The following are excerpts from Amnesty International report on Jamaica entitled "Killings and Violence by Police: How Many More Victims?"
THE LOSS of life at the hands of the Jamaican Constabulary Force borders on a human rights emergency. Changing the climate of impunity which encourages continuing police violence is an immediate priority.
As this report was going to press, seven young men, including one 15-year-old, had just been shot dead after approximately 60 police officers from the Crime Management Unit went to their house in Braeton, St. Catherine.
Despite the passionate response and debate the incident prompted in Jamaican society, the reaction of the government was a deafening silence. A week after the killings, the Minister of National Security and Justice, K.D. Knight, made a short statement that he had faith in the investigation process and would not be "coerced" into "interfering" with the investigation.
As one newspaper commentator put it "unfortunately, though, as the controversy grew over the Braeton affair Mr. Knight kept quiet for a week, and when he spoke Wednesday night, it was not with a calming assurance but in hectoring fashion about the legal processes and to lecture families about the need to keep their children in check and 'out of the clutches of crime'."
Government officials have told Amnesty International that the system of investigation into possible police misconduct is autonomous and it would therefore be wrong to "interfere" with the process. This line of reasoning ignores the fact the government is responsible for ensuring that law enforcement officials are held accountable and that justice is served.
It is no longer acceptable for the government of Jamaica to use these excuses to stand on the sidelines watching the unacceptably high level of killings by the police to continue. The Jamaican government must demonstrate the will and invest the resources to improve the timeliness and quality of investigations into abuses by law enforcement officials.
It should make clear its total opposition to extrajudicial executions, torture and other human rights violations by the police and security forces, and its determination to ensure any officers who commit violations are brought to justice.
Amnesty International believes the problems of lack of public trust in the police and the JCF's inability to prevent violent crime are closely related. The authorities' repeated calls for the public to aid the police will not be heeded if the police continue to beat and kill with impunity. For the sake of the people of Jamaica, Amnesty International calls on the government to formulate a National Plan of Action on human rights and to implement the following recommendations as soon as possible.
Recommendations
Amnesty International is calling for the formulation of a National Plan of Action on human rights in keeping with the commitment made by all of the world's states in June 1993 during the UN World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna.
Amnesty International calls on the government of Jamaica to work with civil society in developing such a plan, to articulate a national consensus on human rights built around the challenges of prevention and accountability.
Amnesty International calls upon the Jamaican authorities to implement the following programme as a positive indication of their commitment to stop human rights abuses. It invites concerned individuals and organisations to join in promoting the programme.
