NOTE: THE TOTAL MURDER RATE STOOD AT 246 AT 9PM LAST EVENING
T&T murder capital of the Caribbean: Report
A report in the online network Cyber Diver News Network (CDNN) says Trinidad
and Tobago has now become the murder capital of the world and one of the
most violent places in the world.
It notes that the steady rise in violent crime, including an alarming
increase in homicides, has pushed it ahead of Jamaica, where it says
homicides increased two per cent in 2008, while it was up "a staggering 38
per cent in Trinidad and Tobago". The article acknowledges that much of the
violence is gang-related, but it also notes that in recent years tourists
have increasingly become targets for robbery, sexual assault and murder.
In October 2008, a Swedish couple was chopped to death in their hotel room
in Tobago. And last month two British females were robbed and sexually
assaulted by an intruder who forced his way into their holiday apartment.
The U.S. and the UK issued travel advisories warning travelers about
increasing violence and the failure of police in Tobago to apprehend and
prosecute criminals, the report said.
It quotes a travel advisory issued by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office
in October 2008 that states: "You should be aware that there are high levels
of violent crime, especially shootings and kidnappings...British nationals
have been victims of violent attacks, particularly in Tobago where law
enforcement is weak."
It also refers to a U.S. travel advisory issued about the same time warning
that armed robbers have been trailing tourists as they depart international
airports in Trinidad and Tobago.
"Violent crimes, including assault, kidnapping for ransom, sexual assault
and murder, have involved foreign residents and tourists (and) incidents
have been reported involving armed robbers trailing arriving passengers from
the airport and accosting them in remote areas...the perpetrators of many of
these crimes have not been arrested."
The article quotes from the Economist, which has reported that the
English-speaking Caribbean averages 30 murders per 100,000 inhabitants per
year, one of the highest rates in the world.
By comparison, the murder rate in both Canada and the UK is about two per
100,000.
The Trinidad and Tobago figure is more alarming. The article says with 550
homicides in 2008, Trinidad and Tobago has a rate of about 55 murders per
100,000 "making it the most dangerous country in the Caribbean and one of
the most dangerous in the world."
It adds that the rate of "assaults, robbery, kidnapping and rape in Trinidad
and Tobago is also among the highest in the world."
It says a report issued by the United States State Department states that
gang-related homicides and other crimes will continue to increase in
Trinidad and Tobago in 2009 and 2010.
Source: Cyber Diver News Network
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