Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Protests for the release of Desmond Trotter followed his conviction from local,
regional and international sources. A group calling themselves The #Trotter Le
gal Defence Committee viewed his case as “a case study in relation to human rights
in the Caribbean.” The committee comprised of Dominican lawyer, Brian Alleyne; fr
om Barbados Harley Mosely and R.L. Clark; Christopher Blackman of the Caribbea
n Bar Association, Miles Fitzpatrick from Guyana, Allan Alexander of Trinidad an
d Morris Bishop of Grenada.
Strong condemnation of the conviction came from Trinidad and Tobago in the form
of a message from Catholic Arch Bishop, Anthony Pantin of the Roman Catholic; B
ishop Clive Abdullah of the Anglican church and Reverend Derryk Lyder, Superinte
ndent of the Methodist Church. In a cable to Governor Sir Louis Cools Latique a
nd Premier Patrick John the religious leaders appealed to the authorities to ens
ure that #Desmond Trotter was not hanged for the crime of murder of which he had
been found guilty. Assistant General Secretary of the Caribbean Conference of
Churches (CCC), and Director of the Agency of the Renewal of the Churches, Rom
an Catholic priest, Father Kelvin Francis put his appeal this way to Governor La
tique “In the name of the Caribbean peoples who I have the pleasure of representi
ng. I humbly beg you to exercise your constitutional powers in ensuring that the
life of Desmond trotter is spared from the gallows.” #In an equally strong appea
l, Felix wrote to Premier John pleading, “ whatever may have been the problems tha
t eventually led to the distressing decision of the privy council we hope that i
n the present climate of Dominica and given your own expressed concern for the y
outh, that Desmond’s life can be spared.” The protests and condemnation also came i
n the form of petitions asking for clemency for Desmond Trotter. On Tuesday Marc
h 23, 1974, the name and signatures of eight thousand individuals were present
ed to Mr. Isaiah Thomas, Chairman of the Committee on Mercy. Louis Benoit, Curt
is Augustus and Elijah John of the Waterfront and Allied Workers Union (WAWU) a
dded their voice and concern stating, #“WE of the Waterfront and Allied Workers Un
ion are deeply concerned about the life of young Desmond Trotter. We feel that h
is [force] should not be silenced.” Representatives of the St Mary’s Academy Congre
gation of Christian Brothers, Dr. Phillip Boyd, Mr. A Matthew, Mr. S Lestrade an
d Dr. J. Bardouille, and the students of the Saint Mary’s Academy (SMA) wrote to t
he Minister of Home Affairs, “WE the undersigned staff and students are concerned
about the fate of Desmond Trotter, a former student of our school. Since there i
s the possibility of Desmond’s innocence“. A group calling themselves simply, Domi
nicans in Guyana in a similar cable to the Governor, the Premiere and the Minist
er of Home Affairs wrote, #“After due consideration of all the circumstances inclu
ding the very heavy possibility of innocence, we want to extend the support [to
] the Waterfront and Allied Workers Union to the widespread call for clemency fo
r [our] young brother Desmond Trotter. Still another commentator wrote in the
New Chronicle, that the Desmond Trotter affair was one that was “deeply rooted in
humanism and Christian understanding Desmond Trotter he said, “had developed an et
hnic philosophy which was in direct response to our ailing society.”
DESMOND TROTTER IN JAIL
Desmond Trotter was incarcerated at Her Majesty’s Prison at Stock Farm, Goodwill,
and was held in the maximum security wing of the prison, simply called by priso
n inmates as ‘the block’. At the time of his arrest, Desmond was suffering with #“seve
re burnings on his left leg.” Despite the advice of a certain Dr. Shillingford who
after examination was of the opinion that if the limb went untreated it could t
urn septic, and who cautioned the authorities that the young militant should be
held at the Princess Margaret Hospital. The Committee in Defence of Desmond Trot
ter and Political Prisoners in Dominica in its May 26th, 1976 edition published
in an article entitled, #‘DESMOND IS SLOWLY BEING KILLED’ according to the piece, “ …t
he leg has tried to heal without sunlight, without proper food, without proper m
edical care, without proper exercise, and most of all under the worst hygiene co
nditions on can imagine: constant smell from shit and urine pails which are kept
in the same place prisoners sleep; constant dampness because prisoners bathe in
that same place; excessive mid-day heat; plenty of mosquitoes and other biting
insects.”
