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C O N F I D E N T I A L BRIDGETOWN 000220 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAR 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/27/2018 
TAGS: KCRM PGOV INRB PHUM PREL ASEC XL VC
SUBJECT: ST. VINCENT: PM'S (FIRST) RAPE CASE HIJACKED BY 
POLITICS 
 
REF: A. BRIDGETOWN 58 
     ¶B. BRIDGETOWN 78 
     ¶C. BRIDGETOWN 134 
 
Classified By: PolOff Arend Zwartjes for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: The judge reviewing the Director of Public 
Prosecutions' (DPP's) February decision to "discontinue" the 
rape case against Prime Minister Gonsalves has ruled that the 
DPP acted properly and within the parameters of the law.  The 
lawyers for the accuser have appealed the case, and have 
filed separate rape charges against the Prime Minister on 
behalf of another woman.  In addition, they intimated that 
more women have stepped forward, claiming that they too were 
raped by Gonsalves.  The rape case has further polarized a 
community already sharply divided along party lines, and the 
handling of the case--notably the Prime Minister's seeming 
intervention on his own behalf and refusal to recuse himself 
as security chief to allow an impartial investigation--has 
alienated large swaths of civil society, leading many to 
conclude that the courts are no longer independent when it 
comes to government figures.  If the allegations gain any 
sort of momentum, however, PM Gonsalves may be forced to call 
early elections and the political stability of the country 
could be undermined.  End Summary. 
 
DPP's Actions Upheld 
-------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) On February 28, 2008, Justice Gertel Thom heard 
arguments regarding the legality of the Director of Public 
Prosecution's (DPP) decision in early February to take over 
and "discontinue" the criminal rape case against Prime 
Minister Ralph Gonsalves (Ref B).  Justice Thom then ruled on 
March 12th that she found "no arguable grounds for a review" 
of the DPP's actions, finding that the constitution allows 
for the DPP to intervene in certain circumstances.  According 
to Thom, "it was not necessary for the Director of Public 
Prosecutions to take over the complaints before he 
discontinued them.  However, having taken over, under Section 
64 (of the SVG Constitution) he was empowered to discontinue 
them at any time before judgment."  One of the accuser's 
lawyers, Emery Robertson, announced his team's plans to 
appeal the ruling immediately to the Privy Council (the court 
of final appeal in SVG). 
 
¶3. (U) Immediately following the announcement of Thom's 
ruling, one of Gonsalves's attorneys, Anthony Astaphan of 
Dominica, participated in a Grenada radio call-in program and 
hinted that the Prime Minister might counter-sue the accuser, 
calling the rape charges a "frontal attack on the 
administration of justice".  According to press reports, he 
also called the matter "political and ridiculous," and said 
he did not think the Prime Minister should allow the matter 
to rest. 
 
ULP Stages "Pro-Rape Rally" 
--------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) PolOffs met with two of the three lawyers representing 
the PM's accuser March 18-19.  According to Kay 
Bacchus-Browne, "the Police Commissioner purposively did not 
investigate the matter" of the alleged rape, and she pointed 
out the many conflicts of interest clouding the Prime 
Minister's case, since Gonsalves himself appointed the 
Commissioner of Police, and in practice, he also appoints the 
DPP.  Bacchus-Browne noted that the "control of 
administrative arms are in the government's control", 
virtually ensuring that a case against the PM could not 
receive a fair hearing.  She emphasized that despite 
Gonsalves's claims that this was a political ploy, "he was 
the one who turned this into a political matter", citing the 
recent "Support De Comrade" rally held by the ruling Unity 
Labour Party to express support for the Prime Minister (also 
crudely described by one Embassy contact as a "pro-rape 
rally"). 
 
¶5. (C) Bacchus-Browne lamented that the Prime Minister's 
police-woman accuser has been put on the street beat at 
night, a position that puts her in further danger of reprisal 
violence, since her picture has been published in local 
newspapers and the PM named his accuser publicly.  She also 
described the death threats received by herself and the two 
other lawyers during the course of the rape case, adding that 
she had been followed by police and believed their phone 
lines had been bugged.  She did concede that once they 
reported the threats, the police took statements from them 
 
and opened an investigation.  Bacchus-Browne repeated earlier 
requests for assistance in having evidence DNA-tested (Refs A 
and B), noting that "We have no doubt what would happen if we 
trusted the (local) system" and reiterating her assertion 
that police had already destroyed what they believed to be 
evidence form the crime scene. 
 
