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Caribbean Corruption Report Leaked

WikiLeaks -- the site that publishes documents that are "classified, censored or otherwise opaque to the public record" -- has posted the suppressed final report of the Turks and Caicos Islands Commission of Inquiry. Based on the commission's findings, the British government said in June it would suspend the territory's political institutions and impose direct rule. Because of lawsuits filed in London, however, the takeover has been delayed and the commission's report was put under wraps. A redacted version appeared on the commission's website but removed a few hours later. WikiLeaks then posted an unredacted copy.

In its cover note, WikiLeaks said:

This suppressed report, dated July 18, 2009, lays at the center of UK plans to take control of the Turks & Caicos Islands?a Caribbean tourist and tax haven.

Following corruption allegations made against the Islands' political elite, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) commissioned Sir Robin Auld last year to run the Turks & Caicos Islands Commission of Inquiry.

After the release of an interim report in March, 2009, the Commission and the Island's Governor were sued to prevent the release of parts of its final report.

On July 18, 2009, the Commission briefly released on its website what it called its Redacted Final Report (http://www.tci-inquiry.org/). According to the Commission's July 18, 2009 press release, the ?

Governor's redaction results from the direction of the Hon Chief Justice Gordon Ward in the current litigation between Mario Hoffmann and Cem Kinay against the Governor and me (and an assurance given by the Hon Attorney General in proceedings brought by Jak Civre).

Hours later, the entire 266 page redacted report was removed from the Commission's web site.

WikiLeaks has obtained the full report?and unredacted the missing text.

Download a copy of the July 18, 2009 Final Report of the Turks and Caicos Islands Commission of Inquiry 2008 - 2009 here.

Read our prior posts on the Turks and Caicos Islands here.
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Full post as published by The FCPA Blog on July 22, 2009 (boomark / email).