GUYANA and its eastern neighbour, Suriname, had a bilateral meeting yesterday aimed at enhancing anti-crime cooperation and sharpening coordination between the two countries, guided by the Nieuw Nickerie Declaration.
That declaration was signed after successful May 2008 discussions in Suriname and yesterday’s was a follow-up to evaluate the importance and improvements made since.
For the purpose, representatives of the Guyana Ministry of Home Affairs and the Suriname Ministry of Justice and Police met in the Savannah Suite of Pegasus Hotel, in Kingston, Georgetown.

Speaking at the start, Minister Clement Rohee said this second bilateral is on matters related to joint action to combat cross border criminal activities, the drug trade, smuggling of goods and other illegal activities across the border.

He said this mechanism was established in May 2008 to facilitate enhanced security cooperation and coordination between the two countries.
“It is a mechanism born of the realisation that, while these are separate legal jurisdictions, criminals and would-be criminals would seek to take advantage of that fact to escape puni

‘FORGING CROSS-BORDER PARTNERSHIP AGAINST CRIME’: Guyana’s Home Affairs Minister Mr. Clement Rohee and Suriname’s Minister of Justice and Police Mr. Chandrikapersad Santokhi at the Pegasus Hotel, Georgetown yesterday. (Cullen Bess-Nelson photo)

shment for their crimes and maximise gains from their criminal actions,” Rohee said.

He said the Nieuw Nickerie Declaration, signed by the two parties at the first bilateral, contains the aspirations and, indeed, the goals and objectives of their decision to cooperate more fully to combat common challenges associated with crime and security.

“Our decision to cooperate is premised on the fact that, while States respect separate jurisdictions, criminals often take advantage of that distinction,” Rohee  observed, stating that Guyana and Suriname are determined to ensure that that distinction does not redound to the benefit of criminals and criminal enterprises.

“I am happy to state that my colleague, the Honourable Minister Chandrikapersad Santokhi has been a keen partner in this effort,” Rohee attested.

“Today’s re-engagement is tangible testimony to the strong commitment made by our two countries to collaborate in combating crime in all its facets, whether it is in relation to the drug trade, the smuggling of goods, illegal trade in small arms, or the apprehension of those who flee the criminal justice system in either of our two States,” he reiterated.

Rohee said the two delegations will seek to calibrate strategies aimed at thwarting would-be criminals from taking advantage of the separate jurisdictions; bringing to justice those engaged in cross border criminal and other illegal enterprises and engendering a general atmosphere of peace and security in the two societies.

STRIVING

Guyana’s Home Affairs Minister Mr. Clement Rohee and Suriname’s Minister of Justice and Police Mr. Chandrikapersad Santokhi share a light moment yesterday in the company of two former Chiefs-of-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force, Joe Singh and Norman McLean.

He said Guyana is striving to make all of its communities, including border communities, safer.

“As part of that strategy, we consider it absolutely necessary to promote closer cooperation with all of our neighbours, in order to address the various law enforcement issues that confront us,” Rohee asserted.

He said, in an era in which criminals and criminal organisations are joining forces in pursuit of their illegitimate aspirations, it is indispensable that neighbouring States combine their intelligence and law enforcement capabilities and capacities, if criminality is to be successfully defeated.

In that context, Rohee said: “Guyana and Suriname, as two neighbouring States, must continue to find ways and means of jointly meeting the challenges posed by criminal operatives, if we are to develop and modernise.”

He said criminality is one of the key impediments to growth and development leading directly to brain drain, hampers social justice and equality and acts as a disincentive to hard work and genuine economic progress.

“In a nutshell, it is a scourge on economic and social progress,” Rohee posited.

He said, during their talks, the progress made since the signing of the declaration will be reviewed and further steps that must be taken to strengthen cooperation will be discussed.

“But today’s meeting is not only about assessing the joint actions we have put in place to cooperate and coordinate to combat crime.

