Minister of Foreign Affairs Clement Rohee yesterday presented in the National Assembly, three bills to facilitate security assistance to Guyana during Cricket World Cup 2007.
The Security Assistance (Caricom Member States) Bill 2007; Visiting Forces Bill 2007; and the Status of Visiting Police Officers Bill 2007 were read for the first time yesterday.
The Security Assistance Bill requires that Guyana enters into, adopts and adheres to the Treaty on Security Assistance among Caricom Member States, which was concluded among member states on July 6, 2006 in St Kitts and Nevis.
This treaty, which would have the force of law in Guyana, is contained in the schedule attached to the bill. It deals with the establishment of the Security Assistance Mechanism, its objectives, effective implementation, the establishment and functions of a Joint Strategic Coordinating and Planning Committee, the establishment and functions of a Coordinating Secretariat; the appointment and duties of a coordinator and a budget.
The treaty makes provision for areas of cooperation, which include among other things combating threats to national and regional security; minimizing the incidence of serious crime; and preserving the territorial integrity of the contracting states. The contracting states comprise the nine ICC CWC 2007 host venues, the Bahamas, Belize, Dominica and Suriname, and the Regional Security System. The treaty also provides for conducting search and rescue missions as a consequence of natural and man-made disasters and in any other area mandated by the contracting parties within the objective of the Security Assistance Mechanism.
Command, control and discipline; cooperation between two or more contracting states; other arrangements; jurisdiction; claims; operational and medical expenses; training; settlement of disputes; commencement and termination and accession are also addressed in the treaty.
The Visiting Forces Bill seeks to make provision for the armed forces of certain designated states visiting Guyana and for related purposes. The bill makes provision for jurisdiction and immunities relating to visiting forces; claims for personal and property damage; taxation including exemption from taxation; coroner’s inquest; attachments to and from the Guyana Defence Force; and regulations and repeal of the visiting forces act.
The Status of Visiting Police Officers Bill makes provision for the powers and immunities of visiting police forces; jurisdiction of civil courts and visiting police forces; claims against visiting police force and taxation.
