OEA/Ser - Organization of American States
PERMANENT COUNCIL OF THE OEA/Ser.G
ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES CP/CSH-1551/14
7 April 2014
COMMITTEE ON HEMISPHERIC SECURITY Original: English
Report on the Activities of the Secretariat for Multidimensional Security in Fulfillment of the Resolutions on the Special Security Concerns of the Small Island States of the Caribbean
Committee on Hemispheric Security
March 27, 2014
Report on the Activities of the Secretariat for Multidimensional Security in Fulfillment of the Resolutions on the Special Security Concerns of the Small Island States of the Caribbean
Committee on Hemispheric Security
March 27, 2014
Mindful of the special security concerns of the small island states of the Caribbean and recalling resolution AG/RES. 2809 (XLIII-O/13), the OAS Secretariat for Multidimensional Security offers the following report on the activities it has undertaken in the Caribbean region with an aim to support the small islands states in their efforts in the areas the following areas: Crime and violence prevention, enhancing law enforcement capabilities and institutional strengthening, strengthening border security, increasing resilience to cybercrime, strengthening the justice sector, strengthening mechanisms against trafficking in persons, security for major events, tourism security, and coordination with CARICOM on security matters.
1. Crime and Violence Prevention:
PROCCER Caribbean
The CICAD Demand Reduction Section’s Training and Certification Program for Drug and Violence Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation Service Providers (PROCCER) has had a very successful year in the Caribbean. Major accomplishments include the completion of an institutional and human resource profile and training needs assessment in the Caribbean; the adaptation of the PROCCER Treatment Curriculum for Caribbean training needs and completion of the PROCCER Prevention Curriculum, Training of Trainers; the commencement of in-country trainings; the establishment, together with the UWI Mona Campus, of the PROCCER Regional Certification Mechanism; and the development of the PROCCER Evaluation Mechanism for the evaluation of trainers and the training methodology.
In early 2013, the Demand Reduction Section along with the PROCCER Assessment Task Force completed the final assessment report, which is a regional institutional and human resource profile and training needs assessment. This exercise was conducted with the participation of the institutions identified by PROCCER Point Persons in the 2012 Mapping exercise from which a Directory of Caribbean drug prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and gang and youth violence focused institutions (for English Speaking OAS Member States) will be developed.
In 2013, the PROCCER Treatment Curriculum was adapted for the Caribbean training needs; and the PROCCER Prevention Curriculum was completed. PROCCER—Caribbean is the first initiative of Demand Reduction to develop a Prevention Curriculum, so the completion of the PROCCER Prevention Curriculum and training materials was a major accomplishment. Both curricula will undergo further adaptations in 2014 based on feedback received from the National Teams of Trainers, the national drug commissions, and the PROCCER Evaluation Mechanism.
Over 2013-2014 CICAD Demand Reduction Section hosted two Training of Trainers events for the National Core Teams of Prevention and the National Core Teams of Treatment Trainers for the English-Speaking Caribbean OAS Member States. Concurrently, a PROCCER Advisory Council Meeting was held in Miami to discuss training methodology, the certification mechanism, and the creation of Task Forces to address pending issues.
In-country pilot trainings began in late 2013 with Jamaica in both prevention and treatment trainings, and Antigua and Barbuda in drug prevention; and Trinidad and Tobago began training in drug treatment in early 2014. Other member states are presently working on their in-country training budgets for MOUs to be signed with each country, which will then allow for in-country training to commence in their respective countries.
In late 2013, Demand Reduction and the University of West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus finalized the PROCCER Regional Certification Mechanism for the certification of drug prevention specialists and drug treatment service providers. UWI is responsible for developing all the tests and exams, and for standardizing the criteria for certification.
In February 2014, Demand Reduction hosted a Training of Trainers in Miami, Florida for 11 English-speaking OAS Caribbean Member States: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, St. Kitts, and Suriname. Participation included three prevention specialists and three treatment service providers from each non-pilot member state, and three prevention specialists or three treatment service providers from each pilot member state, for a total of 57 participants.
Also in early 2014, Demand Reduction partnered with St. George’s University to develop the Evaluation Mechanism for the evaluation of trainers and training methodology.
It is important to highlight that PROCCER-Caribbean includes the involvement of all Caribbean English-Speaking OAS Member States through varied participation in the PROCCER Advisory Council, PROCCER Task Forces, and PROCCER National Point Persons. Additionally, the CICAD Demand Reduction Section works with the national drug commissions, CARICOM, The University of the West Indies, St. George’s University, the Caribbean Association of National Training Agencies, and other regional experts in demand reduction.
Firearms Marking and Destruction
Within the framework of our Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials (CIFTA), and in response to the alarming indicators of armed violence in the hemisphere, where more than 80 percent of homicides are committed using firearms, we have launched two successful firearm control initiatives resulting in the marking of more than 300,000 firearms and the destruction of more than 35,000 firearms and about 1 million rounds of ammunition. In the Caribbean, the Department of Public Security (SMS/DPS) has delivered firearms marking training and equipment to 12 CARICOM countries. In September 2013 a technical assistance and training mission was dispatched to Dominica, at the government’s request, and they trained and assisted Dominican Authorities to destroy a stockpile of 180 surplus firearms and over 1,000 kilograms of munitions.
