Guyana, Suriname meet to strengthen cooperation in fight against crime

Mar 10, 2010 News

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“Nothing, no crime, no one will divide us in this initiative.” – Suriname Justice Minister

With the steady increase in cross-border criminal activities wreaking havoc throughout the world, neighbouring states have no other choice but to assist each other to fight these threats.
This is the view of the Honorable Chandrikapersad Santokhi, Minister of Justice and Police of the Dutch- Speaking Republic of Suriname during his brief remarks yesterday at the opening ceremony of the bilateral meeting between Guyana and Suriname at the Pegasus Hotel.
Yesterday’s meeting is a follow-up to the Nieuw Nickerie Declaration, which was signed by the Surinamese Minister and his Guyanese counterpart Clement Rohee, Minister of Home Affairs.
The Nieuw Nickerie Declaration contains aspirations by the two neighbouring states to cooperate fully to combat common challenges associated with crime and security.
Yesterday’s meeting was in part geared at reviewing the commitments made and to outline new strategies to enhance the cooperative strides made between the two countries.
The Suriname Justice Minister noted that the high incidence of crime is affecting small states and he welcomed the initiative of CARICOM and other collaborative groups to tackle the threats.
“The greatest importance as neighbours is to combine to combat these threats. We have no choice but to assist each other,” Santokhi told the gathering which included, former Chiefs-of-Staff, Brigadier Michael Atherley and Major General Joe Singh.
Suriname has played a significant role in assisting Guyana to apprehend criminal suspects who fled this jurisdiction to avoid prosecution.
Most notably, in 2006, the Surinamese security forces apprehended Guyanese fugitive Shaheed ‘Roger’ Khan after he fled his homeland, and handed him over to US authorities.
Khan is now serving a 15-year sentence in the United States of America for drug trafficking.
Recently Surinamese authorities busted a ring, which involved the smuggling of stolen cars to Guyana.
“Nothing, no crime, no one will divide us in this initiative,” the Surinamese Justice Minister said.
His sentiments were echoed by his Guyanese counterpart, Clement Rohee, who outlined the genesis of the bilateral security arrangement.

According to Rohee, the mechanism, which was established in May 2008, is developed to facilitate enhanced security and cooperation and coordination between Guyana and its eastern neighbour.
He said that it is a mechanism born out of the realization that while Guyana and Suriname are two separate jurisdictions, criminal and would-be criminals would seek to take advantage of that fact to escape punishment for their crimes and to maximize gains from their criminal actions.
“Guyana and Suriname are determined to ensuring that that distinction does not redound to the benefit of criminals and their criminal enterprises,” Rohee stated.
Yesterday’s engagement, he said, is tangible testimony to the strong commitment made by Guyana and Suriname to collaborate in combating crime in all of its facets, whether it is in relation to the drug trade, the smuggling of illegal goods, illegal trade in small arms or the apprehension of those who flee the criminal justice system in either of the two states.
Both countries yesterday sought to calibrate strategies aimed at thwarting would-be criminals from taking advantage of the separate jurisdictions, bringing to justice those engaged in cross-boundary criminal and other illegal enterprises, and engendering a general atmosphere of peace and security in the two societies.
“Guyana is striving to make all of its communities, including our border communities, safer. As part of that strategy, we consider it absolutely necessary to promote closer cooperation with all our neighbours in order to address the various law enforcement issues that confront us. In an era in which criminals and criminal organizations are joining forces in pursuit of their illegitimate aspirations, it is indispensible that neighbouring states combine their intelligence and law enforcement capabilities if criminality is to be successfully defeated,” the Guyanese Home Affairs Minister stated.
Noting that criminality is one of the key impediments to growth and development, Rohee said that as two neighbouring states, Guyana and Suriname must continue to find ways and means of jointly meeting the challenges posed by criminal operatives if they are to develop and modernize.
“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 stated.
According to the Home Affairs Minister, both countries have sought to enact laws to meet the challenges posed by criminals, and the two sides must share their experiences with regard to the effectiveness of these laws.
Rohee pointed out that in today’s world, legislation is not simply about establishing a deterrent to criminals and would-be criminals. He said that legislation must be a tool to assist in crime solving.
“Too often our laws do not keep pace with technologies that can help to make criminals pay for their crimes; too often, the penalties do not match the crimes committed; too often we do not have the skills to apply the laws as they should be,” Rohee said.
In this regard, Guyana has changed the anti-crime legislation architecture, and to buttress this transformative process, the government has allocated significant sums of money to the police and other law enforcement agencies to enable them to carry out their respective mandates.
Guyana and Suriname are parties to the Inter-American Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters, and Rohee said that it is imperative that the convention look at how Guyana and Suriname can adapt to meet their peculiar needs as neighbouring states.
“I have no doubt that at the end of these deliberations we will find common solutions to a multiplicity of problems that are usually associated with cross-border criminal activities. Both Guyana and Suriname 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 freedoms from the uninhibited greed of criminals,” Rohee stated.

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