Maximum security inmates were normally kept under lock and key for 23 hours, wit
h one hour for exercise and hosing down by prison officers. According to the com
mittee, prison regulations stated that, “ no prisoner should be kept more than 28
days in the block, but Trotter since his arrest up until that time had spent wh
at they termed a ‘barbaric’ 2 full years in that condition. The committee accused t
he John administration of trying to kill Trotter from the day he was arrested as
was evidenced by the Premier and Minister of Home Affairs refusal to allow the
prison regulation of at least the minimum amount of one hour sunlight daily. #
Trotter who had suffered with bronchitis since a child at the time of the shooti
ng of John Jirasek in Roseau was suffering with bronchial pneumonia at his home
in Great Malborough street. Trotter speaking to this author in 2009 related the
build up of events in this extract of a telephone interview I conducted with hi
m in which he speaks of injury to his leg, which is still problematic for him.# “T
hat was in…remember them arrest me… I go in jail in 1974. My case was in November I
think. Sometime in March April May or one of them time there, what happen, my
foot had get burned. And after the foot got burned then after this thing happe
ned over the carnival. It was a carnival period this man got shot and during tha
t time there, I was sick also I had fever, I used to suffer from bronchitis. At
that time, I used to work in the police station, you overstand. I used to be the
votes clerk in the traffic department I was the man receiving all money for li
censes and things like that, and at that time I was on sick leave during the car
nival period when that man got shot. I was in my yard, [home] at that time I was
sick. Remember I told you that my foot had get burned. So after the foot got b
urned…the thing happened over the carnival time. At the time I was sick at my home
from bronchitis and them thing, and a little time after that the foot got burn
ed, and thing like that and while my foot was burned, while I was in my house t
hat is when they come and arrest I thing like that. At first they had pick up my
elder brother[ Garner Trotter] and Roy [Mason], and thing like that.”
The Committee in Defence of Desmond Trotter and political prisoners in Dominica
asked its readers in the may 29th, 1976 edition of its publication For Justice
and Political Freedom publication, “ When will the masses see that Desmond, Algi
Maffie and the rest are supposed to die in jail because the decided to fight ag
ainst capitalism for a better Dominica? When will the people of Dominica see tha
t they must stand up now for those who stood up for them and demand justice? Ras
Kabinda in his own words described to me in more detail some of the conditions
he endured while on death row.
#RAS ALBERT WILLIAMS
Okay…erm.. So what were your experiences up in the prison like after you er..
RAS KABINDA HABRE SELLASSIE
In the prison? In the prison? Oh! The prison come like the middle passage, man!
You have no rights, man. Every day them attempting to kill you! The amount of at
tempts them make on our life on my life in the prison is amazing, man!…They try po
ison us so many times…
RAS ALBERT WILLIAMS
Like what?
RAS KABINDA HABRE SELLASSIE
Well…they would just try to lick you down. You have to be like gladiators inside t
he prison..
RAS ALBERT WILLIAMS
Okay, ..
RAS KABINDA HABRE SELLASSIE
Otherwise they would just try to lance upon you and lick you down. And I tell yo
u Mwata I tell you is a rebel man in the struggle. Mwata save a lot of life in t
he jail through at that time he used to be working in the jail.. Every time they
try to exercise certain violence and wickedness upon I and I in and Mwata had t
o personally come and stand up for I and I. Him save a lot of us in jail, mi ah
tell you dread! He see the brutality that they try to …especially one they call s
kill, and an officer they call Skill, and another one they call Harris. Them was
Patrick John main man. Them man was the most wickedest man upon earth. And at t
he same time when you see your brethren bring fruits endless fruits and thing f
or you, they would take all your fruits and hold it in their own locker. At one
time I stayed about 48 days without any food. Them try to poison us give I some
kind of thing to eat and when I eat it ah tell you all my throat would just eat
out and mash up, man.
RAS ALBERT WILLIAMS
Hmm!
RAS KABINDA HABRE SELLASSIE
Wah was the main man with I in the jail in them time there, you overs? Wah is th
e man I make most of the time with in the prison. He is a brother I owe mi life
to. Him one of the man dem that really protect I in the jail. Two of us make the
five years in the security block until both of us escape together.
RAS ALBERT WILLIAMS
Yeah!
RAS KABINDA HABRE SELLASSIE
Him that preserve I, you know, a lot in the jail. Another tough brother they cal
l Desmond, I don’t know if you remember Desmond, he was big tough brother. He was
a Howlings at the time.
The appeal