PRACTICES OF THE GOVERNMENT OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO ON

UNCLAS PORT OF SPAIN 000189

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
DEPT FOR WHA/CAR, S/CT
PLEASE PASS TO HILLARY BATJER JOHNSON AND PAUL SCHULTZ

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KVPR PER PREL PGOV CVIS ASEC KHLS TD
SUBJECT: PRACTICES OF THE GOVERNMENT OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO ON
INFORMTION COLLECTING, SCREENING AND SHARING

REFTEL: (A) STATE 32287
(B) 07 PORT OF SPAIN 1099

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED; PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY


1. (SBU) This cable responds to questions in ref A.

Watch Listing
--------------


2. (SBU) The Government of Trinidad and Tobago (GOTT) maintains
both an alert list of individuals who should be immediately detained
upon entry and a watch list of people whose entry into Trinidad and
Tobago (T&T) is made known to appropriate agencies for monitoring of
movements. The number of names on this list continues to be high,
yet no effort has been made to cull the list. The watch list and
alert list are maintained by the Ministry of National Security.

Traveler Information Collection
--------------


3. (SBU) The GOTT collects information from travelers arriving in
T&T based on regulations in the Immigration Act. The GOTT utilizes
the INTERPOL computerized database to track entries and exits. The
travel documents of passengers arriving by air and sea, including
passengers and crew of yachts and similar craft, are examined in the
same manner by immigration officials. Although policies are the
same for arrivals by air and sea, a slight difference in regulations
calls for more intensive monitoring of maritime arrivals, although
this is not always practiced; one difficulty is that immigration
officials monitoring maritime arrivals are generally presented with
a paper list of names of passengers and crew and their nationality
and passport information, making rapid screening difficult.


4. (SBU) The GOTT may share information on individual travelers
with foreign governments on a case-by-case basis if requested; there
is no formal policy authorizing this, and information is not shared
on a routine basis. During the Cricket World Cup in 2007, various
Caribbean nations cooperated on sharing data. This led to the GOTT
enacting the Advanced Passenger Information Act of 2008, which
fostered sharing during the 2009 Fifth Summit of Americas (SOA).
Perhaps as a result, GOTT law enforcement authorities detained
several potential protesters upon arrival to T&T. The GOTT collects
passenger name record (PNR) data on incoming commercial flights or
vessels, but this is sometimes in hard copy only. U.S. Customs
continues to work with T&T Customs and Excise officials to automate
passenger lists and enter and retrieve them electronically. PNR
data is available to systematically screen travelers for
intelligence or law enforcement purposes, but in practice arrivals
by sea are more difficult to screen. The GOTT does not have any
existing treaties to share PNR data.

Border Control and Screening
--------------


5. (SBU) The GOTT employs software that has certain algorithms to
screen travelers of security interest, but daily use is not
guaranteed. All travelers, both T&T citizens and other nationals,
are recorded and tracked. There is no data available on the
frequency with which travelers are admitted with ostensibly bona
fide documents that are not electronically recorded. Unrecorded
entries and exits by persons arriving from and departing for
Venezuela at locations other than official ports of entry continue
to occur at a substantial rate; the number of such entries and exits
may be between five and ten percent of all entries and exits.


6. (SBU) There is legislation that authorizes border control
officials to use other criminal data when deciding who can enter the
country. Individuals attempting to enter without valid documents
are referred by the Immigration Division in the Ministry of National
Security to the Special Branch Police, who detain them until they
can be sent back to the country from which they arrived.
Occasionally, individuals are sent back without being questioned on
the provenance of their false documents. Government policies on
questioning, detaining and denying entry to individuals presenting
themselves at a point of entry follow regulations in the Immigration
Act. The GOTT also refers to International Conventions to which it
is a signatory. Information sharing within and among GOTT agencies
continues to be sporadic, irregular, and not adequate for making
rapid decisions or taking quick action. Communication has improved,
especially with the Fifth Summit of Americas, but sustaining this
advance will be difficult.

Biometric Collection
--------------


7. (SBU) The only biometric data collection in the GOTT border
control system continues to be facial recognition capability
installed by the Canadian Banknote company. Areas of installation

remain limited. Immigration Division officials are not legally
authorized to take or collect fingerprints.

Passports
--------------


8. (SBU) The GOTT began issuing machine readable passports in 2007.
These passports include facial recognition features that are still
not being utilized. The GOTT does not share the public key to read
data with other governments. However, the system in place can read
biometric data from other countries, provided they have made the key
available. The GOTT issues a standard passport with the normal
five-year validity to replace a stolen or last passport. There are
no standard procedures in place for bearers who frequently report
their passports lost or stolen. However, each application to
replace a stolen passport must be accompanied by a police report.
The newer machine readable passports are not as likely to be
reported lost or stolen. There is an emergency passport that has a
white cover (the regular passport is dark blue) and its own series
of serial numbers.

Fraud Detection
--------------


9. (SBU) There is a fraud unit within the police that investigates
various instances of fraud, including the use of fraudulent
documents. In addition, as part of a training program conducted by
the International Office of Migration (IOM),immigration officers
are being issued hand-held scanners, loupes, and combination loupes
and infrared and black light devices with which to examine
passports. The GOTT subscribes to the Edison database, which
provides examples of all passports in the world and their
identifying features. In 2008, the GOTT in collaboration with the
IOM and the USG, opened the Trinidad and Tobago Immigration Document
Examination Laboratory (TTIDEL). GOTT law enforcement officials use
the laboratory to determine personal identity and document validity.
As it is the only laboratory of its kind in the region, the GOTT
has shared gathered information with neighboring countries on a
case-by-case basis.

Privacy and Data Security
--------------


10. (SBU) The immigration and database system currently in use
reportedly contains information on previous deportations. Records
related to questioning, detention and removal of individuals are
kept on file indefinitely, usually in locked filing cabinets. Some
effort is being made to keep this information electronically as
well. The collection and use of sensitive data is restricted by
privacy laws; however, data is shared among GOTT entities as
required. Post is not aware of any requirement to provide notice to
the public concerning the implementation of new databases; post is
also unaware of laws relating to security features for government
computer systems that hold personally identifying information. The
Freedom of Information Act would allow an individual to request
access to data, either raw data or case file data that domestic
security agencies hold about them; however, there are some
prescribed exceptions to the type of data that must be made
available. A non-citizen does not have the right to sue the GOTT to
obtain data held by a government security agency about them.

Identifying Appropriate Partners
--------------


11. (SBU) Concern over breaching its citizen's privacy might make
some in the GOTT hesitant to enter into a formal data-sharing
agreement with the USG. Although the GOTT's legal system is
sufficiently developed to adequately provide safeguards for the
protection and non-disclosure of information, corruption at the
working level exists. The Ministry of National Security maintains a
consolidated database and nominally shares this information with
other agencies. The GOTT defines terrorism in the Terrorism Act of
2005 broadly as any act inside or outside of Trinidad and Tobago
that is prejudicial to national security or disruptive of public
safety. It is punishable by up to 25 years of imprisonment.

KUSNITZ