Grenada: Twenty years on

U.S. soldiers arrest a suspected Marxist activist in St 
George's in 1983 (AFP Photo)

Sunday, October 26, 2003

ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada: As the people of Grenada celebrated Thanksgiving - their national holiday honoring the U.S. troops who invaded the island in 1983, ousting a Marxist government - seventeen former government officials meanwhile linger in jail, convicted of conspiring to kill the island's Prime Minister, Maurice Bishop.

At the time, U.S. President Ronald Reagan gave several reasons for the invasion of Grenada, from the construction of a new airport, which could be used for military jets, to the protection of American living in Grenada. Another motive may have been to send a message to other small Latin American and Caribbean countries that the U.S. would not tolerate Marxism in its backyard. 

Most Grenadians are grateful for the American action but, twenty years later, many questions remain unanswered. 

Prime Minister Maurice Bishop was stood up against a wall and shot at the 18th-century Fort George military barracks. At least 16 others died with him on Oct. 19, 1983, but there's still no official list of the dead.

Two decades later, Bishop's body is still missing and the "Grenada 17" are mounting a new effort for their release as the island marks the 20th anniversary of the U.S. invasion.

"Politics is what keeps me here," former army Pvt. Cosmos Richardson, 46, said from the prison where he is serving a 45-year sentence.

Prosecutors said a power struggle prompted Deputy Prime Minister Bernard Coard to send Richardson and two other soldiers to kill Bishop, four Cabinet ministers and six of their supporters.

Richardson refused to go into specifics about that night. "I am not a criminal," he said. "I was a foot soldier. If a foot soldier gets an order, he has to carry it out. And the law is supposed to protect him."

It was the U.S. influence during the trial of Richardson and the others that still makes islanders angry. Radio talk shows in Grenada have been jammed with islanders calling for the case to be reopened and complaining of U.S. meddling.

Alleging judicial corruption during the trials, the island's most prominent prisoner, Bernard Coard, has called for an independent probe into the court proceedings.

Amnesty International this week said the trials were so fraught with human rights violations that they deserve to be retried. 

"If the Grenadian authorities prove unwilling to put into place an independent judicial review of their convictions, the only alternative action, which would go in accordance with international human rights standards, would be the release of the Grenada 17," said Amnesty in a statement Thursday.

However, Mr Keith Mitchell, the prime minister of Grenada, has criticized the report, saying, "They were not thorough in their assessment. It's a sloppy piece of work.'' 

In an attempt to bring national closure, Prime Minister Keith Mitchell has convened a South Africa-styled National Truth and Reconciliation Commission. ''We can't continue to hold this in our hearts for too long,'' Mitchell said in an interview this week.

But few hold hope for the commission's upcoming report. Key witnesses and actors in the drama two decades ago, skeptical and mistrustful, have reportedly refused to testify.

  Back...

  Most popular articles: viewed, printed and e-mailed

  Printable version