ANALYSIS OF what human rights mean in simple terms is the theme of our Public Affairs article elsewhere in this edition. We think this is relevant at a time of heightened sensitivity about crime and violence and how law enforcement deals with this twin threat to the nation.The enforcement at the most basic level is the job of policemen.
These days they work with soldiers who are not trained as policemen and therefore the police must influence the joint impact of security forces assigned to maintain law and order.
That impact is what has given rise to misgivings about human rights in this country. The local lobby groups are probably less effective in their protests than what transpires from the diplomatic advisories which make up the stark "country reports" from the U.S. State Department describing, inter alia, "extra-judicial killings" by the police.
In fact it is impossible to distinguish what is distinctly police action from the military when both act as a joint security force. Which gives point to correspondence early last month from a retired lieutenant colonel about the importance of separating the functions of the Jamaica Constabulary Force and Jamaica Defense Force in accordance with the Defence Act.
Until the normal separation can be effected in practice, human rights may remain elusive at all levels, high and low.
