PARAMARIBO, Suriname – A court here has ordered that the Trinidad-based political analyst Derek Ramsamooj’s passport be handed over to him in a move that could allow him to leave the Dutch-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country to seek medical services abroad.
In giving the order to release the passports on Friday, the presiding judge noted that Ramsamooj has consistently demonstrated a willingness to support due process and has always stated his desire to clear his name through the legal routes. Ramsamooj holds both Trinidad and Tobago and British passports.
Ramsamooj, 60, who was summarily detained here in October 2020 and was not allowed to leave the country since his release, suffers from various medical issues, including diabetes, hypertension, and severe coronary artery disease.
He has worked as a political analyst in the Caribbean, including in Jamaica, Guyana, Grenada, Suriname, St Lucia, and St Kitts-Nevis, and was told by Suriname police on October 6, 2020, that they only wanted a statement to support an inquiry into operations at the Surinamese Post Savings Bank (SPSB).
Ramsamooj had coted the SPSB, customer and bank employee surveys, and on country risk assessments of Suriname in his capacity as an analyst and researcher. The financial institution paid for the activities.
In December 2020, Ramsamooj told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that while he had been released from custody, he was not granted permission to leave the country. He said then that his passports had had the Dutch authorities.
“Last month, lawyers representing Ramsamooj had reached out directly to Suriname and the 15-member CARICOM grouping, urgently requesting that by August 31 to ensure that he is allowed to seek medical treatment overseas. They assert that the detentions without charge are a matter of human rights and intent to pursue legal proceedings before the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
“This letter is formal legal correspondence which concerns gross and continuing violations of my client’s rights as a member of the Caribbean Community, having rights conferred by the Charter of Civil Society adopted by the Conference the Heads of Government on February 19, 1997, reaffirming the human rights of the peoples of the community, and as a natural person to whom the Universal Declaration of Human Rights applies,” attorney Justin Phelps of Bethany Chambers wrote in a nine-page letter sent to CARICOM Secretary General Dr. Carla Barnett and copied to regional prime ministers.
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