US suspends aid to St Lucia police

St. Lucia’s prime minister says the United States has suspended all aid to its police force over concerns about alleged unlawful police killings.

According to the Associated Press, Prime Minister Kenny Anthony said in a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday that the US has already blocked officers from participating in US-financed training programmes and recently prevented the police commissioner from attending a conference.

Anthony says the action is based on a US law that mandates the State Department to stop assistance to a foreign security force if there is credible information that a gross violation of human rights has occurred.

AP said that there were 12 police killings in 2011, including five men who were fatally shot during an operation in the southern town of Vieux Fort.