Gonzales says UN concerns echo PNM warnings on states of emergency

Peo­ple’s Na­tion­al Move­ment (PNM) chair­man Mar­vin Gon­za­les says con­cerns raised by sev­er­al coun­tries at the Unit­ed Na­tions about Trinidad and To­ba­go’s re­peat­ed use of states of emer­gency echo warn­ings the Op­po­si­tion has made from the out­set.

Gon­za­les ac­cused the Gov­ern­ment of abus­ing its emer­gency pow­ers and vi­o­lat­ing cit­i­zens’ rights un­der the guise of fight­ing crime.

Re­spond­ing to ques­tions from Guardian Me­dia af­ter Mon­day’s fourth Uni­ver­sal Pe­ri­od­ic Re­view of T&T be­fore the Unit­ed Na­tions Hu­man Rights Coun­cil in Gene­va, Gon­za­les de­scribed the use of pre­ven­tive de­ten­tion or­ders as a “scan­dalous abuse of State pow­er”.