By Cecila MELVILLE

Contact us: info@strategic-culture.su

Since becoming an independent country in 1962, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago has embraced international principles and rules governing national sovereignty, peace and security, humanitarian principles and justice. Trinidad and Tobago is a member of the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC) and a signatory to many international conventions.

In the most difficult times, the Government has stood in solidarity with other UN members to assert the right of countries to self-determination. Most notably in December 1972, Eric Williams of Trinidad and Tobago, Errol Barrow of Barbados, Michael Manley of Jamaica and Forbes Burnham of Guyana signed an agreement which established diplomatic relations with Cuba, thereby circumventing the embargo that the United States (US) had imposed on Cuba. This heroic and historic action was taken under the shadow of a cold war and deteriorating relations between US and Cuba.

For decades, Caricom countries, including Trinidad and Tobago, have benefited significantly from the engagement with Cuba, which has become an important development partner, especially with its support to the region’s health sector and its immediate response to natural disasters. Recently the US has upended the relationship with Cuba by forcing Caricom countries to end the engagement of Cuban doctors and the training opportunities which were provided to the region’s citizens.

Another indictment of the T&T Government is that it has aligned itself with US foreign policy, including the effort to dismantle the ICC. In this action, our Government has shown itself to be morally bankrupt. Lest we forget: ANR Robinson, the former prime minister and president of T&T, has been credited internationally as the main architect of the ICC, which was established in 2002 to hold countries and their leaders accountable for crimes against humanity, including war crimes, genocide and extrajudicial killings. Yet today, the UNC-led Government has chosen to eschew the principles and international conventions to which the country is a signatory and which promote peace, security, non-intervention and the protection of human rights.

In other words, Trinidad and Tobago is now a rogue state.

On 18th August the US escalated its attacks on the ICC by imposing sanctions on the ICC president Tomoko Akane and a senior trial lawyer, Abdoulaye Seye. This action has been loudly condemned by the ICC, the UN and the EU. The ICC has stated that it is a flagrant attack on ICC officials. The US action is analogous to the school bully threatening the school administration for calling out his bullying and holding him accountable.

These direct attempts to dismantle the ICC are a very dangerous precedent, as they will remove any checks and balances on leaders who engage in humanitarian crimes.

The US has supported Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the West Bank, imposed an oil blockade on Cuba in addition to the decades old embargo, assassinated the political leadership in Iran while they were engaged in negotiations and launched, with Israel, an unprovoked war on Iran which has killed thousands of civilians, including school girls. The US has also bombed critical civilian infrastructure in Iran and supported Israel in its attacks on Lebanon and the illegal seizure of land.

The US, which emerged as the champion of the international rules-based order, is seeking to destroy the very system which has guaranteed world peace and the protection of human rights.

The T&T Government has maintained its silence even as the US escalates its attack on the ICC. The US has called on countries that partner with American law enforcement and the US military or enjoy the benefit of the US security umbrella to reject the ICC’s purported authority to prosecute American officials and servicemen, and to uphold the sanctions against the ICC officials.

While the UNC-led administration may be complicit in the US strikes against small vessels in the Caribbean and the Pacific, it is instructive that the US focus is on shielding American leaders and servicemen from being held accountable for war crimes—and not those of its allies.

The US efforts to dismantle the ICC should be resisted and strongly condemned by all stakeholders—the Government, business, labour, civil society and the public. All citizens should put pressure on their leaders to compel their governments to honour the international conventions which set out rules to promote world peace and security.

Without an international framework to regulate the conduct of leaders and to protect human rights, we can expect a descent into chaos, lawlessness, and an increase in crimes against humanity as the more powerful countries continue to exploit the more vulnerable countries.

All of us are at risk!

Original article:  trinidadexpress.com