By Ollie Gillman for Mailonline

St Lucia’s police allegedly staged shootings of 12 suspected criminals

Investigators claim officers planted guns at the scenes of their crimes

Caribbean island’s leader says ‘death lists’ did exist, according to report

Killings were part of a police mission called ‘Operation Restore Confidence’

St Lucia’s police force kept ‘death lists’ of suspected criminals and planted guns at police shootings to make them look legitimate, according to a report.

The Caribbean island’s prime minister Kenny Anthony said a team of Jamaican investigators had delivered an ‘extremely damning’ report on the deaths of 12 people shot by officers in 2010 and 2011.

Mr Anthony said the report, which has not been made public, revealed that the shootings were ‘staged by the police’ but reported as murders by unknown assailants.

Guns were allegedly planted by officers and members of the force’s high command may have been involved in covering up the truth about the extra-judicial shootings.

In a national address late last night, the Caribbean country’s leader said: ‘The report confirms that ‘the blacklist or death lists’ referenced by the media, human rights organisations, victims’ families and citizens alike did exist.’

Alleged tampering with evidence didn’t just happen at scenes of police-related fatalities, Mr Anthony disclosed.

During the investigators’ probe, they found that the internet server used by some police commanders was ‘deliberately tampered with,’ he said.

The dozen killings occurred during a police mission called ‘Operation Restore Confidence’ as the tourism-dependent island grappled with a worrying rise in violent crime.

At the time, former prime minister Stephenson King publicly warned criminals that ‘no stone will be left unturned and there will be no hiding place for anyone.’

Five of the dozen men fatally shot by police were killed in a single operation in the southern town of Vieux Fort.

The prime minister said the courts would now decide whether to prosecute officers involved in the shootings.

The Jamaican investigation came a year after the U.S. withdrew all assistance to island police, citing concerns about allegations of unlawful killings.

Cameron Laure, president of St Lucia’s Police Welfare Association, said he was inundated with calls from officers about the ‘killings’.

‘I don’t even know how to react at this point. I will have to meet with the commissioner of police as well as the other members first before making a full statement,’ he said.

IMAGES:

St Lucia’s (pictured) police force kept ‘death lists’ of suspected criminals and planted guns at police shootings to make them look legitimate, according to a report

St Lucia’s Prime Minister Kenny Anthony said the report was ‘extremely damning’

For more on this story go to: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2987008/Caribbean-police-force-kept-death-lists-suspected-criminals-planted-guns-scenes-police-shootings-make-look-legitimate.html#ixzz3U0JUjy8P