Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer 
Gomes
HUMAN RIGHTS group, Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ), says it will continue to combat state abuse despite recent criticism that their alleged aggression against the police encourages violence against members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force. Convenor of the group, Dr. Carolyn Gomes, told The Sunday Gleaner last week that the latest spate of 'vitriol' against JFJ came after the murder of three policemen and a security guard three weeks ago. Jamaicans at home and abroad vented their anger at human rights groups, accusing them of being anti-police.
MISUNDERSTANDING
"I think that six years after the publication of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights there is still a huge misunderstanding of human rights in Jamaica, some of it fostered," she said. "The police are the first defenders of human rights ... If a burglar is breaking down your door you call 911 but if it's the police breaking down your door, that's where most human rights organisations take their place."
Dr. Gomes blames the 'misunderstanding' among citizens on the failure of civic society to educate the populace on the state's responsibility to protect its citizens.
"One of the failures of leadership in this country is to understand and to follow all the studies done in Jamaica ... the Wolfe Report, the Kerr Report on political tribalism, the National Committee on Crime and Violence," she pointed out. "All of them talk about effective policing and the need not to deprive people of their rights. If their recommendations had been implemented systematically we wouldn't be where we are, but when things go bad, we look for scapegoats."
JFJ and Families Against State Terrorism are two of the most vocal human rights groups that have emerged in the past five years. They have gone head-to-head with the police and Government in high-profile cases such as the incident involving Michael Gayle, a mentally-challenged man who was killed in August 1999 by soldiers in the Waterhouse community.
They have been equally vocal in other controversial incidents involving the security forces, the most notable being the Braeton and Kraal shootings in 2001 and 2003 respectively, in which the Crime Management Unit of the Jamaica Constabulary Force attacked homes in St. Catherine and Clarendon and killed several persons.
QUESTIONABLE CHARACTER
In their defence, the police claim the persons killed were of questionable character. The police involved in the Braeton incident were cleared of the charges this year while the Kraal case is still before the courts.
Dr. Gomes says her organisation has helped JCF members in wrongful dismissal cases and, through regular meetings with police administrators, have advocated more acceptable alternatives to solving inner-city crime.
The JFJ head told The Sunday Gleaner that her organisation intends to push on with educational programmes that show their work goes beyond squaring off with the police.
