Christopher
Columbus discovered Grenada in 1498. For the next two centuries the
Caribs resisted all attempts by Europeans to settle on the island.
Eventually all the Caribs were killed and the French took over the
island. However, for the next hundred years the French struggled to
stop the island being taken by its rival European powers. In 1783
the French was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles and the island
became part of the British Empire.
Grenada
did not benefit from colonial rule and by the middle of the 20th century
most of the 100,000 population lived in poverty. The
most important political figure during this period was Eric
Gairy, who had created the left of
centre political party, the Grenada United Labour Party (GULP) in
1950. Gairy
held the posts of Chief Minister in the Federation of the West Indies
(1957-1962) and became prime minister of Grenada in 1967. During this
period, the main opposition to the GULP came from the Grenada National
Party (GNP).
In
1969 Maurice Bishop returned to Grenada
after studying law in England. Soon afterwards he helped form the
Movement for Assemblies of the People (MAP) and the Movement for the
Advance of Community (MACE). In 1973 these organizations merged with
Joint Endeavor for Welfare, Education and Liberation (JEWEL) to establish
the New Jewel Movement (NJM).
After
his election victory in 1972 Gairy argued that Grenada should be granted
its independence from Britain. In May 1973 Gairy visited London
where he discussed this issue with Edward Heath
and it was agreed that Grenada would become independent in February,
1974.
Some
people in Grenada were worried by this decision. It was feared that
Gairy would install himself as a dictator after independence. A Committee
of 22 was established by the trade unions, civic organizations and
the church. On 1st January 1974 the group called a national strike.
On
21st January 1974 the Committee of 22 held a protest march. During
the demonstration the marchers were attacked by the police. Several
people were injured and Rupert Bishop, the father of Maurice
Bishop, the leader of the New Jewel
Movement, was killed.
Eric
Gairy
and his Grenada United Labour Party won the elections held on 7th
November, 1976. However, opposition leaders complained that all election
officials were members of GULP and that they had tampered with the
voting papers.
In
1977 Gairy began receiving advice from General Augusto
Pinochet of
Chile
on
how to deal with civil unrest. His police and military also received
"counter insurgency" training from the Pinochet regime.
The New Jewel Movement retaliated by developing links with Fidel
Castro and his Marxist government in
Cuba.
Gairy's
state of mind also raised concerns. In October 1977 Gairy addressed
the General Assembly of the United Nations.
During his speech he urged the UN to establish an Agency for Psychic
Research into Unidentified Flying Objects and the Bermuda Triangle.
He also called for 1978 to be established as "The Year of the
UFO".
In
1979 a rumour began circulating that Gairy planned to use his "Mongoose
Gang" to assassinate leaders of the New
Jewel Movement while he was out of the country. On
13th March 1979, Maurice Bishop and the
NJM took over the nation's radio station. With the support of the
people the NJM was able to take control of the rest of the country.
Influenced
by the ideas of Marxists such as Fidel
Castro, Che Guevara
and Daniel
Ortega,
Bishop began establishing Workers' Councils in Grenada. He received
aid from the Soviet Union and Cuba
and with this money constructed a aircraft runway to improve tourism.
Bishop
attempted to develop a good relationship with the United States and
allowed private enterprise to continue on the island. Bernard
Coard, the Minister of Finance, disagreed with this policy. He
also disliked Bishop's ideas on grassroots democracy. On 19th October,
with the support of the army, Coard overthrew the government. Maurice
Bishop and several others, including Unison Whiteman (Foreign
Minister), Jacqueline Creft (Minister of Education and Women's Affairs),
Norris Bain (Minister of Housing) and Fitzroy Bain (President of the
Agricultural and General Workers Union) were arrested and executed.
President
Ronald Reagan, who had been highly critical
of Bishop's government, took this opportunity to intervene and sent
in the United States Marines. The
initial assault on 25th October, 1983, consisted of some 1,200 troops,
and they were met by stiff resistance from the Grenadian army. Heavy
fighting continued for several days, but as the invasion force grew
to more than 7,000, the defenders either surrendered or fled into
the mountains. Twenty-four civilians were killed in the invasion,
including 21 patients in a psychiatric hospital accidentally bombed
by US planes.
The invasion of Grenada
was deemed by the United Nations General Assembly
to be an unlawful aggression and intervention into the affairs of
a sovereign state. A similar resolution was discussed in the UN Security
Council and although receiving widespread support it was ultimately
vetoed by the USA.
Bernard
Coard, along with Phyllis Coard, Selwyn Strachan, John Ventour,
Liam James and Keith Roberts, were arrested on 31st October 1983.
The leaders of the coup were put on trial in August 1986. Along with
13 others, Board was sentenced to death. This sentence was commuted
to life-imprisonment in 1991.
(1)
United States State Department reported on the activities of Eric
Gairy
in 1978.
The formation of the infamous Mongoose Gang in 1970 - an illegal act
since Gairy had no legal authority to establish law enforcement agencies
outside the provision of the law of the state - unleashed a series
of unspeakable atrocities against the Grenada citizenry, constitution
a veritable reign of terror.
