CICTE Newsletter

Capacity Building on Travel Document Security held in the Caribbean
The Honourable Mr. Jack Warner
Minister of National Security, Trinidad and Tobago

The Inter-American Committee against Terrorism (CICTE) Secretariat in junction with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) organized a workshop that was attended by 50 Government officials from eight OAS Member States of Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago representing the areas of passport issuance, civil registry and immigration services.

The workshop’s program was designed to encourage participants to engage in information sharing discussions. The three-day workshop consisted of four sessions that were led by the invited experts that included case study presentations, as well as work group roundtable discussions facilitated by the experts. In addition, the eight South-Eastern Caribbean countries gave national presentations on their situation concerning travel document security, identity management and border control. Each national presentation identified and highlighted their key challenges, capacity gaps, ongoing initiatives and best practices of their system and processes.

Some 54 immigration and custom officials working at airports, seaports and land border points of entry into The Bahamas were trained last month as part of a Specialized OAS Capacity-building Project on Border Controls coordinated by the CICTE Secretariat.

The December 10-13 workshop contributed to improving the knowledge and practices of the officials and supervisors trained on how to more effectively combat drug, human and other forms of illicit trafficking, and improve controls over the movement of people and goods through the country’s borders. Participants learned new techniques and were led through practical exercises on passenger physical and behavioral screening; baggage and cargo screening; trafficking in persons; and detection of counterfeit travel documents. Additionally, the workshop helped strengthen cooperation and coordination among Bahamian border security agencies.

During their opening remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of National Security and CICTE National Point of Contact, Carl Francis Smith, and the OAS Representative in The Bahamas, Juliet Mallet Phillip, both thanked the Government of Canada for funding the event.

Participants included officer from the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, the Royal Bahamas Police Force, and the Department of Immigration. In addition, during the days pertaining to human trafficking and child exploitation, 10 members of The Bahamas National Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Task Force and of the Bahamas Committee on Trafficking in Persons participated in the workshop.

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Tourism Security

Officials in Trilateral Central American Border Region Enhance Tourism Security Skills

Seventy-five public-private sector officials involved in the rural and agricultural tourism industry in the El Salvador-Guatemala-Honduras border towns were trained on the many intricate security threats faced in that region.

The November 26-30, 2012, Specialized Security Training for Tourism course took a very different approach to the issue at hand in comparison to previous activities carried out in other countries and tourism destinations. The course curricula was adapted to the specific needs of a sustainable local tourism activity based on agriculture and natural attractions for tourists in which small family owned hotels and restaurants in the rural areas and towns of El Salvador actively participate.

El Salvador autorities have strengthen the local tourism activity by motivating travelers to visit the towns under the protection of the tourism police resulting in a process that has fostered the recovery of confidence in roads and streets.

The training course was held in the region of the “Trifinio” which is the name of a trilateral border initiative to promote tourism in one route in the border of El Salvador with Guatemala and Honduras. PROTUR is the name of the program by which the Trifinio is carrying out this initiative that comprises 45 municipalities: 8 in El Salvador, 15 in Guatemala and 22 in Honduras. Representatives of Guatemala and Honduras also participated in the training course.

As this is the first course that has been adapted to a rural tourism industry, the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism is now able to offer this kind of training to other countries and tourism destinations taking into account the advantages of this new approach to tourism security which positively impacts poverty and development in the rural areas by strengthening the potential of an alternative tourism industry in the region.

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Major Events

Security Planning is Underway for the 2013 Central American Games

The 2013 Central American Games, hailed as one of the most significant international events to be held in Costa Rica, will take place in that country in March. The event will be attended by over 1000 athletes, several Heads of State and Government representatives from across the region. The event will also gather international press and a vast volume of spectators bringing worldwide media attention. From a security perspective, a comprehensive security plan is needed in order to protect life and property and to counter emerging threats and unexpected situations.

The planning of security for an event of such magnitude requires specific skills and experience, strong leadership, effective management and robust multi agency coordination. A specialized two-day program of training and other supporting activities in the field, was collaboratively designed and delivered by the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism of the Organization of American States (OAS-CICTE) and the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) within the frame of the IPO Americas Project. The program was aimed at supporting Costa Rican authorities by enhancing their capacities and skill in this matter.

The program was supported by experts from different entities including; Superintendent Brendan Heffernan from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police; Sub-Commissioner Eric Javier Amaya Sanchez, from the National Police of Panama; Colonel Jorge Alberto Gomez Duque, from the National Police of Colombia; and Vilma Reyes, Head of the Public Security Department of the National Police of Nicaragua. All of the experts shared their knowledge and experience in major event security and crime prevention matters with local security officers involved in the planning of the Central American Games. The agenda included visits to some selected venues in order to observe the development of specific security measures planned.