2. Enhancing Law Enforcement Capabilities and Institutional Strengthening:
The Inter-American Network for Police Development and Professionalization
The Secretariat for Multidimensional Security has embarked on the design of the Inter-American Network for Police Development and Professionalization, which takes a systemic and police knowledge management approach and is designed to reduce asymmetries in the region's police institutions, enhance cooperation among them, promote research into and the exchange and transfer of experiences and best practices, and foster the professional development of our police forces. The Network will facilitate the professional development of 200,000 police officers in the hemisphere over a five-year period, providing training in English, Spanish and Portuguese. The Network is designed to promote and harness horizontal cooperation and to include the crucial value-added participation of the region's universities.
Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism (MEM)
The Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism (MEM) fosters dialogue and hemispheric cooperation to confront the drug problem through an evaluation process which results in national and hemispheric reports on progress in drug control. This mechanism helps Member States detect strengths and weaknesses in their drug policies and provides assistance to improve them. The MEM’s Sixth Evaluation Round has been underway since early 2013, and is currently evaluating countries on the implementation of 27 common recommendations stemming from CICAD’s Hemispheric Drug Strategy and its Plan of Action, 2011 – 2015. These recommendations are focused on different aspects of Institutional Strengthening, Demand and Supply Reduction, Control Measures and International Cooperation. Recent MEM missions to Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Haiti and Belize were aimed at helping these member states receive the maximum benefit through their full participation in this mechanism.
Drug Supply Reduction
The OAS/SMS, through CICAD’s Supply Reduction Section, have delivered variety of training events for Caribbean law enforcement. From January 2013 to today’s date, 8 training activities in supply reduction have been carried out in the Caribbean, and over 150 security professionals from the Caribbean have attended those events. These training events include:
- Seminars on the Control of Chemicals and Chemical Diversion
- JETWAY train-the-trainer Seminars for Passenger Security
- Seminars on Chemical Control and Officer Safety
- Seminars on Investigations of Internet Sales of Drugs
Regional Counterdrug Intelligence Training School Initiative
OAS/CICAD is also working with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago on the Regional Counterdrug Intelligence Training School Initiative. This program seeks to establish in Trinidad & Tobago, a specialized center for academic and operational training in the anti-drug intelligence field. The Initiative recently received Cabinet approval and work toward its establishment continues.
Data Collection and Information Sharing in Public Security
Helping Member States make informed, evidence-based policy decisions is one of the major contributions that the OAS/SMS can offer. The OAS Hemispheric Security Observatory continues to provide assistance to national statistical offices through its participation, along with the IDB, in the project called Regional System of Indicators for Citizen Security. Under this program, the OAS/DPS Unit has provided technical assistance to several Caribbean Statistical Offices to assist them with developing and adopting standardized data collection methods. This effort is critical to the reliable collection, analysis and evaluation of official data on public security.
Inter-American Observatory on Drugs (OID)
In 2013, the Inter-American Observatory on Drugs (OID) section of the CICAD Executive Secretariat (ES/CICAD) provided technical assistance to the Drug Observatories of 12 CARICOM Member States in preparing, implementing and analyzing major drug use surveys, as well as preparing analytical reports on the results. These include Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad & Tobago.
ES/CICAD also provided technical and financial support to Universities, including 2 from the Caribbean (Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago) as part of a comprehensive strategy to increase awareness and understanding of the drug problem and promote the creation of a regional academic and scientific platform of information.
3. Strengthening Border Security:
Among the many courses and training events offered by the SMS in the Caribbean, below is a list of those training events which were executed since January 2013 that are directly related to strengthening border security, be they air, land or maritime borders:
- Courses on Airport Access Control Techniques
- Scholarships to ICAO Aviation Security Training Programs
- Assessments and Training
- Passenger Interdiction Training
- Air Cargo Interdiction Training
- Airport Screening Techniques
- Maritime Port Security Assessments and Follow-on Training
- Crisis Management Exercise on Port Security
- Travel Document Security and Identification Management
- Course on Travel Document Security and Fraud Prevention
- Bioterrorism Crisis Management Simulated Exercise
- Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Exercise
- Workshops on Immigration and Customs Controls
- Course on Cargo Container Controls and Interdiction
Coordinated border controls and improved port and airport security help to stem the flow of illegal firearms, drugs and other contraband, and can improve awareness and control of the inflows and outflows of people and goods. All together, the courses listed above provided training for over 1,100 security professionals from the Caribbean.
4. Increasing resilience to Cyber-Crimes:
Through the CICTE Cyber Security Program, the Secretariat’s efforts to increase Member States’ resilience to cybercrime continue. Recently, Cyber Security Specialists from OAS/CICTE, through an initiative coordinated by the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy, and Mining of Jamaica, provided technical assistance to that Government for the development of a National Cyber Security Strategy. Expert advice was given on the development and implementation of the national strategy, and participants were guided through working group sessions to formulate the main tenants of the strategy. Just as it has already done for Trinidad and Tobago’s efforts in this regard, OAS/CICTE will continue supporting and facilitating Jamaica’s efforts, as well as those of any member state that requires it.
