The front page of today’s paper reveals a very heated and now
very public dispute between the government Portfolio of Internal and External
Affairs and the Office of the Complaints Commissioner over a prison strip
search conducted in December 2010.
When you have independent offices overseeing the functions
and actions of government employees, such disputes are bound to occur from time
to time. Sensitive matters that could end up with the government being sued or
people losing their jobs are often the subject of highly charged and emotional
disputes.
Deputy Governor Franz Manderson, in our view, is quite right
to feel aggrieved over the fact that the OCC did not give him a notice of
investigation regarding its review of the prison strip search matter. This is
required in any such investigation, and Complaints Commissioner Nicola Williams
has apologised and taken the rare step of conducting a second review of the
case.
However, once all the smoke clears there is still a
difference of opinion between central government and independent investigative
body over whether a 4 December, 2010, prison strip search was retaliatory or
“had an element of retaliation”, as the commissioner puts it. Commissioner
Williams believes there was such an element. Deputy Governor Manderson does
not.
It is entirely possible for two reasonable, educated and
competent individuals to reach different conclusions based on the same set of
facts. This happens all the time, its one of the reasons the courts system has
jurors and an appeals process.
What is out of order, in our view, is the tone of a letter
sent by now-retired Deputy Governor Donovan Ebanks to Commissioner Williams.
The letter a) appeared to instruct the commissioner on how to conduct investigations, and
b) appeared to carry an underlying threat of court action if the commissioner
didn’t pursue the desired course. Again, we have to state our continuing
concern about the government’s treatment of various independent offices –
auditor general, constitutional commission, information commissioner, the OCC,
etc – who issue opinions officialdom doesn’t agree with. These offices must be
free to conduct their work without fear or favour.
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They say a leopard doesn’t change its spots…they also don’t suddenly begin to display completely and uncharacteristic behavior…This underlying tone of intimidation is nothing new for the Former Deputy Governor..anyone who has spent any time around him knows quite well that he was not above using veiled threats and intimidation to accomplish the outcome he sought..The CS is much better off now under the hands of Franz..
In context the statement above reads:
It is entirely possible for two reasonable, educated and competent individuals to reach different conclusions based on the same set of facts. This happens all the time, its one of the reasons the courts system has jurors and an appeals process.
In my opinion, good luck to everyone.
It is entirely possible for one very trusted and respected individual to be disconnected from reality and in complete denial of any situation existing in these islands. Denial seems to be a way of life for people and government in this region.
No one’s tongue is a bible leaf regardless of how highly decorated he or she may be.
The truth always prevails, that we can be sure of.
How boring life would be if we didn’t have these little ruffles to disturb the peace now and again, and provide stories for the media. Yet again, if we didn’t have the ruffles to stand out against the generally fortunate life we have in Cayman, we wouldn’t know how lucky we are, would we?