“Both Guyana and Suriname must enhance our cooperation in terms of policy initiatives and development when it comes to issues related to crime and security,” Rohee noted.

He emphasised that both countries have sought to enact laws to meet the challenges posed by criminals, their sponsors, sympathisers and even the reluctant few who provide them with different kinds of support.

Rohee said the two countries must share experiences with regards to the effectiveness of the laws enacted because, in today’s world, legislation is not simply about establishing a deterrent to criminals and would-be criminals but must be a tool to assist in crime solving.

He said, too often, the laws do not keep pace with technologies that help to make criminals pay for their crimes; the penalties do not match the crimes committed and the authorities do not have the skills to apply the laws as they should.

MANDATES

A section of the gathering.

“In this regard, here in Guyana, we have changed dramatically the Anti-Crime Legislative architecture,” Rohee said, explaining that, to buttress this transformative process, Government has allocated significant sums of money to the Police and other law enforcement agencies to enable them to carry out their respective mandates.

He reminded that Guyana and Suriname are parties to the Inter-American Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters and it is imperative that the covenant be looked at not only in terms of what it helps them to cooperate on within the Organisation of American States (OAS) but how the two countries can adapt it to meet the own peculiar needs as neighbouring States.

“Those multilateral organisations, of which we are both members, have instruments which, together, we can build upon to strengthen the legal tools to combat criminals and their organisations.

“These are but some of the issues that must form part of our discourse today. They constitute important elements of our work programme and joint strategies for combating crime,” he acknowledged.

Rohee maintained that both Suriname and Guyana aspire to an atmosphere in which law abiding citizens are provided with an enabling environment for the pursuit of their lawful activities, free from the fear of criminals and the loss of property and freedom from the uninhibited greed of criminals.
He said: “The crea
tion of such an atmosphere is ours and only ours to establish.

“It is my fervent hope that we will have a successful and productive meeting as we seek to establish that enabling peaceful and secure environment,” Rohee concluded.

Suriname Minister Santokhi, in his remarks, said that as transnational organised crime is considered a great threat to the economic, social and political development of any society, the Surinamese Government has sought to analyse and identify these threats.

He said, based on this, steps were taken to strengthen collaboration and his country is at the stage of finalising the implementation of its sector plan and the national security strategy which has been drafted and approved.

ISOLATION
“Combating and eliminating the various kinds of threats of organised crime cannot be carried out by one country alone and these threats cannot be tackled in isolation, since most of them are inter-related and have a transnational and multifaceted character,” Santokhi conceded.

He said these are constantly changing the landscape of international security in which new threats are emerging, like international terrorism, transnational organised crime, human trafficking and smuggling and cyber crime.

Santokhi also took note that the displacement and transformation of old threats into new ones, which have an impact on all nations, including Guyana and Suriname, impinge on the functions of various international organisations.

He said it is of great importance, as neighbouring countries, to cooperate actively in order to combat or minimise those threats.
Santokhi said the two nations have to cooperate effectively against international, hemispheric and regional threats and fight against the common ones  and assist each other to battle local threats.

“Therefore, we have signed and are implementing the Nickerie Declaration which is a comprehensive tool for joint cooperation,” he remarked.
Santokhi agreed it is important to further discuss and strengthen the bilateral cooperation and collaboration between the States to “tighten the confidence in the cooperation and deepen and broaden security in the region, by effective and efficient information and intelligence sharing, as is already being done.

He disclosed that a new aspect to be discussed is the back track (illegal migration) route plan as well as the unlawful movement of vehicles between Suriname and Guyana.

“We have a strong political willingness as two nations for a strong cooperation. We have a joint vision. We have a joint strategy. We have a joint commitment to enhance cooperation and security,” Santokhi reminded.

“…nothing – no crime, no criminals and no other issue will divide us in this approach which is beneficial for  both our nations and both communities,” he declared.