October 22, 2021
Dear Editor,
I am writing on behalf of The Committee for Human Rights in Grenada, UK, to respond to recent articles that have appeared in the Grenadian press. It is ironic that in a period when it has beyond doubt that the US forces took possession of the remains of Maurice Bishop and others’ who sadly died on Fort George, one paper has chosen not to report on the deafening silence from the US Government, on what they did with remains, but has instead sought to embellish the false narrative even though it’s unravelling at pace in the face of the factual evidence.
It is undoubtedly the case that General Hudson Austin has not received the credit that he deserves for the leadership that he provided in preventing Grenada sliding into chaos, possibly even into civil war, following the death of Prime Minister Bishop. After the tragic events at Fort George Grenada was left with a Cabinet of just three members, only two of whom were on the island, and no Head of Government. A power vacuum had developed, and it was in these circumstances that Selwyn Strachan invited the armed forces to form a Council to fill a power vacuum until a Civilian Government could be formed. We are setting out below quotes from the indicative defence given by General Hudson Austin at his trial :-
“As a soldier and commander of the armed forces, if an incident were to happen in the army during training, and a soldier happened to get injured or die, the hardest thing would be to face the father, face the mother, face the family of that soldier to tell them that their son had died. I have had to deal with a few experiences like that during the revolution. So on the night of October 19, 1983, it took extra-ordinary courage extraordinary guts, on my part to face an entire nation to let them know that the Prime Minister had died. The situation was not an easy one, bearing in mind that 7 of the 11 cabinet ministers has already resigned on the previous day. Bernard Coard, Unison Whiteman, Kenrick Radix, Jacqueline Creft, George Louisan, Norris Bain and Lyden Ramdhanny had all resigned. Only Selwyn Strachan, Christopher DeRiggs, who was away in Sweden on Government business at the time, and myself remained as cabinet ministers of the PRG. That was the situation facing the country . So when the propaganda was circulated throughout the world that Hudson Austin pulled a Palace Coup, King Kong rides again it was a deliberate distortion of reality.
On the morning od 22 October 1983 I went to see Sir Paul Scoon, the Governor General, at Government House, to discuss the situation in the country. Sir Paul , Her Majesty’s Representative and I discussed and agreed on the following:-
a) That a civilian government would be set up in fourteen days’ time;
b) That certain persons should be contacted by both Sir Paul and myself to for this Government;
c) That the many diplomats in the country should be contacted and spoken to on the current situation;
d) That we had reliable information that the United States was planning to invade the country;
e) That attention should be given to the security of American citizens in the country, since questions were already being raised about their safety;
f) That the country would return to normalcy on Monday 24th October, and that people would return to their jobs;
g) That a Commission of Enquiry should be set up to look into the incident that took place on 19 October 1983
h) That the Commission of enquiry should be set up by the Secretary General of the Commonwealth, and that Sir Paul would contact the Secretary General for this purpose;
i) That I should speak with the head of the St. George’s Medical School to give him the assurance regarding the safety of the American citizens in Grenada;
j) That I should hold discussions with the permanent secretaries and heads of Government departments;
k) That I would report to Sir Paul on the following Monday re the state of things in the country and the progress made in the discussions with the various people. Sir Paul and Exchanged private telephone numbers at the end of our meeting”
This evidence shows that a number of the assertions recently made are false. It is clear that neither Bernard Coard or Selwyn Strachan were involved in the RMC and the decisions that were being made, and they had no input the content of the announcement that was made to the people of Grenada on 19th October. It is also clear that the responsibility for contacting the Secretary General of the Commonwealth was with Sir Paul Scoon and therefore Bernard Coard could not have prevented it from happening. A contemporaneous document setting out the events between 19th and the subsequent invasion show Major Cornwall asking the Governor General for the telephone number of the Secretary General so that the RMC could contact him immediately, but Sir Paul apologised for not being able to locate it at the time.
This document also shows that General Austin sought the Governor General’s advice on then funeral arrangements for Maurice Bishop and other former ministers, as the RMC were concerned about mass gatherings at the time. In response, Sir Paul advised that private funerals be held with burials in unmarked graves. He said that only close relatives should be present at such a funeral. He further suggested that when the situation was brought back to a state of normality, there could be proper funeral ceremonies held, and he promised to contact Bishop Charles and Archdeacon Hughes for them to handle the private burials. This clearly shows that at this time the RMC were aware of the location of the bodies and had control of them.
