Kingston, Jamaica -- March 31, 2008 -- Senior police officers and prosecutors from six Caribbean countries are among participants in a one-week counter-terrorism course in Kingston, Jamaica from March 31 to April 4

The course organised by Jamaica’s Justice Training Institute in partnership with the Commonwealth Secretariat will cover intelligence-gathering and use, investigating and financing terrorism, co-ordinating with border control agencies, international co-operation and other related subjects.

Mr David Fraser, an Adviser at the Commonwealth Secretariat said the Caribbean region is part of the global village and is therefore affected by serious crimes and acts of terrorism which are now international security challenges.

“People from the region have both been victims of and perpetrators of terrorist offences,” said Mr Fraser, a senior official in the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Division.

“It is therefore a security imperative that the region’s police and customs officers, prosecutors, financial intelligence personnel are armed with the knowledge and expertise to prevent and combat terrorism,” Mr Fraser added.

Some 40 participants including police officers, prosecutors, customs officials and financial investigators from Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Bahamas, Dominica, Jamaica and St. Kitts and Nevis are being trained. The course has been added to the curriculum at Jamaica’s Justice Training Institute and will be marketed to the Caribbean region.

The Commonwealth Secretariat has assisted member countries in the Caribbean, Africa, Asia and the Pacific with training in the area since being mandated by Commonwealth Heads of Government in 2002 to develop a programme to assist law enforcement officials to prevent and combat terrorism.

Note to Editors

For media enquiries, please contact, Yvonne Chin, Assistant Spokesperson, Caribbean, on +44 207 747 6514 or +44 791 246 3750 email: y.chin@commonwealth.int