Evelyn Ruddock, wife of Lloyd Ruddock who was killed on Bond Street during the West Kingston violence last July wept yesterday as she spoke about his death. - Rudolph Brown/Staff Photographer Below is a summary of the findings of the Commission of Enquiry into the violence from July 7 to 10, 2001 in West Kingston which left 27 people dead:
A. FINDINGS
1.1 "Political tribalism, was neither an aspect nor a factor in the violence which erupted in Western Kingston during the period May to 6 July, 2001 (paragraph 3.21).
1.2 "Intelligence available to the Security Forces on 6 July, 2001, indicated that a substantial quantity of guns, ammunitions and drugs were present at the Golden Age Home in Denham Town, or its environs and that wanted men were likely to be found in the area where cordon and search was established (paragraph 4.7).
1.3 "The presence of drugs and illegal weapons was a factor in the upsurge of criminal violence in the communities under reference since May, 2001 (paragraph 4.8)
1.4 "The use of drugs was not an aspect of the upsurge of criminal violence during the same period. (paragraph 4.8)
1.5 "The upsurge of violence is linked to external connections dealing in drugs and illicit weapons (paragraph 5.12, 5.13)
1.6 "We were unable to find that the upsurge of violence during 7-10 July, 2001 was linked to money laundering, extortion and other elements of organised crime. (paragraph 5.14)
1.7 "We find that the conduct of the Security Forces up to and including 5 July, 2001, was unexceptionable. (paragraph 6.22); and up until that time we find that they carried out their law enforcement functions satisfactorily in all the circumstances. (paragraph 6.32)
1.8 "The uncontradicted evidence of witnesses shows that:
there was a large contingent of security forces the official agents of the State in West Kingston on 7 July, 2001;
the number of members of the Security Forces reflected the nature of the task to be done: that is to execute cordons and searches for guns and ammunition in 19 areas in the Kingston Western Police Division;
violence against the Security Forces perpetrated by groups of armed civilians provoked their response - i.e. return of gun-fire, albeit with some restraint in order to protect lives;
there was no evidence of indiscriminate use of violence - a characterisation of state terrorism;
there was no credible evidence of violence directed through political motivation. (paragraph 7.23)
1.9 "We accept the evidence of Major Cummings as credible and find that Exhibit 36, the videotape made by the JDF from helicopter H29, is a true representation of events that occurred on 7 July, 2001. (paragraph 8.11)
1.10 "The uncontradicted evidence respecting the attacks on the Security Forces on 7 July, supports the following findings:
the Security Forces came under heavy gunfire from armed civilians;
both JCF and JDF suffered fatalities and casualties from gunshot wounds;
the Security Forces spent inordinately long periods of time taking cover from gunfire that came from all directions, in buildings and behind buildings;
the Security Forces were generally impeded in the execution of their planned operations;
because of the continuous gunfire aimed in their direction the Security Forces were prevented from removing the seriously injured and dead who had fallen on the streets. (paragraph 8.23)
1.11 "The essential cause of the violence in Denham Town, Tivoli Gardens and their environs during 7-10 July, 2001, was the presence of drugs, the proliferation of guns and ammunition in the hands of civilians residing in the area, and the desire of the owners to protect them. (paragraph 9.10)
1.12 "We find that:
no evidence exists that can attribute the loss of lives of 27 civilians in West Kingston during 7-10 July, 2001 to the action of the Security Forces only;
bodies found on the streets of Denham Town in areas where there was intensive gunfire between the Security Forces and armed civilians were more likely than not those of persons involved either in the assault on the Security Forces or caught in cross-fire between the opposing forces. The continuous gunfire delayed the removal of the bodies;
results of ballistics tests do not demonstrate conclusively, that the bullets recovered from the bodies of deceased persons were fired by any gun used by the Security Forces or any armed civilians;
the bullets taken from the bodies of Corporal Mark Henry and Lance Corporal Kevin Lawrence, did not come from any of the weapons that were submitted by the Security Forces for testing;
five bodies were too decomposed to be the subject of forensic testing;
it is probable that the bullet which injured a young girl alleged to have been lying on her bed in an apartment in Tivoli Gardens could have been fired from the Barrett 82 rifle, used by a member of the JCF. (paragraph 10.18)
1.13 "Deputy Superintendent Bertram Lee who led the Caribbean Search Team on July 7 adduced no evidence as to whether he complied with the administrative details mentioned in Section 50A 50H of the Jamaica Constabulary Force Act. We have concluded however that his failure to do so did not in the circumstances render the search inconsistent with section 19 of the Constitution. (paragraph 11.5)
1.14 "The detention and search of 15 men who had been hiding in a white van that Sergeant Wayne McKenzie intercepted near Tivoli Gardens were not inconsistent with subsection 16(2) and section 19 of the Constitution. (paragraph 11.7)
1.15 "We are unable to say that the Security Forces had violated the rights guaranteed by sub-section 16(1) of the Constitution in respect of two young men alleged by Reverend Al Miller to have been found lying on their stomachs in the sun on the hard pavement opposite to that on what members of the Security Forces were standing. (paragraph 11.11)
1.16 "The right to life guaranteed to the gunmen by subsection 13 of the Constitution was not violated because, in our view, the actions of the Security Forces were justified either under subsection 14(2)(a), 14(2)(c), 14(2)(d) of the Constitution. (paragraph 11.13)
1.17 "The attacks launched against the Security Forces; the damage and destruction of their vehicles, the firing on the JDF armoured cars engaged in extracting members of the Security Forces from danger zones and other vehicles conveying injured security personnel to the hospital all suggest and express an extremely high level of hostility and rage against the Security Forces, which had been building up over time and which went far beyond a need to conceal and store illegal drugs, weapons and ammunition. (paragraph 12.26)
1.18 "Action on the part of civilians in West Kingston on 7 July, 2001 far exceeded in scope and intensity that which would have been required to divert the attention of the Security Forces from the Golden Age Home where guns etc. were allegedly hidden. (paragraph 12.26)
1.19 "There was substantial damage to private dwellings and business places which, given the location and proximity of the MPM Command Post, could have been caused by gunfire by the Security Forces. (paragraph 13.10)
1.20 "The loss to the economy of Jamaica as a result of the upsurge of violence in terms of monetary, material and other resources, is incalculable. (paragraph 13.10)
1.21 "The alleged use of women by gunmen as human shields should attract serious strategic deliberations by the competent authorities, geared towards arriving at appropriate methods of dealing with any such recurrences in the future (paragraph 14.2, 14.26)
1.22 "During the period 7-10 July, 2001, the Security Forces acted responsibly, exerting caution and restraint in order to contain the number of casualties and fatalities that might have occurred over the period, had they acted otherwise; and we find accordingly. (paragraph 14.36)
1.23 "While the events of 7 July, 2001 were inherently non-political in design, the road blockages, loss of lives and other forms of disruption which followed, appeared to us to have been partisan in spirit, and we so find". (paragraph 15.14)