(2)
Eric
Gairy,
speech (February 1972)
Take warning, my dear people, and remember that we, as human beings,
can fool one another, but we cannot fool God. In Carriacou today,
there are a number of organization that are being operated under the
guise of social, cultural or even charitable intentions, but you know
as well as I do, that their motives are very sinister and contrary
to what the organizers profess them to be. You know too, that certain
persons have been going around by night and day, telling lies, preaching
hate, and like wolves in sheep clothing have been deceiving the poor
people and robbing them of their much needed pennies, under false
pretences. Beware, my dear people, and again remember that they are
only fooling themselves, because we believe that there is a just God
whom they cannot fool.
Obviously, this terrible
drought situation is a consequence of the sinful way of life which
prevails in Carriacou and Petit Martinique today. This sinful way
of hate, of violence, of ungratefulness and of untruth is not the
Way of God, but of men who represent the devil and his followers,
and consequently are responsible for summoning the wrath of God upon
us all."
(3)
Manifesto of the New
Jewel Movement (1973)
The people are being cheated and have been cheated for too long-cheated
by both parties, for over twenty years. Nobody is asking what the
people want. We suffer low wages and higher cost of living while the
politicians get richer, live in bigger houses and drive around in
even bigger cars. The government has done nothing to help people build
decent houses; most people still have to walk miles to get water to
drink after 22 years of politicians.
If we fall sick we catch
hell to get quick and cheap medical treatment. Half of us can't find
steady work. The place is getting from bad to worse every day - except
for the politicians (just look at how they dress and how they move
around). The police are being used in politics these days and people
are getting more and more blows from them. Government workers who
don't toe the Gairy line are getting fired left and right.
The government has no idea
how to improve agriculture, how to set up industries, how to improve
housing, health, education and general well-being of the people. They
have no ideas for helping the people. All they know is how to take
the people's money for themselves, while the people scrape and scrunt
for a living.
We believe that the main
concern of us all is to (1) prevent the daily rise in prices of all
our food and clothes and other essentials (it is unbelievable but
that the price you can get for a pound of cocoa can't buy a half-pound
of fish) and (2) develop a concrete program for raising the standard
of housing, living, education, health, food and recreation for all
the people
The present situation we
face is that we are forced to live in jammed-up, rundown, unpainted
houses without toilet and bath, without running water, very poor roads,
overcrowded schools where our children can't get a decent education,
and without any proper bus service. There is almost no ambulance service
in case of illness. We can't afford the cost of food to feed our children
properly and this makes it easier for them to catch all kinds of illnesses.
There are very few places near home for recreation. All we have is
the rum shop to drown our troubles. It's almost impossible to buy
clothes or shoes these days. The prices are ridiculous.
(4)
Eric
Gairy,
speech (7th February 1974)
We are now completely free, liberated, independent. In spite of a
wicked, malicious, obstructive, destructive minority of noise-making
self-publicists, God has heard our prayers. God has been merciful.
God has triumphed.
(5)
Maurice
Bishop, speech (March, 1979)
Let me assure the people of Grenada that all democratic freedoms,
including freedom of elections, religious and political opinion, will
be fully restored to the people. People of Grenada, this revolution
is for work, for food, for decent housing and health services, and
for a bright future for our children and great grandchildren.
(6)
Grenada
Revolution Online (2002)
Bishop was 6’ 3" tall, an excellent speaker; a handsome
man with recognized charismatic features of personality. He was known
to be pragmatic in that he held that the results of an idea are the
best criteria by which to judge its merit. He appeared not to be rigid
about this for he kept creativity and hope alive in his vision. He
was more a realist in terms of figuring how ideas would work out.
He was articulate and warm with people.
Bishop's charisma and his
democratic sensibilities, though, proved not to be a substitute for
wielding authority and leadership. On the distaff side Bishop was
criticized for being wandering, wavering and waffling. The charge
that he was 'vacillating' repeatedly occurs.
(7)
Kendrick Radix, a member of the NJM government, was interviewed about
Bernard
Coard in 1984.
In 1978, there was some dissatisfaction with his (Coard's) performance
because he introduced a new style of leadership into the party leadership.
Politely, it could be called lobbying, but more accurately I would
call it a type of subversion, canvassing, infighting. Instead of collective
consideration and amendment of various proposals, he would arrive
with an already worked out package, and through force of personality,
convince the others to accept it. This fundamentally conflicted with
collective functioning, and was not received well. An attempt was
made to remove him, but the move was stalled with the personal intercession
of Bishop.
(8)
The
Grenada 17, Amnesty International (October, 2003)
In 1983 the United States of America (USA) led an invasion of Grenada
which removed from power the government of the island. In 1986, fourteen
former members of the Government of Grenada and three soldiers were
convicted for the 19 October 1983 execution-style murders of Prime
Minister Maurice Bishop and several others... Fourteen of those convicted
were sentenced to death by hanging while the other three were sentenced
to lengthy terms of imprisonment.
