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Country-by-Country
Reports
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CARIBBEAN
Antigua & Barbuda
In February 2002, Julius Gittens, Barbadian host of "The Big Issues,"
a popular news review program broadcast on Sundays by Observer Radio, was ordered
to leave the country immediately by the chief immigration officer after a dispute
over his status.
Labor Commissioner Austin Josiah said Gittens had not applied for a work permit,
which he denied, producing evidence he had paid for the permit with a check
for $EC3,000 (about $1,140) and the check had been cashed.
Opposition Leader Baldwin Spencer said he was "ashamed as an Antiguan at
the outrageous behavior of the government to stifle freedom of the press in
the country."
Senator Colin Derrick called the action "an outrageous abuse of state power
in circumstances devoid of common sense and goodwill to all of our Caribbean
brothers and sisters."
In another incident involving Observer Radio, Winston Derrick, host of the "Voice
of the People," went home to find three police vehicles parked outside,
and police showed him a warrant saying they were authorized to search for "certain
telecommunications equipment." The warrant gave no specifics..
Speaking to the Daily Observer later that evening, Derrick said, "Antigua
has reached a stage of anarchy when the police can come into a private home
. . . and have property confiscated. The government is trying to regulate telecommunications
in this country through the Police Force."
Barbados
No complaints impacting press freedom have been reported.
Guyana
Two privately-owned newspapers, the Stabroek News and the Kaieteur News, and
several private television stations operate freely and without censorship or
interference.
The government maintains a radio monopoly. However, new broadcasting legislation
has been promised and a government spokesman said in January 2002 that private
radio licenses would then be issued.
Grenada
The government has made no further moves in connection with a proposed Code
of Practice. The Media Workers Association, having decided to introduce its
own, has done preliminary work on it and plans to circulate it to non-governmental
organizations for perusal and then to have an open forum with the public. This
is expected by the end of this quarter or early in the next. Meanwhile, the
prime minister's office has been taking an interest in the progress being made.
Criminal libel suits and civil suits were brought against two media persons.
The criminal suit against the editor of Grenada Today newspaper, George Worme,
for accusing the prime minister of bribing people to vote for him in elections
was decided by a High Court judge in his favor on the ground that it constituted
freedom of expression as provided for in the country's Constitution. The ruling
was appealed and the Appeal Court overturned the earlier decision. Worme's lawyers
are understood to be planning to appeal further to the Privy Council in London,
the British Commonwealth's final court of appeal.
The civil suit against him for the same offense was decided in favor of the
prime minister in August last year, but damages have yet to be assessed.
A criminal libel charge against radio journalist Stanley Charles involved an
allegation he made in a live telephone call to a radio commentator conducting
a program during time purchased from the Grenada Broadcasting Network (40% owned
by the government). The allegation was that the ruling party had put out a contract
to kill former Government Minister Raphael Fletcher, who had just resigned from
the government. It is not clear where the lawsuit currently stands, but a court
ruled in March in a parallel civil suit brought by the entire cabinet. Damages
of the equivalent about $76,000 were awarded but there was no stipulation on
how much Charles, the commentator, Eddie Frederick, and the radio station will
each have to pay.
Charles did surrender himself to the police initially but he fled the island
soon thereafter and has not returned.
Trinidad & Tobago
The prime minister and his political colleagues have continued their verbal
attacks on the media, but without any direct threat of action. He continued
to accuse sections of the media, particularly the privately-owned Caribbean
Communications Network Limited, of trying to bring down his government and of
collusion with the opposition.
Jamaica
The Gleaner Company Limited appealed to the Jamaica Appeal Court the two major
libel awards handed down against the company in 1995 and 1996, of the equivalent
of about $650,000 and $2.3 million, respectively.
On July 31, 2000, the court ordered the $2.3 million award reduced to $750,000,
but the company has appealed this new judgment to the Privy Council in London.
The $650,000 judgment has been sent back for trial to the Supreme Court in Jamaica.
The government is drafting an Access to Information Act and has passed new provisions
for the monitoring and elimination of corruption in the performance of public
duties, the Anti-Corruption Bill.
The media had strongly opposed a section of the bill that would make it an offense
punishable with stiff fines to publish or use information contained in "any
declaration, letter or other document" when it is known or ought to be
known that it comes from a member of the Corruption Prevention Commission. In
response to the media's objections, the bill was amended and the law was passed
without the offending section.
A specially empanelled Parliamentary Commission is currently hearing submissions
from the public on the Access to Information Bill. The Media Association of
Jamaica, representing owners, and the Press Association of Jamaica , representing
journalists, have both made submissions to this Commission.
 questions
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