GRENADA

PRIVY COUNCIL APPEAL NO. 10 OF 2006

BETWEEN:

I, Winston Courtney of [PRIVATE ADDRESS], St. Patrick's in the state of Grenada, but at present in the United States of America, being duly sworn, MAKE OATH and say as follows:

1. I am a former Commissioner of Her Majesty's Prisons in the state of Grenada also known as the Richmond Hill Prisons.

2. I know all the Appellants in this matter. I knew some of them prior to 1979 in my professional capacity as a member of Special Branch, the intelligence arm of the Royal Grenada Police Force.

3. I knew all of them from close up during my tenure at the Richmond Hill Prisons.

4. I joined the prisons in August 1990, as Superintendent of Prisons. I was invited to join the service by Sir Nicholas Brathwaite who was then Prime Minister of Grenada. I was recruited to help redress the situation at the Richmond Hill Prisons. I was informed by Sir Nicholas Brathwaite that the government had concerns about the human rights situation at the prisons. In all, I was stationed at the prisons for six and a quarter years; ten months as Superintendent, and the remaining years as Acting Commissioner.

5. Before joining the prison service, I lived and worked in the United States of America.

6. Prior to going to the United States I was a police officer in the Royal Grenada Police Force. I was a police officer from 1959 to 1982.

7. During my service as a police officer I rose to the rank of Superintendent and to the position of head of Special Branch.

8. As Head of Special Branch it was my duty to assess the activities of the various political and other social forces in Grenada and to advise the government of any actual or potential threat to the security of the state.

9. In 1978, in my capacity as Head of Special Branch, I informed the then Prime Minister Sir Eric Gairy that in my judgment his government and the opposition party, the New Jewel Movement, were on a collision course which could have dire consequences for Grenada if measures were not taken to redress the grievances in the society which formed the basis for the militancy and support of the NJM. That was my last report as head of Special Branch. I was replaced as Head of Special Branch shortly thereafter. And within 6 months of my final report the Grenada Revolution took place. This report to which I refer herein has been republished in the local press on several occasions in the last 20 years.

10. At the time of the Grenada Revolution in March 1979 I was still a member of the police force but, thereafter, I felt as if I was not trusted.

11. In November 1979 I was detained and imprisoned by the People's Revolutionary Government. I was detained from then until November 1980. 12. While in detention, my son was murdered in an armed attack in Plains, St. Patrick's on November 16th 1980. He was on his way home together with three friends from a social party.

12. As a result of the death of my son, I was released from prison and allowed to leave Grenada.

13. Based on my life experience and knowledge, I would characterize the period 1979-1983 as a special and unique period in Grenada's history.

14. Based on my life experience, my information gathered from diverse sources, including from the record of the trial proceedings of the Appellants, and based also on my knowledge of the personalities who were the main protagonists involved in the events of October 19th 1983, it is my belief that the events of that tragic day were spontaneous, rapidly unfolding and were capable of going either way. As such I am of the belief that those events were characterized by the passions of the day which unfolded in the context of the special period 1979-1983; a period in which Grenada was effectively a one party state lacking the normal checks and balances which could have prevented such tragic event.

15. It is my belief that given the changes that have taken place in the world since 1983, and the entrenchment of democratic institutions in Grenada, it is unthinkable that the events of 1979-83 can be repeated; and no sane person would seek to do so.

16. After I demitted the post of Commissioner of Prisons in October 1996, I was invited by the government of St. Lucia to take up the position of Superintendent of the St. Lucia Prisons, the top post in their system of post designations.

17. When I arrived in St. Lucia there was a serious crisis there. I managed to bring the situation under control within a few weeks.

18. Unfortunately, I was unable to complete my work in St. Lucia due to illness. I was suffering from diabetes which affected my sight, finally rendering me blind.

19. I have been recognised for my work at the Grenada Prisons by United Nations agencies, Penal Reform International, and also by Caribbean Human Rights bodies. In recognition of my work, in 1995 I was selected as a member of a United Nations delegation to inspect prisons in Haiti.

20. I know all the Appellants. I knew some of them prior to becoming Superintendent of Prisons in 1990. However, I got to know them quite well after that.

21. During my tenure as Commissioner of Prisons, all the Appellants were of exemplary conduct. In addition to being of exemplary conduct they made immense contribution to the prison:

1. They organised and ran the Prison Education Programme, which has been recognised as the best such programme in the Caribbean, something that has been a source of great pride to Grenada;

2. They played leading and dynamic roles in the prisons industries;

3. They made it their duty to constantly engage in the counselling of other inmates and they were instrumental in persuading many prisoners to move away from a life of crime;

4. They were a source of stability at the prisons;

5. By their example they assisted in maintaining good order and discipline at the prison;

6. Indeed, during the period I was Commissioner, they were a positive influence on every aspect of prison life;

7. By the discipline and single minded determination with which they approached their own individual studies, they set an example for other inmates and indeed other students outside of prisons, with several of them earning university degrees, paid for by their families, under difficult circumstances.

23. I was the Acting Commissioner of Prisons in 1991 when the sentences of the Appellants were commuted to imprisonment for the remainder of their natural lives.

24. I was surprised by the stipulation of imprisonment for the remainder of natural life. I understood by that stipulation that they were sentenced to imprisonment until they die.

25. Based on my experience as a police officer I knew that whenever the death sentence on a prisoner was commuted, it was commuted to life imprisonment and that meant that such prisoner would be eligible for release after a maximum of 15 years, once he was of good conduct. I subsequently confirmed with other commissioners of prisons in the Caribbean that the same practice prevailed in other Caribbean countries.

26. It is therefore my understanding that prior to 1991 there was a convention in Grenada that the maximum punitive sentence of a prisoner whose death sentence was commuted was 15 years, after which he would be released if he were of good conduct.

27. Given the character and intelligence of the Appellants, I am of the belief that it is a total waste to have them incarcerated after they have served the punitive part of their sentence, given that they represent no risk to society. On the contrary, in my professional judgment, they have a lot of good to offer to Grenada and to humanity.

28. My belief that the Appellants represent no risk to society, and are indeed a positive influence, was reinforced by their conduct during the passage of Hurricane Ivan on September 7th 2004. Hurricane Ivan devastated Grenada, including the Richmond Hill Prisons. I have been informed by senior prison officers and verily believe that the conduct of the Appellants during that crisis was truly remarkable. While hundreds of other prisoners fled the prisons the Appellants remained calm and acted very responsibly. At no time did any of them escape or attempt to escape.

29. It was further confirmed by the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago at a press conference carried on radio within days of the passage of the hurricane (following a tour of devastated Grenada together with his Grenadian counterpart) that the Appellants chose to remain in prison after the prison walls were blown away by the dreadful winds of Hurricane Ivan.

30. It is therefore my profound belief that, in all the circumstances, the interest of justice would be best served if the Appellants are sentenced, at worst, to time served and immediately released.

31. I make this affidavit for no improper purpose.

Before me - 9 October 2006

Notary Public

ESTEL VEGA
Notary Public, State of New York
No. 01VE6099409
Qualified in Kings County
Commission Expires September 29, 2007