Those imprisoned have subsequently
come to be known as the Grenada 17. The Grenada 17 are Bernard Coard,
Phyllis Coard, Hudson Austin, Ewart Layne, Selwyn Strachan, Liam James,
Leon Cornwall, Dave Bartholomew, John Ventour, Colville McBarnette,
Christopher Stroude, Lester Redhead, Calistus Bernard, Cecil Prime,
Andy Mitchell, Vincent Joseph, and Cosmos Richardson. The Grenada
17 have maintained their innocence with respect to the charges brought
against them.
Amnesty International classifies
the Grenada 17 as political prisoners and as such called for them
to be granted a prompt, fair and impartial trial. The organization
has monitored their incarceration and legal processing since it has
been practicably possible to do so. Observers were sent to pre-trial
hearings and the trial itself. An Amnesty International delegation
also carried out an inspection of the prison in which the 17 were
incarcerated. Numerous representations outlining Amnesty International's
concerns around the treatment of the 17 have been made to the Grenadian
authorities over the interceding years.
Amnesty International does
not take a position on the actual guilt or innocence of the Grenada
17. However, Amnesty International remains concerned over several
violations of internationally recognised human rights law and standards
in this case, and in particular those related to the right to a fair
trial.
The case of the Grenada
17 must be seen in the broader geo-political context of the Cold War
and its impact upon the Caribbean and the Americas. In the early 1980s
the US administration feared the advance of communism and the growth
of the influence of the Soviet Union in the region. This led it to
take action against various countries. For example, the US government
sponsored armed opposition to the government of the Sandinista National
Liberation Front in Nicaragua which came to power following the 1979
revolution. The Sandinista era had begun soon after the Grenada Revolution.
On 13 March 1979, the New
Jewel Movement (NJM), a political party of the left, overthrew the
Grenada United Labour Party government led by Eric Gairy. The NJM
forcibly removed the Gairy government from power on 13 March 1979
whilst Gairy was visiting the USA. The resulting NJM government, which
included non-members of the NJM, became known as the Peoples' Revolutionary
Government (PRG) and their policies and programmes became known as
the Grenada Revolution.
The new government implemented
economic and social reform in areas including health care, education,
housing, and women's and children's rights. International funding
agencies observed a marked improvement in the economy.(3) Amnesty
International raised concerns around alleged violations of human rights
that occurred under the NJM government, including detention without
trial of over 100 people, including journalists. In 1981, an Amnesty
International delegation visited Grenada to discuss the organization's
concerns with the authorities.
(9)
Lester Redhead,
statement in court (October, 1986)
I say that statement was
taken under torture. I admit that the signature at the bottom of the
statement is mine. I only signed the statement after being tortured
for several hours by Barbadian police officer Sgt. Ashford Jones and
Courcey Holder...On or about 29 October 1983 I was captured by US
invasion forces and taken to a prisoner of war camp at Port Saline.
There I was subject to physiological torture. I was placed in a box
8 x 8 (feet) with a little door I had to lie down to crawl into. On
first night that box was beaten for the entire night... A forklift
actually lifted that box off the ground with me inside. I was only
given one meal per day...
On 11th November 1983 I
was taken by Sgt. Ashford Jones and Courcey Holder among others. I
was immediately handcuffed to a chair and left there for about 30
minutes with a Bajan police officer pointing a .38 pistol at my head.
I told him (Sgt. Jones who had entered the room) I would only do so
(make a statement) in the presence of my lawyers. Having said that
Courcey Holder immediately started to beat me in the head...
After this Sgt. Jones started
reading from what I assumed was a statement in front of him asking
me if I know anything about this. I told him to my knowledge I don't
know anything about what he is speaking about. Having said that Courcey
Holder started to beat me in the chest and stomach telling me to say
that I know what Sgt. Jones was reading. This pattern continued for
several hours...
After they completed writing
that so called statement Sgt. Jones asked me to read the statement.
I told him that as far as I was concerned I did not give any statement.
I refused to do so. Again they started beating me. When I could not
take the blows anymore I had to give in and sign the statement. I
was then taken back to Point Saline and put back in the box.
(10)
Julian Borger,
The Guardian (23rd October, 2003)
All 17 were found guilty,
and 14 were sentenced to death for their role in the murder of Bishop
and the nine other victims of the coup. According to official documents
obtained by Amnesty International, a US diplomat met the chief prosecutor
while their appeals were being considered.
The appeals were turned
down, but the death penalties were later commuted. All 17 are still
incarcerated, although one of them, Mr Coard's wife Phyllis, has been
permitted to seek medical treatment outside her jail.
"As far as I'm concerned
they did not have a fair trial," said Leslie Pierre, the publisher
and editor of the Grenadian Voice, who has campaigned for the prisoners'
release. "They were railroaded by the Caribbean prime ministers
who were being coerced by the US."
Mr Pierre, who had been
imprisoned by the revolutionary government and was freed by American
troops, said the court in which the Grenada 17 were tried was unconstitutional,
and the defendants were not allowed to see evidence which they could
have used to point out discrepancies in the prosecution's case.
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