THE EDITOR, Sir:
IN APRIL 2001, you published a letter to the Editor calling for Amnesty International (AI) to prove their claims with respect to killings by police in Jamaica. (To-date they have not provided any proof to answer that challenge). In that letter, it was suggested that the Attorney-General sue AI for misrepresenting the facts about Jamaica.
Since that letter, I have been following what other countries have been saying about AI. Many countries have similar problems with AI because they are notorious for embellishing facts to achieve the maximum impact. Most countries just simply ignore AI.
Originally, I believed that AI was a bully, but based on what I have been reading on the Internet, I realise that they are nothing more than a pesky mosquito to be ignored. You know that sound the mosquito sometimes makes in your ear, that's what I remember every time I hear the words Amnesty International nowadays.
AI, in referring to the October 16, 2002 General Elections in their recently published Country Report on Jamaica, state the following: "The elections were accompanied by an increase in politically motivated violence, with at least 60 people killed in the days leading to the election. Supporters of both the main political parties reportedly attacked each other's events."
What they have done is skilfully organise what are probably three factual or near factual notions to give what we all know is an inaccurate and potentially very damaging impression.
I am, etc.,
JUAN PEDRO
chessplayers@go.com
Oaklands Apts. Kgn 8
Via Go-Jamaica
