Trinidad ends state of emergency but opposition says replacement law is worse
Opposition Leader Penny Beckles says a new special operations bill creating closed areas will leave residents caged in their communities.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago. The government of Trinidad and Tobago has ended months of state of emergency measures aimed at curbing gang violence and organised crime, but has introduced a special operations bill that the opposition says is worse.
The measures, enacted at the start of the year, allowed the administration of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to detain hundreds of people suspected by law enforcement of links to crime.
Opposition activists and civil society groups have described the measures as oppressive, and government opponents say they were also used to detain and humiliate traditional financiers of the main opposition People's National Movement (PNM).
Challenge on convictions
Opposition Leader Penny Beckles has challenged the government to show how many of the 240 people charged with felonies have been convicted after months in detention.
The government announced the end of the state of emergency in parliament in the past week, but introduced the Special Operations Bill 2026, which Beckles said "in my view, is worse than the state of emergency".
She argues that the bill would create closed areas subject to special attention from police and soldiers, including roadblocks, cordons and limits on people entering and leaving areas police say are crime-ridden. Political and civil society activists say residents would be caged and corralled in their own communities against their will.
Permits by WhatsApp
Defence Minister Wayne Sturge said people could use digital platforms, including WhatsApp, to apply for permission to leave and enter closed communities.
"You can get your permit by WhatsApp, because when you fill it out, you put your email address, telephone number," Sturge said. "It really is to control who leaves, because we do not want the wrong people leaving with the guns that they have come for and the drugs that you have come for."
He said people without devices could get a permit from a senior officer on site.
Opposition families detained
Several prominent families associated with the opposition were among those detained for weeks after the authorities linked them to an alleged plot to kill the prime minister and other senior officials. They were not charged and have since been released.
The twin-island republic has largely been under special measures since 2024, under both the previous and current governments.
