ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the relationship between human rights and state security as barometers of democratic stability in Trinidad and Tobago is driven largely by two seemingly contradictory sets of factors. It argues that economic and social decline need not lead to democratic instability, nor should it undermine the integrity of the state unless serious abrogations of human rights accompany it. Political rights and civil liberties in Trinidad and Tobago, a parliamentary democracy, are constitutionally provided for and generally respected in practice. One of the most revealing elements of the democratic process in Trinidad and Tobago is a profound belief in the legal/judicial and constitutional processes. Democracy has indeed planted deep roots in Trinidad and Tobago. This is further evidenced by the fact that the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen, under the leadership of Yasin Abu Bakr, has formed a political party and now is attempting to bring about political change within the guidelines of the constitution.
