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THE EDITOR: In the past few years, TT has witnessed an unsettling trend: the increasing and indiscriminate use of states of emergency (SoEs). More than three SoEs have been declared in a relatively short period – none of which has produced lasting results, and all of which have disrupted civil life, undermined trust in government, and compromised basic rights.
On Friday morning, yet another SoE was called, this time concerning the prison system. While security threats should never be taken lightly, governments' heavy-handed, recurring reliance on SoEs seems less about national safety and more about conditioning the nation for a police or military state. Arrests without clear charges, the temporary stripping of rights, and the trauma inflicted on innocent citizens have become alarmingly routine.
This reeks not of strong governance, but of weak intelligence, political panic, and authoritarian temptation.
Throughout history we’ve seen how the abuse of emergency powers often signals a deeper rot within the state. During the French Revolution, Maximilien Robespierre – in the name of national safety – used the Committee of Public Safety to silence critics, execute dissenters, and create an atmosphere of state-led terror. The justification was always “public order,” but the reality was raw power unchecked.
The Stanford Prison Experiment in 1971 revealed another psychological truth: when ordinary people are given unchecked authority – even temporarily – they are likely to abuse it. Power, without boundaries, corrupts.
Is this what TT is becoming?
Constitutionally, an SoE should be reserved for the most exceptional threats to national security: war, insurrection, catastrophic natural disasters, or severe public disorder that cannot be contained through ordinary means. It is not a tool to bypass proper policing or to mask failed leadership.
A functioning police and prison system should be equipped to handle internal threats without the need to paralyse an entire nation’s freedoms. The repeated failure to do so, followed by repeated declarations of SoEs, signals state incompetence – or worse, authoritarian ambition.
Signs of power corruption and rights abuse include:
• The repeated suspension of rights without results
• Arbitrary detentions
• Lack of transparency and judicial oversight
• Media censorship or suppression of dissent
• Public fear used as a tool for political gain
Citizens must stay alert. The nation must ask: What is being done in our name? Who is benefiting from these constant emergencies?
TT must not trade its freedoms for a false sense of order.
History has warned us. Now we must act – before the alarm bells become sirens of no return.
RAVI C RAMKISSOON
Tunapuna
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