Delroy Chuck ACROSS JAMAICA, well-thinking people are deeply troubled and overly concerned about the increasing incidents of injustice and continuing human rights abuses. We did not need Amnesty International to unfold and reveal the glaring inadequacies of police investigation and our justice system they are well known. Still, we should thank this reputable and credible international organisation for pressuring the authorities to close the gaps and dispense justice. If truth and justice be ours, then instead of castigating the messenger, we should listen to the message, respond to the concerns and address the failures of our system to deliver timely and true justice.
Victims of criminality, their families and friends suffer they bear the prolonged delay and the abject failure of the authorities to speedily bring criminals to justice. They carry the deep psychological scars of the crime and violence and know their loved ones were injured or killed by attackers who deserve the just punishment of the law; yet time passes and the offenders remain at large or move through the justice system so slowly that they are forced to relive the horrors of the crime repeatedly. Many criminal victims and their loved ones want closure to the case, a just resolution and, quite simply, justice. When our justice system prolongs the agony, it is undoubtedly failing the victims and the whole society.
Vigilante justice is wrong but it is a consequence of a justice system that has failed to correct injustice, secure good order and protect the law-abiding. Unlawful police killings are an outrageous form of vigilante justice, carried out by wayward police officers who have given up on the formal justice system, who find comfort in the immoral support they get from unthinking members of the society and who justify their wrongful behaviour by labelling their victims as gunmen and habitual criminals. The death of the alleged car thief on the UTech campus cries out for moral rebuke, quick official condemnation and, perhaps, even regret. Yet, it will soon be forgotten, as human life is so cheap in a morally bankrupt society.
The killing of the Braeton Seven divided and challenged the moral conscience of the nation. Once the young boys were labelled killers and wrongdoers, the morally depraved were appeased, as they felt justice was done. On the other hand, how many right-thinking members of the society cried out for an honest, credible and just outcome to this massacre? Was there a shoot-out? Were the police justified in using lethal force or could the boys have been apprehended and brought to justice? From the morning of the incident, I had my doubts about the authenticity of the police report. A caller to my office, alleging to be one of the police officers present on the scene, informed me that there were about 60 policemen at the scene, that there was no shoot-out and, in an emotionally choked voice, said the boys did not have to die. I have not kept that information a secret, but as I was not on the scene it was not evidence I could use. Subsequent revelations, including Amnesty International reports, have convinced me that there was no shoot-out and that the case begs for an honest, credible and just resolution.
Since the Braeton Seven, over 2,000 murders and 280 police killings have occurred. When killings occur, we depend on the information and co-operation of witnesses, the forensic competence and investigative skills of the police, and the timely processes of the justice system, yet I wonder how many of these 2,280 plus homicides have been satisfactorily resolved and justice truly delivered over the past two years. Why is our system failing to meet the expectations and hopes of our people, when it should not be beyond our investigative competence and case management to deliver justice in an orderly and timely manner?
In truth, corruption, fraud and indiscipline are overtaking our justice system. Cases are not properly and quickly investigated. Witnesses are being bribed and threatened, and many are not even aware when the cases come up for trial. The court system is overburdened, stretched to its limit, and with the inordinate delays and overcrowding, the courts are not seen as the sanctuary and fountain of justice. Is it any wonder that vigilante justice is condoned?
Our justice system is in crisis and needs urgent corrective action. We should thank Amnesty International for indicting our justice system and showing us how to correct the glaring faults. Actually, Amnesty did not reveal anything new that could not have easily been discovered if we really cared and were committed to justice. But, in a corrupt society, justice is not a priority. When the local human right organisations and others complain, the authorities neatly ignore them. What worries the Government and its agencies is that our inadequacies, injustices and abuses are being exposed to the international community. Well, if such exposure causes us to clean up our justice system, then we should be forever grateful. But will it?
Instead of complaining, we should listen and respond to the earnest message in the Amnesty International reports. Even if we consider their information and "new evidence" to be "highly suspicious", let us do the investigation, clean up our act and deliver justice. Daily our people cry out for justice; it is about time we listen to their cry.
Delroy Chuck is an attorney-at-law
and Opposition Member of Parliament. He can be contacted by e-mail at delchuck@hotmail.com.
