Prime Minister Allen Chastanet has said he is “dead serious” about ensuring a resolution to the issues raised in the IMPACS report are addressed.
While explaining that he wants to see that the case is dealt with quickly, Chastanet also stated that he will do all that is within his legal right to do, without interfering in the case.
“That is what I am not going to do…so my role as the executive of this country was to make sure that the DPP was appointed and to make sure that the DPP has the necessary resources to do the job,” he explained.
Chastanet, who had the opportunity to read the IMPACS report, described it as a ‘horrible report.’ He said it makes some damning statements, and also called it an embarrassment.
The prime minister noted that the report does not mention the names of any of the witnesses.
Chastanet also criticized former Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony for having read excerpts of the report on national television, who claimed that police officers kept a death list and staged killings of suspected criminals.
“He is a lawyer, so you are telling me – it’s either he didn’t see it and therefore pronounced on the guilt of people without seeing the evidence…or he saw it and he became the judge and jury by himself.”
The government also plans to set up a independent tribunal to deal with the IMPACS matter.
Members of the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (RSLPF) were accused of the extra-judicial killings between 2009 and 2011, during Operation Restore Confidence.
The United States (US) had used the incident to cut back on aid to Saint Lucia. In August 2013, the US officially informed the Saint Lucia government that Washington had suspended assistance to the RSLPF, citing human rights violations.
A ban was also placed on all Saint Lucian police officers, from travelling to the US.
A team of police officials from Jamaica was appointed to investigate the alleged police killings.
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