Connect with us

Crime

54 global Chinese outposts face Human Rights scrutiny

Published

on

By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

 

#China, October 28, 2022 – There are at least 54 Chinese “police station” outposts in countries around the world in a long arm tactic to extradite Chinese national according to a damning report by Safeguard Defenders, a human rights organization.

In the report labeled “110 Overseas Chinese Transnational Policing Gone Wild” the organization alleges that Chinese Police and the Overseas Association of Chinese, run by entities of the Chinese Communist Party, has established a series of overseas police “service stations”, in particular in Europe.

It found that Chinese nationals who had fled the country were “persuaded” to return by workers at these “service stations” who were working directly with police in China. The persuasion reportedly included veiled threats against family members back in China and denying their children in China education.

Hundreds of thousands of Chinese nationals have been quietly ‘persuaded’ between April 2021 and July 2022 alone.  Safeguard defenders said they believed they were not strictly physical buildings but a network of individuals.

Since the report, published in September, which directly named stations in Spain and Belgrade;  Canada, Ireland and the Netherlands have also begun independent investigations with concerning results, all three countries have discovered some form of the service stations which, violating the rules of international diplomacy, were not declared to the respective governments before they were set up.

The Fuzhou Police Service Overseas Station opened earlier this year in Ireland and has been ordered closed. The BBC reports that the Irish department of foreign affairs said no Chinese authority had asked permission to set up the station.

At least two of the illegal stations have been discovered in the Netherlands and declared illegal by the Dutch government.

Three were listed in Canada.  CBC news says the alleged stations   have been found and include a residential home and single-storey commercial building in Markham and a convenience store in Scarborough, police are investigating and describe the alleged setups as “entirely illegal”.

Countries with these police stations set up in them according to the human rights group include the Netherlands, The United Kingdom; Portugal; Hungary; Italy; France; Greece; The United States; Brazil; Argentina; Chile; Ecuador; Japan; Mongolia; Nigeria; Lesotho; Cambodia; Sweden; Austria; Ukraine; Slovakia and Germany.

Continue Reading

Crime

American Tourist Beaten in Turks and Caicos, suspect out on bail

Published

on

Rashaed Esson

Staff Writer 

#TurksandCaicos, March 24, 2024 – A tourist woman was left with severe bruises and possible visual impairment and hearing loss, after being beaten by a man, while on a birthday trip in the Turks and Caicos. 

The reason behind her assault is unknown, and it’s now public concern among Turks and Caicos residents as well as tourists, that there are people out there willing to physically abuse someone, especially to this degree. 

The victim, Suyapa Ramos from New Jersey, who describes fighting for her life, was interviewed on abc7NY and she detailed the events leading up to her assault.

She expressed she was at a bar the last night of her trip and after hours, ready to go back to her hotel, was trying to find a taxi with little luck.

“I believe after about 10, they (taxis) don’t run, and that was something that I found out the hard way.”

Ramos continued, highlighting that she met someone who said he was a taxi driver and took his word for it.  In fact, people at the bar seemingly knew the guy by the name of Davidson Martin, which to her was even more reason to trust she would be safe.

On their way to the hotel, she claimed he suddenly attacked her in the car, the scariest thing she’d ever had to encounter, she said. 

While Martin mercilessly beat Ramos, he reportedly made growling sounds, she explained in her interview.  And, contrasting to public opinion, Ramos says he didn’t make any sexual advances.

Fortunately Ramos, 48 years old, was able to escape and Martin, 29 years old, was arrested two days later. 

A police release informs that Ramos arrived at a health facility on Sunday March 10 and on March 13th, Martin was arrested by Safeguarding and Public Protection officers under sections 10 of the Offenses Against the Person Ordinance.

The release says he appeared before a Magistrate on March 15th, 2024, and charged with one count of Inflicting Grievous Bodily Harm. 

While officials have not commented publicly on the incident, the TCI public wants it to be known that the attacker was not a taxi driver. The man arrested, charged and released is an illegal jitney operator.

Illegal jitney drivers are not licensed and their drivers are unregistered and therefore unknown to the public service drivers’ regulator.

Warnings are currently in effect about use of these illegal modes of transport, despite their enormous popularity and convenience, especially to people who need to get around at night.

For the Turks and Caicos, a sought after tourist destination in the Caribbean, this is another stain on its reputation as the past two years has seen an increase in crime rate per capita, from low numbers, to numbers that now rival those of some of the most violent places in the world. 

Tourists are being attacked in their villas and just recently, a family was held at gunpoint, the father robbed of over $20,000 thousand dollars worth of cash and jewelry. 

Despite these unfortunate developments, the Turks and Caicos is seeing record breaking numbers in arrivals, up nearly 13 percent, for the first two months of 2024, according to a report by the Ministry of Tourism, released this week. 

 

UPDATED

Continue Reading

Crime

RTCIPF – Unidentified Male Shot

Published

on

***MEDIA RELEASE***

#TurksandCaicos, March 18, 2024 – A shooting incident has resulted in a fatality, with officers of the Serious Crime Unit currently at the scene.

Preliminary reports state around 9:17 pm today (March 18th), a call was placed to the Police Control Room indicating a male was shot at a location in Five Cays, Providenciales.

Officers arrived at the scene and found the lifeless body of a male with what appeared to be gunshot wounds.The victim was wearing long blue pants and a black t-shirt.

Further details surrounding the incident, including motive and the victim’s identity, are under investigation.

The RTCIPF asks the public to notify the closest police station, contact 911, the Serious Crime Unit at 231-1842, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-8477, and anonymously give any information on this murder.

Additionally, persons are encouraged to download the CrimeStoppers P3 app and share information.

Continue Reading

Crime

TCI Police make ARREST following Kew Town Drive By shooting, one woman hit

Published

on

Deandrea Hamilton
Editor

Police on Wednesday night confirmed a shooting earlier in the day in Kew Town, Providenciales; saying they were alerted at 2:17pm about gunfire on Black Crow Road.  A resident of Kew Town, according to the statement, sought medical treatment and that woman is described as a 57-year-old ‘hit by a stray bullet.’

Following the ‘drive-by’ in Kew Town, Officers were given a description of the car shooters used to spray the area with bullets. And what followed was a coordinated response leading to the arrest of a 21 year old and a 28 year old; both men are residents of Five Cays.

Dean Holden, Police Superintendent said the arrest, which played out in plain view of bystanders on front road in Blue Hills is proof, say Police, that community safety is a priority and violence of this kind will not be tolerated.

The arrest, around 3pm, of the Five Cays men followed a shocking murder at Wymara resort around 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday March 5, where three staff members were struck in a hail of bullets; one man – a 22 year old – appeared to be a target and was murdered on the scene.

The other two people injured in the incident were said to be “innocents”, in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

Continue Reading

FIND US ON FACEBOOK

TRENDING