Senior Reporter
jensen.lavende@guardian.co.tt
One week after protester Alyssa Phillip and her mother Camille Caresquero were arrested during the Labour Day celebrations in Fyzabad, the Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago (LATT) is questioning the reasoning behind restricting public access to certain areas and of the further extension of the State of Emergency.
Under the no-protest zone order, people participating in public protests or demonstrations are prohibited from being at, or within 500 metres of, several key state institutions and sensitive facilities across T&T, including the Red House, Woodford Square, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Office of the Prime Minister, President’s House and the Police Administration Building.
In a media release yesterday, however, LATT questioned the rationale behind the 500-metre distance mandated for the 15 areas.
LATT stated: “The order prohibits protests within a 500-metre radius of 15 specified locations, encompassing in effect almost every seat of governmental and judicial power in T&T. The question arises whether this restriction is rationally connected to the stated objective of the State of Emergency.
“It is further significant that placing protesters 500 metres from the very institutions they seek to address stifles the effectiveness of protest itself. A restriction of such breadth warrants careful scrutiny as to whether it constitutes a proportionate response to the declared emergency, or whether it impermissibly extinguishes the right to peaceful public protest, assembly, movement, and expression.”
LATT added that its concerns are not with the regulation of protest per se, “but the scope, necessity and proportionality of the restrictions imposed by the Emergency Powers Order,” and whether those restrictions are reasonably justifiable in accordance with the Constitution.
The association said continued public dialogue on the proper balance between public safety, national security and the preservation of constitutional freedoms is needed. It said democratic societies are strongest when difficult questions concerning the scope and exercise of government power are examined openly, respectfully and in accordance with constitutional principles.
“LATT calls upon the relevant authorities to review the order to ensure that any restrictions on the freedoms of assembly and expression as exercised through public protest are narrowly tailored, operationally necessary, clearly defined, and consistent with the constitutional requirement of reasonable justifiability,” it said.
Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro, who sanctioned the order, was also called on “to provide clear public guidance” on the precise geographic boundaries within which the order operates.
LATT also called upon the Attorney General to address the legal basis and necessity for each of the 15 designated exclusion zones.
During a protest outside the DPP’s office on May 27, Phillip and her mother were first arrested and later charged with disorderly behaviour and influencing public opinion in a manner that is prejudicial to public safety under the Emergency Powers Regulation. The mother and daughter were again charged last Friday during the Labour Day celebrations in Fyzabad.
Addressing this, LATT said the arrests of the women at locations outside the geographic scope of the order may undermine the confidence in the administration of justice.
“If enforcement action is taken without adequate public notice of what conduct is prohibited, public confidence in the administration of justice can be undermined.
“The association notes that the exercise of emergency powers in this manner can have a chilling effect on constitutional rights and freedom of expression. When citizens cannot confidently determine whether a peaceful protest will expose them to arrest, many will choose silence over participation—a suppression of civic voice that is antithetical to the rule of law.”
The association also called on the Government to provide the public with a “measurable, evidence-based justification for the continued extension of the State of Emergency, which may be placed in the public domain, with proper regard to national security considerations.
“This should include crime statistics demonstrating the specific impact of emergency powers on the criminal conditions that gave rise to the original proclamation, disaggregated to show whether the underlying drivers of violence are being durably addressed and not merely suppressed for the duration of the emergency.”
LATT said the balance between public safety and the constitutional rights of citizens must be actively, transparently and consistently maintained, adding it remains committed to engaging constructively with all branches of the State on matters affecting the rule of law and the constitutional rights of citizens.
Guardian Media reached out to Phillip, the TTPS communications department and Attorney General John Jeremie on the issue but up to press time there was no response.
