By Claude Mills, Staff ReporterJAMAICA AND the United States have signed a new 'shiprider' agreement that gives the Americans the authority to board certain vessels in Jamaican territorial waters.
In a reversal of Jamaica's earlier stance on maritime interdiction and the sovereignty of its territorial waters, U.S. Coast Guard ships and law enforcement officials will now be allowed to board certain foreign government ships to intercept narco-traffickers.
"Last summer, negotiators from our two governments came to agreement on the text that we are going to sign today," said U.S. Ambassador Sue Cobb, speaking during a press briefing at the Ministry of National Security on Oxford Road, New Kingston yesterday.
"The agreement builds on our mutual law enforcement efforts since 1997, with one important new aspect: the inclusion of ship-boarding by U.S. Coast Guard law enforcement detachments operating from certain foreign government ships."
Officially called the Maritime Counter Narcotics Co-operation Agreement, the protocol also provides for an expedited procedure for obtaining technical assistance, such as drug detection technology.
It establishes a framework for the exercise of jurisdiction in each nation's territorial zones, and outlines clear rules of engagement and enhanced protection for civil aircraft, including an explicit agreement that neither country shall use force against civil aircraft in flight.
According to Donovan Nelson, communications advisor in the Ministry of National Security, "those certain foreign government ships" referred to yesterday would not be disclosed because of the sensitivity of the intelligence.
"The U.S. cannot elaborate on which countries are co-operating in the counter-narcotics fight," he told The Gleaner.
The new agreement represents a thawing of relations between the CARICOM region and the United States over the controversial Shiprider agreement where the United States tried to override Jamaica's sovereignty to pursue drug traffickers.
In 1996, then U.S. President Bill Clinton's administration was on the verge of imposing financial sanctions against Jamaica because it was dissatisfied with Jamaica's co-operation on narcotics. Sanctions were eventually averted after the crisis prompted a Caribbean summit in Barbados with Clinton in 1997.
According to Mr. Nelson, this latest protocol to the 1997 Shiprider has some key changes palatable to the Jamaican government such as "reciprocity where we allow each other's aircraft's to go into sovereign airspace without the threat of hostility."
United States Ambassador Cobb hailed the "shiprider" provision as a significant asset in the fight against narcotics traffickers in the region.
"Through this co-operation, we will be able to improve our joint efforts to investigate and prosecute the criminals who control the drugs," she said.
Minister of National Security Dr. Peter Phillips signed on behalf of the Jamaican government.
"We believe that the protocol that has been signed today will provide the opportunity for an even more effective exercise of our responsibilities under the agreement," Minister Phillips said.
