The Grenada Intervention: A Legal Analysis

• Author: by Major Ronald M. Riggs
• Pages: 01

1. FACTS A. INTRODUCTION

   On the morning of October26, 1983, elements of acombinedCanb-bean and United States security force landed on the beaches south of Pearls Airport and parachuted onto the Point Salines Airport of the island of Grenada. The force was comprised of units from the United States, Barbados, Jamaica, and four member States of the Organiza-tion af Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).'

   By October 28, all significant military objectives had been secured with minimal casualties to all parties, this was a primam goal of che security force. Umted States' casualties were 18 killed in action and 116 wounded in action. Grenadian casualties were 45 killed and 337 wounded Twenty-four of the Grenadian dead were civihans, 21 of whom were killed in an unfortunate bombing of a mental hospital located adpcent to an anti-aircraft mstallation. Twenty-four Cubans were killed and 69 wounded of the approximately 800 Cuban "construction workers'' an the island. Rve hundred ninety-five American citizens were, at their request, evacuated from the island.2

   By November 9, all Cubans (except two diplomats), 17 Libyans, 16 North Koreans, 49 Soviets, 10 East Germans, and 3 Bulganans had

   degree cn International Law at The George Washington Cnn;erar)

   lhrrelnalter riled ai UUS DUD]

   'Dep'f nf SLare Dep't of D~feme Grenada & i'rrliminary Krpml 1 IIUXO

   a,,,

   left the island One of the two Cuban diplomats wm declared per-sona non grata on November 23 and also departed Grenada

   By December 16. all American combat forces had withdrawn, lea\ mg behind only training, military police, medical, and support personnel 4

   President Reagan's decision in favor of United States participation m this action was based on three grounds. First. the Governor General af Grenada. Sir Paul Scoon, through a confidential channel, had transmitted an appeal to the OECS and other regional states to restore order on Grenada. United States assistance was sought in thls request Second, the OECS concluded that the situation ln Grenada was a threat to peace in the region, and, under thex collectwe defense treat?, action was needed. United States assistance, together with assistance from Barbados and Jamaica, was requested. Finally. there were on the isiand approximately 1,000 United States nanonais, ahose security was thought to be m such jeopardy that immediate action was required.s

   This article will examine the facts leading up to the Grenada a c ~ tion, analyze the appiicable international law, and compare thls ac-tion to the 1979 Soviet intervention m Afghanistan

   2. BACKGROUND

      Grenada 1s a small island nation, about twice the size of the District of Columbia It has a populatlon of about 110 OO0.6

      On February 7 , 1974 Grenada became an independent member of the British Commomwealth.' At Independence. Grenada adopted a Constitution on the model of the Bntlsh Commonwealth System. pro$iding for, among other things. a Governor-General. .Lrncle 67 of the Constitution pro\ ides (1) The executive authority of Grmada IS tested m Her MaJesty

      (2) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the ex-ecutive authonty of Grenada may be exercised on behalf of Her Majesty by the Governor-General either directly or through officers subordinate to him a

      Like Great Britain, the functionary responsibilities of government rest with the Prime Minister Eric Gairy was the first Prime Minister of Grenada.0

      After Grenada became independent, a coalition of opposition parties, including the New Jewel Movement of Maurice Bishop, mounted a serious challenge to Eric Gain, receiving forty-eight percent of the vote in the 1976 elections. However, the eccentric Gary. popular with the lower income people in Grenada, remained m cantTOl.'O

      On March 13, 1979, elements of the hew Jewel Movement took advantage of Gairy's absence from the country and carried out a coup d'etat. Fifty to sixty New Jewel Movement supporters seized the defense force barracks and the Island's radio station. There was iittie resistance to the coup. Maurice Bishop was named Prime Minister of the new "Peoples Revolutionary Government.'' On March 25, 1979, Bishop suspended the 1974 Constitution, declaring that it would be replaced pending revision with a senes of "Peapie's laws.''11 Grenada maintained Its membership in the British Commonwealth and retained the Governor-General, although his functions were more narrowly

      The hew Jewel movement started as an eclectic mixture of West Indian. Tanzanian, Marxist and nationalist ideology It emphasized village assemblies and grassroots agncuiture de~elapments.'~

      As

      such. It enjoyed an initial base of popular suppon.~4

      Once in power, however, the government was, through its ties

      with the Soviet Union and Cuba transformed. LViLhin three days of the coup, a Cuban ship carrying Soviet weapons and ammunition arrived in Grenada.lj By 1983, Grenada had

      --A Marxist-Leninist ruling party, complete with Central

      Committee and Politburo;

      --An army and militia that outstripp?d the combined forces of ail of 11s OECS neighbors and provided an ~m-portant vehicle for indacrrinating youth:

      -A highly developed propaganda machine that relied on government-monopaiized media, and party-contrailed entilies throughout the society.

