REPORT No. 331/20
CASE 12.145
REPORT ON THE MERITS
19 November 2020
KEVIN DIAL AND ANDREW DOTTIN
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
I.
INTRODUCTION
1. On April 29, 1999, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (“the Commission”) received two
petitions and requests for precautionary measures1 from Herbert-Smith LLP2 (“the petitioners”) against the
Government of Trinidad and Tobago (the “State” or “Trinidad and Tobago”). The petitions were presented on
behalf of Kevin Dial and Andrew Dottin (“the alleged victims”), two Trinidadian nationals who at that time were
inmates on death row in that country’s State Prison.3
2. The Commission approved its admissibility report No. 83/11 on July 21, 2011 4 and on July 27, 2011,
notified the report to the parties, placing itself at their disposition to reach a friendly settlement. The parties
were allocated the time periods provided for in the IACHR’s Rules of Procedure to present additional
observations on the merits of the case. All of the information received by the IACHR was duly transmitted to
the parties.
II. POSITIONS OF THE PARTIES
A. Petitioners
3. The petitioners indicate that the alleged victims were tried and convicted as co-defendants for the murder
of Junior Baptiste and sentenced to death on January 21, 1997 by the High Court of Justice of Trinidad and
Tobago, pursuant to the country’s mandatory death penalty. The petitioners indicate that, in their defense,
Messrs. Dial and Dottin alleged an alibi and testified that the lineup identification procedure at the Besson
Street Police Station was flawed, and that the lack of fingerprint evidence or firearms ballistics testing
diminished the credibility of Shawn Baptiste’s testimony.
4. According to the petitioners, the evidence against the alleged victims was fabricated by the police, and
therefore, they were sentenced through a miscarriage of justice. In this regard, they allege that, on July 9, 1999,
Shawn Baptiste swore an affidavit retracting the entirety of his deposition incriminating the defendants. The
petitioners allege that since Shawn Baptiste’s testimony at trial was the sole basis for the alleged victims’
convictions, it is clear that the actions of the police perverted the course of justice. In addition, the petitioners
informed the IACHR that, on October 15, 1999, Alicia Henry also swore an affidavit supporting the new evidence
presented by Shawn Baptiste.
In accordance with Article 25(1) of the Commission’s Rules of Procedure, on May 11, 1999, the Commission granted precautionary
measures on behalf of Kevin Dial and Andrew Dottin and requested Trinidad and Tobago to stay their executions until a decision could be
reached on the merits of the case. In light of the absence of any response from the State to its request for precautionary measures, the
IACHR submitted a request for provisional measures in favor of the alleged victims to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (“the
Inter-American Court”) on May 25, 1999. On May 27, 1999, the Inter-American Court amplified the provisional measures previously
ordered in I/A Court H.R., Matter of James et. al., Provisional Measures regarding Trinidad and Tobago. Order of the Inter-American Court
of April 3, 2009, para. 14 (later named Matter of Dottin et al.), to include the alleged victims. The Inter-American Court lifted the provisional
measures on May 14, 2013, given the conmutation to life imprisonment of the alleged victims’ death sentences and the lack of information
confirming the existence of a situation of extreme gravity and urgency and of risk of such persons suffering irreparable harm to their lives
or personal integrity (I/A Court H.R., Matter of Dottin et al., Provisional Measures regarding Trinidad and Tobago. Order of the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights of May 14, 2013).
2 The petitions were originally presented by Slaughter and May. However, in a letter dated August 18, 1999, the IACHR was informed that
effective September 1, 1999 Herbert Smith, LLP would represent Messrs. Dial and Dottin.
3 The Inter-American Commission decided to join the petitions into one single file since the beginning of this procedure, on May 11, 1999,
because of the great similarity in the allegations of facts and law submitted by the same petitioners.
4 IACHR. Report No. 83/11. Petition P12.145. Admissibility. Kevin Dial and Andrew Dottin. Trinidad and Tobago. July 21, 2011.
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