Amongst the documents releases in the UK under the 30-year rule is a telex from the British Embassy in Grenada to the UK Government dated 23rd October which states that it is the Governor General’s understanding that the execution of Bishop, Miss Creft, Whiteman and Bain was carried out by three soldiers and that their names are known. He expected that the three officers, who he did not name, would not go unpunished. This clearly shows that within days of the executions the RMC, including General Austin, were aware of what had transpired and who was responsible.
It is interesting that General Austin now makes light of his treatment by the US forces. We have in our possession statements of a number of the GRENADA 17 in which they make detailed allegations of torture at the hands of the invading forces. While is true that Hudson Austin’s treatment was mild in comparison with some of the others, he does indicate, “I was made to kneel on a hot pipe in the ship and from time to time the heat was increased or decreased. All during the questioning my knees, left shoulder, both elbows and back were bleeding, but I was given no medical attention until sometime later that night.”
However the most instructive part of his affidavit relates to his interrogation some months after the invasion: “Sometime in February 1984 the same men (Colonel Stewart, Captain Donahue and Mr Gillespie) returned to the prison, with some prepared documents they wanted me to sign. Among the things that I was supposed to agree to were, A) that as a general of the army I agreed with Sir Paul Scoon in inviting the United States to intervene in Grenada because of the situation, B) that Bernard Coard was responsible or the death of Maurice Bishop, and C) that I would meet with Sir Paul Scoon and be absolved of all blame. I refused to sign any of the document until I see the Governor General to discuss the documents. An appointment was set up by Lieutenant Colonel Ormsby of Jamaica, commander of the occupying forces. The appointment with His Excellency the Governor General Sir Paul Scoon was carded to take place on 11th of March, but nothing happened.
On 16th March I was again taken from my cell top see Mr Gillespie. He had a few documents in his hands. This time he made promised of $5,000,000 for my future welfare, promises for my family, if I signed the documents. I bluntly refused to sign any of the documents. He got very angry, and leaving said to me: “General, for your failure to cooperate with us, if you did not hang you will become a vegetable in this jail”. Officers Augustus lambert, Stafford Lewis and Iphil Thomas were present. I did ask them to take note of this statement.” Despite the offer of a large bribe, followed by a threat which they subsequently put into practice, as he received a death sentence following the kangaroo trial of the Grenada 17, Hudson Austin showed that he was a man of principle and refused to lie and say that Bernard Coard was responsible for death of Maurice Bishop.
The final factual area of the current assertions that differ extensively from previous statements is the events that led to the tragedy. In his summary of his indicative evidence at his trial Hudson Austin says:-
“During the break (of a Political Bureau meeting ) I decided to have lunch with Officers of the Army at Fort Rupert. As we were about to head out for lunch, the Commissioner of Police, Patrick McLeish, came up to Fort Rupert. In the presence of other officers he had this to say: ‘Austin there is a rumour spreading all over the place like wild fire, a rumour that Phyllis and Bernard Coard are planning to kill Maurice Bishop’. I immediately called the Officers together. Ian St Bernard, who was not an army officer, was also there. I told them that this message from the Commissioner of Police was a matter that should be looked into. Right then and there we agreed that myself and Major Stroude should check out the Prime Minister’s house. Commissioner McLeish had also stated that the Prime Minister’s mother had heard the news and the family at home had sent to get a doctor and a priest for her.
So Major Stroude and myself left from Fort Rupert for the home of the Prime Minister at Mount Wheldale. When we got there I went inside the Prime Minister’s bedroom. I related to him the information that was communicated to me from the Commissioner of Police; and also the situation with his mother as a result. The Prime Minister told me that he was waiting for Dr. Mahy, and that I should go and check on his mother for him.
I then travelled to the home of the Prime Minister’s mother. Major Stroude accompanied me there. When we got there we met Alan La Grenade (Maurice Bishop’s uncle), Dr. Mahy, Maurice Bishops sister, and a lady by the name of Mrs Simeon. They were all there with the Prime Minister’s mother. After major Stroude and I greeted everybody, Mrs Simeon called us aside and told us not to bother Maurice Bishop’s mother with the rumour now because it’s true. She went on to say that one of the prime Minister’s security guards came to her house that morning and told her about this rumour that Phyllis and Bernard Coard were planning to kill Maurice Bishop.
