October 27, 2001
JAMAICANS UNITED AGAINST
POLICE BRUTALITY
Jamaica's human rights emergency has been further compounded by at least two more controversial shootings by the security forces. According to newspaper reports, police claimed that one of two men allegedly opened fire on a truckload of soldiers. The soldiers returned the fire killing the two men. One of the men was found with a .38 weapon. This highly improbable but typical shootout story was unusual in one respect. There is no indication that the soldiers were doing police work at the time of the incident or were in the company of police officers. As our investigation subsequently revealed, the soldiers stopped the men and searched them. A gun appeared to have been found on one of them. In quick and summary fashion the soldiers executed the two men. They received multiple gunshots to their bodies. The executions were carried out in front of several eyewitnesses. To date there is no indication that these killings are being investigated by either the police or the army. A few days later more than fifty people witnessed the execution of Andrew Phang, a reputed "don" by members of the Crime Management Unit (CMU) led by Senior Superintendent Reneto Adams. The eyewitnesses claimed that after being subdued, Phang, dressed in his underpants and handcuffed, was taken to the back of a house and executed. Despite widespread protests from residents of the Grants Pen area from where Phang hails, there has been, predictably, no response from the government. Police Commissioner Francis Forbes announced a few days later that he had ordered a review of the CMU. He said little to indicate that the review was guided by public concerns about the unit's involvement in extrajudicial killings and human rights abuses. "No one or two factors have caused me to take this decision. No unit should fear this review because the strengths and weaknesses should come to view." Indeed the criteria for judging the activities of the CMU, as explained by the commissioner, may well result in it being declared a success. Furthermore, the review is to be conducted by an assistant police commissioner which is objectionable because it perpetuates the policy of police investigating police. In addition to calling for disbandment of the CMU human rights organizations have also demanded the setting up of an independent body to investigate police killings. As for the latter demand the commissioner announced that he would recommend the setting up of an independent body to investigate police killings. This "independent" body (the already existing Police Public Complaints Authority) would be staffed by a few more of Forbes' men and clearly contradicts the idea of independence. It would appear therefore that rather than responding to the human rights agenda the commissioner was simply making the right "administrative" moves related to protecting his own job. Consider the following: (1) A new minister of national security, Peter Phillips, is set to take charge of the police force at the beginning of November 2001. Many Jamaicans consider the commissioner a failure no less than his outgoing boss KD Knight. As he prepares to give Phillips a formal account of his tenure, he would no doubt want to preempt any potential criticism that he is losing control of the situation or has lost the confidence of the public. (2) His proposals appear to be just that and as inadequate as they are they must ultimately be sanctioned by the new minister and the cabinet. If it is possible to judge Phillips' attitude to "security" then he appears to be no less hawkish than his predecessor KD Knight. He has already called for "severe, extreme and resolute" measures to deal with the crime situation. When pressed as to what this meant he argued for "antiterrorism" legislation similar to that passed in Britain last year. This legislation has been condemned by human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, for undermining civil liberties. It would certainly be a throwback to Jamaica's recently repealed Suppression of Crimes Act which gave Jamaican police arbitrary powers of arrest and detention. The likelihood of Phillips adopting a different attitude to the brutal police methods is slim when considered that he represents a garrison community. He has already gone on record to deny any connection between what some see as the current spate of politically motivated violence and the upcoming elections. What are the incentives, therefore, to undo corruption of the police force when this facilitates a system where politicians feel the need to employ their own private armies? La luta continua. Lloyd D'Aguilar
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