Aside from the assistance for the formulation of national strategies, the CICTE Cyber Security Program also organized two regional workshops in 2013 to promote dialogue and information-sharing on various policy and technical aspects of cyber security; technical training courses on aspects of incident response. Delegations from several CARICOM countries attended these workshops and received guidance and exposure to the techniques and strategies used by other Member States in this very technical area.
5. Strengthening the Justice Sector:
Drug Treatment Court (DTC) Program
One program that I am very proud of is the the Drug Treatment Court (DTC) Program for the Americas which aims to help the governments of OAS member states and specialized professionals (justice and health) set up and/or consolidate drug treatment courts in their jurisdictions and thus offer a court supervised alternative to incarceration through treatment and rehabilitation for drug dependent offenders. We are convinced that the use of drug courts and alternative sentencing for certain non-violent drug offenders could help to address the serious problem of prison overcrowding, as well as reducing the economic and social costs associated with incarceration.
In the Caribbean, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Barbados, Belize, the Bahamas, Suriname, and Grenada are among the countries involved (exploring, implementing, or expanding the Drug Treatment Court model). The DTC Program trains judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys and treatment providers. There are also study visits and exchanges to the United States, Canada and Chile as well as practical training through court simulations. Just earlier this month, officials from Belize, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Barbados participated in the Exchange and On-Site Study Program that took place in Vancouver, Canada. Currently Jamaica has three Courts in operation, and planning a forth this year; Trinidad and Tobago has one court, and is opening a second in the Summer, and a Juvenile Court by June 2014; Barbados launched its first DTC in February of this year. Suriname, Grenada, Belize, and The Bahamas are currently studying the model for possible adoption.
Money Laundering
As part of a comprehensive program involving the coordinated action of CICAD and CICTE, assistance is being provided to the Government of Dominica, which will strengthen its ability to effectively prevent, investigate and prosecute financial crimes as well as predicate offenses to money laundering such as drug, arms and human trafficking, in compliance with the FATF 40+9 Recommendations. It is important to note that this special program was put together in response to a request made by the Dominican Financial Intelligence Unit during a meeting of CICAD’s Group of Experts on Money Laundering Control.
Modernizing Correctional Services
In an effort to assist Member States modernize their correctional services, the OAS Department of Public Security has been working on a project entitled “Development of a standardized methodology for the monitoring and evaluation of social reintigration programs and projects aimed at reducing recidivism.” This study has taken into account the relevant models used in seven countries in the hemisphere, including Barbados and Jamaica, and will soon be publishing a policy guide on correctional programs focusing on reintegration and reinsertion. It is expected that this guide will serve to improve the Management of Correctional Services in the Hemisphere.
6. Strengthening Mechanisms against Human Trafficking:
In 2013, the OAS Anit-Trafficking in Persons Unit of the Department of Public Security organized two inportant events on the topic of trafficking in persons. One of them was a 52nd OAS Policy Round Table on Raising Awareness of Domestic Servitude in the Americas and the other was an Interamerican Seminar entitled “Strategic Coordination between Government and Civil Society for the Integral Protection of Victims of Trafficking in Persons.” Both of these events sought to turn the spotlight on the issue of human trafficking in the hemisphere and both events were attended by National Authorities and civil society experts from the Caribbean.
7. Security for Major Events:
In today’s globalized world, recreational facilities, airports and sea ports are have come to be considered critical infrastructure, especially for countries highly reliant on tourism and international trade, like those from the Caribbean. The OAS/CICTE, together with UNICRI have been executing a Security for Major Events program in the hemisphere called the International Permanent Observatory on Security Measures during Major Events (IPO Americas). National Focal Points and other national Major Events authorities from several CARICOM member states, as well as representatives from CARICOM IMPACS have participated in their recent events in Santiago, Chile and in Ottawa, Canada. These events serve to provide training and advisory services to security planners in preparation for major events to be hosted in the Americas. They also provide an opportunity for the sharing of information and best practices and the enhancement of crime prevention capacity in the involved Member States.
8. Tourism Security:
The CICTE Secretariat also implements a Tourism Security Program which, in 2013, held 6 training events in the Caribbean, where national authorities and private sector tourism security practitioners were given improved/updated tourism security training and encouraged to develop integrated public-private sector strategies and partnerships. These events, held in Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Dominica and Jamaica, were attended by over 300 participants.
9. Coordination with CARICOM on Security Matters:
Through its three principal areas, the Secretariat for Multidimensional Security has promoted ongoing cooperation with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), including its Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS), in many of its initiatives targeting the Caribbean States. Currently an initiative is underway which will result in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the OAS and CARICOM IMPACS to deepen the levels of cooperation, coordination and collaboration, especially within the context of the recently approved CARICOM Crime and Security Strategy.
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