I went back to the Prime Minister and told him what I had heard from Mrs Simeon. He said he had no knowledge of that. I then went back to Fort Rupert where I discussed the matter with some of the arm officers. The Central Committee meeting convened at 3.00pm as planned. Lieutenant Colonel Liam James, Secretary responsible for National Security, immediately gave a report to the meeting. He said that one of his officers, Errol George, had reported to him about the rumour and how it was spread. Liam James stated that Errol George informed him that the rumour was given to himself and Cletus St Paul by Maurice Bishop to spread; that Bishop gave them certain names to whom the rumour should be given for spreading.
Cletus St Paul was called into the meeting and questioned about the rumour. It was the decided that the matter should be handed over to the security forces for investigation. After the Central Committee meeting I travelled with Maurice Bishop to his home. We discussed the implications of the rumour. He said that it was a very serious thing and he hope that Liam James would get to the bottom of the matter.
On the evening of 18 October 1983, I received a call from unison Whiteman. He wanted me to come to his home to discuss certain matters with him. I told him that I was on sick leave, but he insisted that I should try and come because the matter was urgent. I agreed. When I arrived at Whiteman’s home, he told me that the situation was getting worse and that he had certain discussions with other members of the party and himself, George Louison, Norris Bain, Lyden Ramdhanny, Kendrix Radix and Jacqueline Creft had resigned from the Government as cabinet members and an announcement to that effect would be made on various radio stations later that evening. Whiteman then sought to persuade me to tender my resignation too. I told him that I did not think it was correct for him or any other member to resign at that time, as that would not have solved the problem.
That being the case re my position, Whiteman then asked me to see what I can do by talking to other members of the Central committee. I told him that I was going to talk to Maurice Bishop, so he gave me a letter to hand over to him. I urged Whiteman to hold back on making any announcements re his resignation until I got back. I left Whiteman’s home and went to Mount Wheldale, where I spoke with the Prime Minister. I gave him the letter from Whiteman. The letter pointed out to him that some of the cabinet ministers were going to resign. I had a long discussion with the Prime Minister. After speaking with the Prime Minister, I went over to Bernard Coard’s house which is just next door and spoke with him. Because of the discussion with Bernard Coard, I went back to the prime Minister and asked him if he would receive a delegation from the Central committee to discuss the deteriorating situation. Maurice Bishop immediately agreed. I went back to Bernard Coard’s house to let him know of this development.
A delegation from the Central Committee of which I was a part went and held discussions with the Prime Minister. We discussed all relevant matters. Including the rumour which created an extremely tense atmosphere in the country. Maurice Bishop agreed to settle the matter by 10am the following day.
On the morning of 19 October 1983 at 7am I went to Carifta Cottages at Mourne Rouge to speak with some engineers who were here to start preliminary work on a National Stadium at Queen’s Park. I left that meeting about 9-15am and headed for Maurice Bishop’s home for the meeting which was scheduled to begin by 10am. The other members of the delegation were already there. I told a security guard by the name of Stafford to let the prime Minister know that we were here for the meeting.
While we were waiting for Maurice Bishop to join us, I noticed a crowd of demonstrators coming up Mount Wheldale Road. The demonstrators were shouting and chanting and making noise. When the demonstrators got to the entrance leading to the Prime Minister’s residence the security men were trying to keep them from smashing the gate to enter. Bullets were fired into the air, but that didn’t stop the demonstrators from breaking down the gate and entering the prime Ministers home. After the crowd entered some of them went into the house. I did not see them take the Prime Minister away, but I was told that he was carried away by the crowd.”
Although not mentioned in the statement, there had been an emergency meeting of the NJM at which the members agreed, albeit reluctantly, to reverse the decision calling for joint leadership of the party. The evidence clearly shows that Hudson Austin was playing a committed role to try and resolve the potential split in then party, but there is not a single mention in his evidence about any concerns over the role of Bernard Coard. Had he really believed him to be power hungry would he not have acceded to the request of Unison Whiteman and resigned his position ?
We have no intention of responding to some of the more salacious attempts of character assassination that appear in one publication, which is simply an attempt to divert attention from the issue that has the US worried – they need to explain what they have done with the remains of Maurice Bishop and the others who were executed on the Fort. Either they can return the remains to their families, or if they destroyed the remains, they need to justify why. The US Government makes strenuous efforts to secure the return of the remains of their own servicemen, so why are Grenadians not entitled to the same level of respect.
Yours sincerely,
Alan Scott
(Secretary of CHRG,UK)