Barnes and Scott, MacMillan had decided to support submission of the Asset Recovery Agency Act, necessary for its creation as a legal entity in Jamaica, and to support submission by the Minister of Finance of the FID Act. He also clarified that each entity would have a separate role. FID would investigate financial crimes, such as money laundering, and the Asset Recovery Agency would be responsible for the seizure and forfeiture (civil and criminal) of proceeds of crime. MacMillan explained that a sister organization, the Revenue Protection Division, would be responsible for chasing lost tax revenue. MacMillan agreed that it was important for each organization to have independent investigative authority, but would obviously have to work closely together as they would likely target the same individual/entities. ¶4. (C) The Ambassador informed MacMillan of a recent conversation she had with Rev. Ho Lee, a noted Jamaican humanitarian regarding his desire to build a half-way house to assist returning deportees with resettlement. She then quipped, "had Jamaica accepted our offer of assistance, you all could have been well on your way to supporting this needed facility." MacMillan was completely caught off guard and clearly had no idea of the December 2007 decision to refuse U.S. assistance. (Reftel) When he turned to his staff, both Scott and Barnes started laughing and quickly tried to disassemble and put the best spin on the GOJ's wrong-headed decision to refuse U.S. assistance. (We believe the decision was largely engineered by Barnes, who seems to be laying the groundwork for a move to CARICOM this fall when she resigns from the Ministry.) ¶5. (SBU) Scott explained that a decision was taken at the recent CARICOM Security Minister's meeting that deportation would be handled through regional negotiations. According to Scott and Barnes, the Ministers have accepted the recommendations of the four studies that CARICOM commissioned on deportees to Jamaica, Trinidad and two other CARICOM jurisdictions and it is CARICOM's intention to open negotiations with all the major deporting countries (U.S., UK, and Canada) on a combined Memorandum of Understanding of the conditions under which CARICOM nations would receive deportees. Some of CARICOM's demands are as follows: -- deportees would be released and permitted to "wind up their affairs" and settle property disputes and make custody and guardianship arrangements for any minor children prior to deportation. -- deporting countries would be required to provide resettlement assistance to returning deportees. -- deporting nations would agree to standard notification periods in advance of deportation. -- deporting nations would agree to provide criminal records, medical records, and trial transcripts in advance of deportation. ¶6. (C) Scott and Barnes rattled these demands off casually, as if negotiations would proceed with no resistance from the deporting nations. Their attitude seems to reflect a complete misunderstanding of the position of both the U.S. and Canada towards this matter. (Note: Post has worked in close cooperation with the Canadian and British High Commissions on this issue and will continue to do so. Canada's official policy on deportees to Jamaica remains firm. Canada will provide information on the individuals it deports, but no assistance. Canada will also not entertain opening up negotiations for a new MOU on deportation. The UK is in current negotiations with Jamaica over an MOU but is having trouble coming to terms. The UK's Deportee Officer and its High Commissioner have shared their government's collective frustration with the pace of the negotiations, laying the blame squarely at Barnes' feet.) ¶7. (C) We closed the meeting with an offer for more in-depth one-on-one briefings for Minister MacMillan. The NAS Director will work with the Law Enforcement Core Group to arrange briefings by DEA, U.S. Marshals, ICE, RSO, and the FBI. The DAO has also received permission to provide the Minister with a terrorist threat assessment. He will work directly with MacMillan to schedule that. HEG