Regional Integrationbackground

to Regional Security System

VISION: To preserve the peace and stability in the

region by delivering world class, professional, effective and efficient

services through cooperative engagement with Partner Nations.

MISSION STATEMENT

To ensure the stability and well-being of Member States through mutual cooperation in order to maximize regional

security in preserving the social and economic development of our people.

The Regional Security System was created out of a need for collective response to security threats, which were impacting on the stability of the region in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Its express function is to ensure the stability and well being of the Eastern Caribbean region through mutual cooperation, in order to achieve social and economic development and to maintain the principles of democracy, liberty of the individual and rule of law

History: Background In October 1982, four members of the Organisation

of the Eastern Caribbean States, namely, Antigua& Barbuda, Dominica, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Barbados to provide for "mutual assistance on request".

St. Kitts and Nevis joined after gaining independence in September 1983 and Grenada in January 1985. The MOU was updated in 1992 and the RSS acquired juridical status in March 1996 by way of the Treaty which was signed in St. Georges, Grenada.

memorandum of

understanding (MOU)

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) describes a

bilateral or multilateral agreement

between two or more parties.

The memorandum made provisions for a fast moving non-bureaucratic organization which could react to the security needs of Member States if requested.

This was first demonstrated in October 1983 when, together with the military forces of the United States of America and Jamaica, the RSS deployed troops to Grenada to restore democracy after a period of political upheaval.

This intervention would have been impossible without the mutual cooperation and understanding which is characteristic of the Regional Security System response mechanism found in the Memorandum of Understanding and later on in the Treaty Establishing the RSS.

The Regional Security System is a "hybrid" organization, in that its security forces comprise both military and police personnel who remain under the command of their respective Heads.

Under the RSS, a member state whose security was threatened or who needed other kinds of emergency assistance could call on other member states. According to the Memorandum of Understanding, members were obliged "to prepare contingency plans and assist one another on request in national emergencies and threats to national security.

Threats to national security covered by the memorandum included armed insurgencies, mercenary actions, army mutinies, armed seizure of facilities by insurgents, and armed secession attempts by smaller islands. The security arrangement also provided for cooperation in areas such as natural disasters, pollution control, maritime policing duties, smuggling prevention, search-and-rescue operations, immigration, customs and excise control, and fisheries protection.

The RSS plan called for creation of an eighty-member paramilitary Special Service Unit (SSU) on each island. In a crisis, the SSUs would be coordinated by an RSS operations room at BDF headquarters at St. Ann's Fort in Bridgetown, Barbados, headed by the RSS coordinator, a Barbadian . BDF chief of staff Brigadier Rudyard Lewis was elected to serve as the first RSS coordinator. The coordinator reported to the Council of Ministers, which was composed of those government officials entrusted with security in each member country. In a meeting held on February 19, 1983, in Castries, St. Lucia, the heads of government of St. Lucia, Barbados, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines finalized arrangements for the RSS.

Nevertheless, security issues became of overriding concern in the region as a result of the crisis in Grenada in October 1983.

LOCATION

The RSS Headquarters, located in Barbados, the Secretariat of the RSS, is headed by an Executive Director who reports to the Council of Ministers. Reference article 7(3) of the Treaty Establishing the Regional Security System(RSS) (1996), the Executive Director is responsible for the general administration of the System.

Purposes & Functions RSSRSS Treaty states the mandate of the RSS as follows: Prevention and interdiction of traffic in illegal narcotics Response to National Emergencies/Disasters Regional Search and Rescue Maritime Policing Duties Fisheries Protection Customs and Excise Control Immigration Control Pollution Control Protection of Exclusive Economic Zones Combatting Threats to National Security

Traditionally, the RSS was concerned with traditional security threats of an operational nature namely illicit drugs and arms trafficking and internal security.

However, given the dynamism within the international security environment, the Executive Director, guided by the provisions in the Treaty Establishing the RSS (1996), has embraced the need to have a clear understanding of other non-traditional criminogenic environments which undoubtedly affect the national security of Member States.

This has led to the establishment of new departments at the RSS Headquarters to carry out research on areas affecting national security, as well as analysing the crime patterns and trends, in order to establish evidence-based programmes to assist Member States in coping with the dynamics of national development.

DISASTER/EMERGENCY RESPONSE

RSS Headquarters coordinates response to Member States in times of disaster or emergency conditions. It also coordinates Disaster Response on behalf of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) through activation of the CARICOM Disaster Relief Unit (CDRU). CDRU comprises members of the DefFence and Police Forces and Fire Services of CARICOM Member States

TRIGGERS FOR RSS MOBALISATION Combating Threats to National Security Prevention and Interdiction of traffic in Illegal Narcotic Drugs Response to National Emergencies / Disasters Regional Search and Rescue Immigration control Fisheries Protection Customs & Excise Control Maritime Policing Duties Natural and Other Disasters Pollution Control Prevention of Smuggling Large or High Scale Security Operations

To assemble or marshal (armed forces, military

reserves, or civilian persons of military age) into readiness for active

service.

Protection of Off-shore Installations and Exclusive Economic Zones

Breakdown of Law & Order Terriost Incidents/Activities Armed Insurrection Drug Interdiction Search & Rescue Operations Pollution Incidents

PLANNING FOR MOBALISATION

The RSS Headquarters , under the directions of the Executive Director  remains responsible

Operational Planning may commence days or even weeks in advance or may be immediate

Plans may be precautionary in nature It is vital to establish and carefully define  mission parameters for RSS

Forces Consultation is conducted between the Executive Director and the

impacted Government and/or Security Chief of the requesting State Deployed forces are OPCONED to the Security Chief of the requesting

state

PARTNER NATIONS Brazil  Canada  CARICOM Member States  Dutch Territories in the Caribbean  French Territories in the Caribbean  United Kingdom  UK Overseas Territories  United States of America

OPERATIONS

RSS Air Wing RSS Coast Guard Land Forces

Land Forces The Regional Security System (RSS) was involved in its first major

operation one year after its inception when in 1983, the RSS forces was among the first to land in Grenada during the intervention operation.  This provided the RSS with its ultimate test and one which it proved equal.

In July 1990 the attempted coup in Trinidad saw the RSS mobilize a force to support the democratic government and, although they were not utilized, the reaction and mobilization were remarkable.

In 1989 Hurricane HUGO set another challenge and the Forces of the region played a vital role in the disaster relief operation.  The receipt and dispatch of relief supplies were coordinated by the RSS and the international relief agencies were extremely grateful for the organization that the RSS provided in a traditionally chaotic area of disaster relief.  The concept of the CARICOM Disaster Relief Unit (CDRU) was born out of response to hurricane HUGO.

1983 - The Grenada Intervention Operation

1989  - Hurricane Hugo in Antigua, St. Kitts and    Nevis and Montserrat

1990 -  The aftermath of the attempted Coup in  Trinidad and Tobago

1994 -  St Kitts and Nevis - Internal Security (Prison uprising situation)

1995 - Hurricanes Luis and Marilyn in Antigua and St. Kitts  and Nevis

1998 - Hurricane Georges in St. Kitts and Nevis

1998 - St Vincent and the Grenadines - Operation Weedeater (eradication of cannabis)

2003  - St Lucia -  Operation Bordelais (Transfer of prisoners to new prison)

2004 - Grenada - Hurricane Ivan

2005- Barbados - Operation Restore Peace

2007 - CWC 07 in RSS Member States2010 - Haiti - Operation Restore Comfort