By Lynford Simpson, Staff ReporterSTIFFER PENALTIES are in the making for persons who refuse to testify before a Commission of Enquiry, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson warned yesterday.
He sounded the warning while making a statement in the House of Representatives on the Government's response to the 22 recommendations contained in the West Kingston Commission of Enquiry Report.
The three-member Commission, led by Canadian Justice Julius Isaac, handed in its three-volume report last month on the flare-up of violence in western Kingston, July 7-10 last year, which left 27 people dead. Two of those killed were members of the security forces.
Members of the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), including party Leader Edward Seaga and Desmond McKenzie, Councillor for Tivoli Gardens, refused to testify before the Commission, after the Commissioners limited their attorneys to cross-examining only witnesses who made references to them by name.
"It is clear to us from the conduct we have described ... inclusive that members of the JLP had taken a strategic decision to deprive the Commission of evidence ...," the Commissioners said in their report.
Dr. Aileen Boxhill, Director of Legal Reform has been directed to prepare drafting instructions for legislative amendments to the Commissions of Enquiry Act, with a view to making it more difficult for persons to refuse to testify.
The Prime Minister pointed to the observation made by the commissioners, that refusal to testify was punishable only on summary conviction by a Resident Magistrate and then a maximum fine of only $500 or, in default of payment, three months in prison.
It was recommended that the Act provide for a penalty that would deter such conduct and that Commissions be permitted to refer the matter to the Supreme Court for a determination of whether such conduct constitutes contempt and, if so, the appropriate penalty.
Mr. Patterson said the Government fully supported the Commission's recommendation that all members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force and the Island Special Constabulary Force be required to declare their assets to the Corruption Prevention Commission.
A Joint Select Committee of Parliament, currently examining amendments to the Corruption Prevention Bill, recently accepted that recommendation.
Also accepted is the recommendation that a Restorative Justice Programme be instituted within a reasonable time. This is aimed at empowering communities to take control of selective justice processes with a view to enhancing the self-esteem of the residents of these communities.
The Director of Legal Reform has been mandated to develop the proposal, in accordance with the concepts put to the Commission by Professor Jennifer Llewellyn of Dalhouse University Law School, Halifax, Nova Scotia and Professor Bernard Headley, Sociologist at the University of the West Indies.
And senior police officers will now be trained in risk management training.
Opposition member Karl Samuda raised the question of whether members of the JCF, because of their lack of training in this area, may not act indiscriminately, based on their interpretation of the risk facing them during the course of their duties.
Members of the Reneto Adams-led team, which went into West Kingston on July 7, last year, were severely criticised by sections of the society for firing indiscriminately into a built-up area. They were, however, exonerated by the commissioners, who said that their behaviour was "unexceptional" and that they carried out their law enforcement functions "satisfactorily".
Among the other recommendations under review is the setting up of a Civilian Review Board to deal with police excesses.
