Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter
THE PRESIDENT of the Jamaican Bar Association, attorney-at-law Arlene Harrison-Henry, has strongly criticised the Government for its failure to get crime and violence under control.
Mrs. Harrison-Henry has called on citizens to hold the Government accountable for its failure to ensure that all Jamaicans enjoy their full rights and freedoms, including the right to life.
She emphasised that the Government's failure "to arrest the pervasive scourge of crime and violence in Jamaica constitutes a breach" in its obligations to secure the enjoyment of those rights and protections under the Constitution of Jamaica and the American Convention.
WANTS COMPENSATION FUND
"We must hold our Government accountable for this failure," she said.
The bar association president, who was the guest speaker at the presentation of the annual justice report of the lobby group Jamaican's For Justice (JFJ) at the Courtleigh Hotel, New Kingston, on Thursday, urged citizens to insist that the Government establish a compensation fund for the relatives of victims of murder and victims of violent crimes.
Mrs. Harrison-Henry called for Jamaicans to insist that political leaders clearly dissociate themselves from systems of criminality or even the appearance of such an association.
EXTORTION RACKETS
She said that, very often, "there is national outrage at extortion rackets which exist in downtown Kingston." She said almost routinely there were stories of construction projects being held up by gunmen demanding protection money.
It appears that there are some communities which operate as "states within a state," somewhat disconnected from the formal system of governance."
The 2005 Jamaican Justice Report highlights some of the high-profile cases which JFJ has helped to successfully argue, including the beating to death by soldiers of Michael Gayle, a mentally-challenged man in the community of Waterhouse, and the illegal removal of 'street people' from Montego Bay to St. Elizabeth by the St. James Parish Council.