      --An array of mass organizations designed to compel support for the regime in all sectors of the society. and

      -An internal security apparatus that dealt harshly with critics

   3. HUMAN RIGHTS UNDER BISHOP

      Human nghts began to deteriorate with the suspension of the 1974 Constitution after the coup Public reaction to government abuses was muted because of the government's control over the mass media and because of the ruthless imprisonment or exile of political opponents Elections were indefinitely suspended Grenada refused to permit inspection of its prisons by the lnternationai Committee of the Red Cross.l8

      A 1982 report of the U.S State Department related The overthrow of the Gairy regime established Grenada as having the fint nonconstilutional change of government m the commonwealth Caribbean Prime Minister Bishop has justified the continued detention of political prisoners by arguing that "every reroiutlon Creates dido catms" There 1s physical evidence that prisoners have been abused during detention Physical scarring would appear to substantiate their claim nf having been burned by cLgarettes and tortured with electric cattle prod4 . I s

      When the 1974 Constitution was suspended, the People's Revolu~ tionary Government empowered itself to arrest persons withwt warrant for suspected counter-reroiutionary activities. A 1980 lau established a tribunal to review preventive detention cases: however, the tribunal did not meet as scheduled Additionally, because the law did not compel the government to initiate charges, political detainees could be held indefinitely without formal charges. Preventne detention orders were issued m lieu of arrest warrants2" The justification for detention was provided in a preprinted ciause which stated simply that the accused was "reaaonably suspected of counseling and conspiring with other per-sons to take action of such a nature that was likely to endanger public safety. public order or the defense of Grenada or to subvert or sabotage the People's Revolutionary Government "Z1 The orders

      also contained a nebulous protision prmiding that the accused "be detained in such place and under such conditions as I may from time to time direct" and often were signed by Bishop as "Minister of Ka-tl"nal Securlty."22

      As of July 1983, the People's Revolutionary Government was holding 103 Grenadians. or roughly one out of ever) 1,000 members of the populare. as politicai prisoners One of those was Jerry Ro mame. a former manager of Radio Grenada. He spent four years ~nRichmond Hill Prison before his release by the combined security forces. He estimated that 1,000 Grenadians were held as political prisoners at one time or another during the four years of the Bishop regime "Their ranks included politicians, journalists, labor UIIMII leaders, government offmals, a surprisingly large number of disen-chanted members of the ruling New Jewel Movement, and anyone else considered a threat '"

      Antonio Langdon is a Grenadian with permanent legal residence inthe United States He was arrested by the Bishop regime while on a wit to Grenada Following his release, again by the combined security forces, he stated that it was over a year before he was given a reason for his arrest. The reason given was that he had made remarks critical of the "rev~luti~n''while still in Brooklyn On May 7, 1980, a prison guard shot Langdon three times at close range with a Soviet AK-47 assault rifle. AS a result. Langdon LS badly scarred and his left arm 1s paralyzed Mr Langdon also stated that he was

      beaten and tortured. at least once by insertion of steel rods mto hli upper back This operation was carried out under the superr~sion of d Cuban ' neurologist ' 25

      These talec of abuses of human rights uere tregime Folloa-lng Bishop's murder thedeteriorated Reaction to the murder included the closing doxn of the airport. interference with telephone and telex lines. a 24-hour shoot-on-sight curfew, and rhe arrest of Alister Hughes, th? only in^

      dependent Grenadian journalist with international standing.zb

   4. THE MILITARY BUILDUP

      When the Kew Jewel Movement seized power in 19i9, Grenada was maintaining a British-style constabulary and m a l l lightly-armed defQns? forre 91. October 25, 1983. Grenada possessed a regular arm). of 600 Cuban-trained soldiers. supplemented with a reserve of berween 2,500 and 2.800 mihtiamen.~'

      Although Its forces were larger than the combined forces of the OECS, Grenada was planning to field three more active battalions and nine more reserve battalions. The proposal would have given Grenada an 18 battalion force of between 7.200 and 10,000 soldiers Per capita. this would have given Grenada one of the largest military forcea of an? country m the norld ZR

      Equipping and...