ST. GEORGE’S: Grenada’s Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell was willing to make a deal on the freedom of those convicted of killing Maurice Bishop, but backed off after he felt his preconditions were not being met, a CARIBUPDATE investigation has revealed. That deal, according to our investigation, goes back to 1998 when Prime Minister Mitchell had reportedly agreed in principle to find a way to get Bernard Coard and his gang out of jail. Concerned about the standing of his weakened government then, the Grenadian leader reportedly met with two emissaries of the prisoners – a former police commissioner and a former soldier who became a member of his ruling New National Party. The men were to work to “soften the ground” to get Grenadians to accept the idea of the freedom, and to get their “foot soldiers” to work tirelessly for the New National Party’s re-election. There was also one other condition. The prisoners had to speak to trade unionist Chester Humphrey, a known critic of the Mitchell administration, to tone down his anti-government rhetoric and to ensure there was no industrial unrest in the country. Before the opposition National Democratic Congress reconstituted itself three and a half years ago, the ruling party considered a militant trade union movement its only obstacle to a complete stranglehold on power. Sources say once Humphrey refused to compromise workers’ issue and then the NDC reconstituted itself, all deals were off. Prime Minister Mitchell reportedly complained that “the men were not controlling their friends.” As part of the “softening of the ground”, the government was to allow for a television interview of some of the convicts in which they will effectively say sorry for the events of October 1983 in which scores of people were killed. That interview was duly conducted and aired, moderated by Leslie Pierre, an accepted government defender and a campaigner for the freedom of the convicts. In the interview the men said they accepted “moral” responsibility for the killing of Bishop, but not “legal” responsibility, a distinction in the end that angered more people. From their prison cells, the former political and military leaders mobilized supporters and sympathizers to ensure the Mitchell administration got re-elected in 1999. Ewart Layne, one of the 17 convicts, drafted a full page advertisement that was published in local newspapers as to why the NNP was the best progressive choice for Grenada. The NNP went on to win all 15 seats in the government. But following his re-election, Mitchell balked at the idea of freeing the men. The Grenadian leader had taken two tentative steps in that direction. He first set up a South Africa style Truth and Reconciliation Commission, ostensibly to find out exactly what happened in October 1983. He also set to release Phyllis Coard on medical grounds, and was even prepared to do the same to Colville McBarnette, if there was no negative local reaction. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has largely been a flop, and a report is still forthcoming. One of the problems was that some of the convicted men, as well as some of their sympathizers outside refused to participate fully because they had since become weary of broken promises. The South African government, who had given the administration technical guidance in setting up the commission, had agreed in principle to grant the former political and military leaders asylum once they were freed. The African National Congress government is sympathetic to the men’s plight out of gratitude for the assistance the organization received from the New Jewel Movement during the 1979-1983 revolution. A number of top officials of the ANC traveled around the world with Grenadian passports at the time, and it is believed that current president Thabo Mbeki might have been one of the beneficiaries. When it was decided to release Phyllis Coard, the lone woman convicted of Bishop’s killing, government strategists agreed to indicate that it was a six-month conditional release in order to negate any potential local uproar. That was three years ago. Government has extended the release on a number of occasions, but in the last year has said little about it. Our investigation reveals that there was never a plan for the return of Phyllis Coard to Grenada. Asked the question in parliament a year ago, Prime Minister Mitchell acknowledged there was no fixed date for her return. A government official was quoted in CARIBUPDATE eight months ago as saying: “You really think somebody will leave jail, go away and then come back?” The government then decided against a similar release of McBarnette, another of the convicts, after it became concerned about the negative reaction to the initial release of Phyllis Coard. There was another thing the Prime Minister was fretting about -- Humphrey had not tone down his rhetoric, and his union had not backed away from its militant outlook. But Humphrey had originally made it clear to his comrades that no matter where his personal sympathies lie, workers’ struggle was not up for bargain or compromise. Earlier this year, Prime Minister Mitchell spoke to the Voice, the leading black weekly in England about the possible freedom of the men. “While I may have the power, it would be unwise and foolish to do it just like that. The population has to come to terms with whatever action has to be taken,” he told the Voice in the interview. “But I have not seen those calling for their release give enough comfort to the population that they have changed and earned that level of forgiveness. I’m not going to do anything unless there’s a reasonable change they conduct themselves appropriately for their release,” the Grenadian leader said. “They should work to convince people that they have changed. Their behavior and interference in the political process in Grenada are continued attempts at chaos and instability. Their friends are causing strikes and are doing everything to remind people of the past,” the Prime Minister stated further. The former soldier, who is both an unofficial strategic advisor to Prime Minister Mitchell, and at the same time a main emissary to the jailed men, has had to apologize for the failure of the government to keep its promise to facilitate the freedom. The official reason given by the Prime Minister for backing away was that “their friends”, meaning mainly Humphrey, have not shown that they have changed enough. But Prime Minister Mitchell has become aware that inspite the “softening of the ground”, it is still a bad political move to make. The way local politics has evolved over the last few years has not encouraged him either. When Prime Minister Mitchell sidelined Einstein Louison, now his main advisor, he had made overtures to Nazim Burke to join his ruling party before the lawyer teamed up with the NDC. The Grenadian leader, associates say, was concerned about the potential appeal of Burke and was eager to get him involved. Officials had proposed that Burke be approached to join the NNP with a signed undertaking that he will never challenge for the leadership of the party at any time. When Burke, who was also seen as a sympathizer to the convicts, joined the NDC, it is believed the NNP top brass put away any idea of freeing the men. Seeing it as a matter of political survival, Prime Minister Mitchell made up his differences with Louison, a former army major who is passionately opposed to any idea of freeing the men convicted of killing Bishop. Louison’s role during the last general elections was to be the attack dog, particular against Burke, instilling public fear that any government he is involved in might consider freeing the convicts. The incumbent succeeded in putting the NDC on the defensive on the issue even though under the leadership of Tillman Thomas the group had taken a conscious decision not to take any political decision that will aide the freedom of those convicted. SOURCE: CARIBUPDATE.COM