Human Rights Abuses under the watch of the Manning Administration

Crimes Against Indians
“All yuh Indian feel all yuh too smart!” one man said as he raped and sodomized a young Hindu
woman he and his two accomplices had kidnapped and whose father had refused to or delayed
paying ransom. Taking turns, two of them stood on her hands while the third man raped her.ccxlii
Throughout the country drug lords have been targeting Indian/Hindu businessmen, so that they
could acquire their properties at next-to-nothing prices, while the businessmen migrated. The
police offer little protection to law-abiding citizens.ccxliii

“The details are well-known: a young black man was killed in circumstances that suggested that
he and his friends were attempting to kidnap a young Indian man. The young man’s family
denies this. However, the result was a spontaneous explosion of mainly black men who stopped
cars, dragged out the (Indian) drivers, and beat them and burned their cars. One young black
man was caught on camera saying that ‘For every African dead, 20 Indians have to go’ —the
quote has been repeated many times, but the gist remains the same, according to witness
reports in November 2006.”ccxliv

Indo-Trinidadians have been raped, kidnapped, and have had their homes vandalized and
businesses looted. “The Indo-Trinidadian population feels especially naked and targeted,
because the majority of kidnap victims have thus far been Indian businessmen and women. The
implication of the idea that they are the ‘natural targets’ because Indians are the ‘rich
businesspeople’ is dangerous, and only increases the anxiety and depression,” said a leading
Indian attorney.ccxlv

“To make matters worse, it is a fact that the vast majority of those kidnapped are of Indian
descent (just check the police statistics). In what has become a country sharply polarised along
racial lines, is it not evident that any apparent condoning specific criminal conduct seemingly
focused largely on one group will further alienate that group?” asked Senator Dana Seetahal.ccxlvi

“People perceive the Indian population to be wealthier. Most importantly, they are seen to be
weak and soft targets who will not fight back,” says Kumar Mahabir, an anthropologist at the
University of Trinidad and Tobago who has analyzed the kidnappings. He points out that 75% of
those kidnapped are of Indian origin…”ccxlviii


Hindu Radio Station
After a long seven year legal struggle, the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha of Trinidad and
Tobago (SDMS) was granted the license to broadcast as Radio Jaagriti on 102.7FM.
SDMS initiated the application in 1999 which languished for seven years, while the
government awarded another group a radio frequency for its station. In February 2004,
the SDMS won its discrimination case against the Government of Trinidad and Tobago.
Presiding San Fernando High Court Justice Carlton Best ruled that the SDMS was treated
unequally when the Cabinet bypassed its application, stating that SDMS had been
denied equality of treatment before the law by the State.

On July 4, 2006, SDMS was victorious in its appeal to the Privy Council against the
government because of the government’s consistent refusal to award the organization a
radio license. In a landmark 19-page judgment Lord Justice Mance said “in light of the exceptional circumstances” of the discrimination, the Privy Council would order Trinidad and Tobago Attorney General John Jeremie to do all that is necessary to ensure that a license is issued forthwith to the Hindu organization. The State was also ordered to pay SDMS's legal costs in all the courts.

Violations of Constitution and UN Covenants
Trinidad and Tobago signed the UN’s International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination on June 7, 1967 and ratified it on October 4, 1973. Its accession to the
UN’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights took place on December 21, 1978.
Trinidad is a democratic state that “acknowledges[s] the supremacy of God [and] faith in
fundamental human rights and freedoms.” Chapter 1 of the Constitutionccxlix recognizes an
individual’s right to “equality before the law” and freedom of religion, thought, and expression.
It also guarantees the “freedom of the press” although it does not expand upon what this
freedom entails. Furthermore, the Constitution states that Parliament may not “deprive a
person of the right to a fair hearing” nor deprive a person of the right “to be presumed innocent
until proved guilty according to law.”


 Coming Soon...Allocation of the Trinity Cross Awards.