"A Very Uncomfortable Atmosphere" 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) PolOffs then met with a second lawyer for the accuser, 
Nicole Sylvester, who is also the President of the St. 
Vincent and the Grenadines Human Rights Association and who 
first informed the Embassy of the rape case and requested 
assistance (Ref A).  Sylvester said she had just returned 
from a "secret" trip to Trinidad, in which she successfully 
smuggled the policewoman's uniform (the key evidence) out of 
the country.  Sylvester said that she had identified a US 
company, NFC Global, that does due diligence work and was 
willing to test the evidence outside of law enforcement 
channels. 
 
¶7. (C) Admitting that there is "a very uncomfortable 
atmosphere" in St. Vincent at the moment, Sylvester claimed 
that she too has been followed by police and received death 
threats.  In her efforts to engage international human rights 
groups, Sylvester explained that Amnesty International had 
expressed interest in the matter, and delivered over 300 
letters to the Police Commissioner, the Superintendent of 
Police, and to the Foreign Minister, all expressing concern 
about the handling of the rape case.  Sylvester further noted 
that while in Trinidad, a reporter from the Trinidad Express 
who had interviewed Gonsalves claimed that he told the 
reporter off-record that "the whole thing was concocted by 
the CIA." 
 
The Other Shoe Ready To Drop 
---------------------------- 
 
¶8. (C) Both Sylvester and Bacchus-Browne informed PolOffs 
that they have filed a second, separate rape charge with the 
Family Court, on behalf of a second accuser.  According to 
Sylvester, several women have come forward claiming to have 
been raped by the Prime Minister, though several are not 
willing to press charges because they do not want to get 
involved.  Sylvester noted that one of these women is a 
lawyer at the Family Court, another is a lecturer at the 
University of the West Indies (UWI) in Barbados, and a third, 
currently considering filing charges, is an expat living in 
Toronto.  Sylvester added that at least one accuser claimed 
that the alleged rape was committed in the Prime Minister's 
office.  In Sylvester's words, "these are all things that 
happened to women because he abused the power of his 
position". 
 
The Political Divide Deepens 
---------------------------- 
 
¶9. (C) Sylvester further noted the government's tendency to 
politicize any issue, and Bacchus-Browne opined that the 
population of St. Vincent and the Grenadines is now highly 
polarized.  As detailed in Ref B, the matter was in fact 
first made public by the Prime Minister, though the 
Opposition NDP later boycotted a session of Parliament in 
protest of the Prime Minister's failure to step down while 
the investigation continued.  In a private meeting with 
PolOffs, Leader of the Opposition Arnhim Eustace noted his 
particular concern that the Prime Minister did not divest 
himself of the National Security Portfolio, since in that 
capacity he directly oversees the work of the Commissioner of 
Police and the Director of Public Prosecutions, a rather 
glaring conflict of interest.  While many Vincentians appear 
likewise outraged by this, many citizens believe Gonsalves's 
claim that this is a political accusation manufactured by the 
NDP.  The senior reporter for the pro-government Searchlight 
newspaper, Kirby Jackson, told PolOffs that the NDP's attempt 
to "use the accusation for political mileage has backfired". 
 
¶10. (C) Several Embassy contacts expressed guarded optimism 
that the Prime Minister will be forced at some point to call 
early elections (which are not constitutionally due until 
2010).  The constitution does allow for rare circumstances in 
which the Governor General can dictate that early elections 
be announced, but short of widespread violence and chaos, 
this is highly unlikely, especially since the Governor 
General himself was appointed by Gonsalves and is considered 
a politically ally.  Meanwhile, people close to the case have 
 
told us that the tension in the country extends into the 
police forces themselves.  While many (politically 
appointed/promoted) senior officers back the PM, the 
rank-and-file are reportedly deeply divided, with many beat 
cops supporting the accuser and expressing dismay at the 
damage to their reputation as a force and at the treatment of 
a fellow officer. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶11. (C) This case--along with the bungled investigation of a 
recent high-profile murder case (Ref C)--appears to have 
widely damaged general confidence in the independence of the 
judiciary.  It is clear that what should have been a legal 
matter to be decided by the courts has become a political 
football, with opinions on the Prime Minister's guilt or 
innocence depending on one's party affiliation.  Several 
contacts (though none in government) have labeled the 
handling of this case an international embarrassment for St. 
Vincent, and have highlighted the contrasts between this case 
and the handling of the allegations against New York Governor 
Spitzer, which many on the island hold up as the model of 
politicians not being above the law.  Additional rape 
charges, if they are pursued by alleged victims and if they 
are made public, will certainly bring sustained pressure on 
the Prime Minister, but it is not clear what it would take 
for him to subordinate himself to rule of law.  End comment. 
OURISMAN