PM urged to disclose details on US military strikes

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessarduring a media briefing on May 22. - File photo by Faith Ayoung

PRIME Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and the Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro are being asked for details from the government about the series of US military strikes in the Caribbean that reportedly killed more than 60 people, including two Trinidadian nationals.

On November 4, blogger and social activist Vishal Persad filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. His request was addressed to the prime minister, the commissioner and Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Sean Sobers.

Persad, through his attorneys Keron Ramkhalwhan and Anwar Hosein, is demanding the release of reports, meeting records, and legal opinions relating to the strikes, which began September 2 under orders from US President Donald Trump.

Persad’s FOIA request — part of a project titled “Military Strikes in the Caribbean 2025” — sets a December 4 deadline for a government response.

The strikes, conducted in international waters, have been condemned by the New York City Bar Association and international law experts as unlawful summary executions, a letter accompanying the request said.

The letter noted statements by Persad-Bissessar who has repeatedly defended the US actions, stating that “all drug traffickers should be killed violently” and expressing “no sympathy” for those targeted.

According to the letter, at the UN General Assembly in September, the prime minister said the US military’s presence in the southern Caribbean “has been very effective in inhibiting the innumerable activities of drug cartels” and voiced support for a US-led regional security alliance announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

It further noted that Sobers later confirmed that the US government shared information about the strikes, which he said occurred in international waters, but he declined to disclose coordinates.

According to Ramkhalwhan, quoting media reports, to date, US military operations have destroyed 16 vessels in 15 separate attacks, killing at least 64 people.

Persad’s FOIA request seeks, among other records, the names of those killed, the exact location of the October 14 strike that allegedly claimed two Trinidadian lives, and confirmation of whether US agencies such as the Central Intelligence Agency or the Drug Enforcement Administration are operating in Trinidad and Tobago.

In the letter, Ramkhalwhan argued that TT’s endorsement of the US strikes “contravenes both domestic and international legal frameworks designed to uphold due process and protect individual rights,” as he cited section 4 of the Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Persad contends that “no government, however powerful or allied, ought to endorse or permit the unlawful summary execution of persons on the high seas or in international waters.

“To do so is to stray from the rule of law and the principles of human dignity that bind civilized nations. Man is not God, and any descent into a world where men assume the roles of judge, jury, and executioner must be rejected and condemned by all who value justice, humanity, and the sanctity of life.

“These actions signal that the country’s leadership has come to accept the summary executions of so-called ‘criminals’ as a legitimate tool of crime reduction. When governments begin to sanctify killings as policy, civilisation itself trembles.

“The sea, vast and merciless, must not become the graveyard of justice,” the application said.

The letter also said the Prime Minister’s statements “reflect a troubling national ethos, one that now appears to tolerate, and even encourage, the taking of life in the name of order.

“This is the lazy posture of a government that has lost faith in the rule of law and the institutions of justice.

“First came the declaration of a state of emergency; then an exponential rise in police killings 17; a Commissioner of Police adorning the Punisher symbol to glorify vengeances rather than justice; and now, an open endorsement to kill/execute persons on the high seas/international waters,” the letter added.

On the weekend, relatives of the two Trinidadian men believed to have been killed in the October 14 strike, formally reported them missing to police.

Ayana Roberts, common-law wife of Chad Joseph, filed the missing person’s report at the Maracas Bay Police Station on November 1, but declined to give a statement on the advice of the family’s attorney.

A second report was made by Rishi Samaroo’s sister, Sallycar Korasingh, also at the Maracas Bay police station on November 2.

She told Newsday, all the family wanted was answers. “We just want answers.”

She urged the Prime Minister and the Government to “do something” to assist them in locating her brother, although admitting that they, too, were not sure if he was one of the men on the boat.

“Really and truly, I don't even know myself.”

Contacted on November 4, Roberts said she supported the request for information on the military strikes on the Caribbean.

She also believes the government had a duty to provide details on where the strikes were taking place, “if in local waters or close to,” and details of reports that US government has sent to Trinidad.

“We need some confirmation as to the identities of the persons that were killed on October 14.”