Human Rights group protests

The St Vincent and the Grenadines Human Rights Organisation held a protest outside the police headquarters last Tuesday, July 3, protesting what they term to be a trend of police brutality in the country.{{more}}

President of the Human Rights Organisation Attorney at Law Nicole Sylvester said that there have been too many instances over the years of police brutality. She said that the protest was not triggered by one particular incident but rather because of the cumulative effect of the police’s actions.

“If we don’t stand up now, our youths will turn to violence and to crime,” Sylvester said.

While there were only about ten protestors, Sylvester said that bringing awareness and putting the problem in the foreground was the issue and not the numbers.

She also dismissed any notion that rough house tactics are sometimes necessary to bring some criminals to justice and to get valuable information from suspects.

“The constitution says that a person is presumed to be innocent until guilt is proven, anything less will create a state of vigilantism,” Sylvester said.

Meanwhile Deputy Commissioner of Police Lenroy Brewster told SEARCHLIGHT that he has no idea what the protest is all about. Brewster said that the police do not condone brutality among its ranks.

“I don’t understand it because if complaints are made they are usually investigated,”the senior cop said.

Brewster said that police officers know that they don’t have the right to take the law into their hands. He said that sometimes there may be issues of excessive force as they carry out their duties rather than brutality, and those officers found to be in violation are usually dealt with.

“If they have some specific charge against a police or some police officers they should bring it and we will investigate it,” Brewster said.

Meanwhile Sylvester said that the Human Rights Organisation would watch and see the outcome of the protest action to determine their next move. (KJ)