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The Sean Hinds affair

Jul 31, 2015 Letters

Dear Editor,
I have been inundated with requests for an opinion on the Shaun Hinds affair. When I enquired of persons, on what aspect they would prefer me to elaborate; many seem to have connected the death squad admission with the recent allegation by the Hon. Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, that Mr. Hinds may be part of a wider conspiracy to bring him harm. As such, I will attempt to address both these issues as best and as succinctly as I can.
In my last letter published in this newspaper on Saturday 25th July, 2015, under the title ‘Targeted Killing’, I provided a synopsis of the operational context in which assassins work. That as it may, I can conclude without fear of contradiction that Mr. Hinds, like so many others in his field, is nearing that age where introspection and a great desire to see his children and grand children grow, are subordinated only by a yearning to die of natural causes.
As such, given the degree of emotion that this particular issue has generated, I am very confident that it will become the subject of a fact finding commission in the not too distant future. But unlike many, I would be much more concerned with how many persons were actually executed by police or death squad wannabe(s), this nation might be horrified to find out that many such persons sought to infiltrate those entities to advance their own objectives; and in so doing, are responsible for killing more people than those considered professional killers.
As it relates to the alleged surveillance of the Hon. Prime Minister’s home by Mr. Hinds, unless the declaration was intended to serve a political purpose, I did not see the need for the P.M to agonize himself over this issue, this should have been left to the multitude of capable persons who have been delegated to assist, advise and protect the Hon. Prime Minister.
An understanding of risk provides the basis for executive protection. Once protectors achieve sufficient understanding of the risks which their principals face, they can then develop adequate risk profiles. While I am not privy as to which risk management model or methodology was used to conduct the risk analysis for the Hon. Prime Minister, I do not see Mr. Hinds posing much threat to the P.M at this juncture, even if he once did, since the context in which both these individuals previously operated has changed.
Given the fact that both His Excellency the president, and the Hon. Prime Minister are considered senior citizens, the prevention of falls should feature high in their risk profiles. Additionally, special consideration should be given to managing threats to reputation and breaches in protocol, which to my mind, seem to be the order of the day. I was made to understand that the Hon Prime Minister has since foisted a relative on his security staff, and thus, find it fitting to end my letter with a brief historical account.
Political scientist R. K. Sinha, who is one of India’s top security practitioners once said, that political celebrities of Indian descent seem to have a passion for ignoring the advice of their security consultants and protectors. He was referring to the senseless assassination of Late Indian Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi; and that of former Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa, all of whom went against the advice of their protectors, which ultimately led to their ignominious demise.
But stubborn disobedience also claimed the lives of prominent persons outside of the Indian subcontinent; these include the late Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt, Prime Minister Olof Palme of Sweden and Lord Louis Mountbatten of the United Kingdom.
Clairmont Featherstone

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