Trinidad and Tobago ends state of emergency amid pushback over mass arrests

By Brian Osgood and The Associated Press. Published On 17 Sep 202617 Sep 2026.

Key points

• Police documented a record 624 killings in the country of concerning 1.4 million individuals in 2024, a figure that police say dropped to 369 in 2025.
• The measures were last extended in June, with the prime minister stating that more than 5, 800 individuals have been arrested since a March extension.
• The country's prime minister informed parliament on Wednesday that the administration would not extend the state of emergency.
• There's a camera above, so guess what, there's nothing like attorney-client privilege.
• A prominent businessman and his wife were among those arrested over alleged involvement in a plot to assassinate the prime minister, but were never charged and afterwards issued.

Meanwhile, the Caribbean country of Trinidad and Tobago has concluded a state of emergency that granted the administration extraordinary powers to combat crime, including the ability to imprison individuals without charge.

For context, the country's prime minister informed parliament on Wednesday that the administration would not extend the state of emergency. One was issued in 2024 and another in 2025, with extensions lengthening both. Instead, the administration would seek a "permanent legal framework".

"The proposed legislation will establish a permanent legal framework for targeted operations against violent crime, gangs, illegal weapons and the criminal networks that finance them, while providing safeguards for law-abiding citizens, judicial oversight and parliamentary accountability, " Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar remarked in a social media post.

In practice, the administration had faced criticism for a campaign of mass arrests that suspended key civil liberties in what it stated was in the name of cracking down on crime and those the administration deemed threats to security. A prominent businessman and his wife were among those arrested over alleged involvement in a plot to assassinate the prime minister, but were never charged and afterwards issued.

For context, the measures were last extended in June, with the prime minister stating that more than 5, 800 individuals have been arrested since a March extension. Regarding 2, 250 of those have yet to be charged, and it remains to be seen whether they will be issued now that the state of emergency has concluded.

Lawyer Criston Williams informed The Associated Press news agency that he expects some of those detained without charge to bring lawsuits against the administration and pressed the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to investigate feasible abuses by the administration.

"They are transported to us blindfolded, shackled, hands behind their backs, a gray knapsack over their heads, " he remarked, adding that meetings with lawyers took place in the presence of five armed men from law enforcement, "who refer to themselves as operator one, two, three, four, five. There's a camera above, so guess what, there's nothing like attorney-client privilege."

Police documented a record 624 killings in the country of concerning 1.4 million individuals in 2024, a figure that police say dropped to 369 in 2025. Police state that 255 killings have been recorded this year, compared with 268 over the same period in 2025.

For now, trinidad and Tobago ends state of emergency amid pushback over mass arrests remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.