May 27, 2001
JAMAICANS UNITED AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY Dear Friends, Since the March 14 killing of seven youth by the police death squad known as the Crime Management Unit (CMU), at least seven others have been killed by the police. In each case the police claimed a "shootout" -- the usual police code word for an execution. The high profile CMU which roams country vigilante style has the personal stamp of the prime minister who created it last year in response to pressure from businessmen and woman complaining about the high crime rate. That the CMU has been involved in several cases of executions establishes very clearly that the policy of police extrajudicial killings has approval at the highest level of the state machinery. The culpability of the prime minister and government is underlined by the fact that they have stubbornly ignored calls from a wide cross section of Jamaicans for a public inquiry into the circumstances of how the seven youth were killed. They have instead decided that the normal channels of the criminal justice system will handle the investigation. The government knows very well, however, that the criminal justice system depends on a corrupt and inefficient police force to carry out the investigations. By insisting that the police investigate themselves they are ensuring that in this and in all other cases the police are able to kill with impunity. Precedent indicates that the Jamaican criminal justice system does not convict where there are potential multiple killers (in this case sixty policemen were involved), where there are no eyewitnesses and lack of ballistics connecting the killers to the murders. In 1999 police and soldiers beat Michael Gayle, a man of unsound mind to death and though a Coroner's Court ruled that he was murdered no one was charged because the chief law enforcement officer, the Director of Public Prosecutions, claimed not to know who to charge. The current police investigations are already compromised because under the command of Senior Superintendent Reneto Adams, head of the CMU, policemen involved in the killings removed bullet shells from the scene. Other incriminating evidence was removed or contaminated. Eyewitnesses report blood being washed away. Common sense dictates, therefore, that it is not likely that any of these police murderers will be charged much less convicted. Jamaican human rights organizations cannot therefore be content with assurance from the government that they are allowing due process to go forward. It must not be forgotten that over the years the state has carefully perfected the art of protecting extrajudicial police killings. Due process is a corrupted process. Consider the following political implications: (1) Having created the CMU, the prime minister has a personal stake in any judicial determination on the criminal nature of its operations. (2) The head of the CMU, the notorious Senior Superintendent Reneto Adams is a revered and celebrated "crime fighter" who enjoys state privilege at the highest level. (3) The minister of national security publicly gave the police the green light to kill those who fire at the police. (4) The Police Commissioner was personally involved in planning the assault on Braeton and subsequently defended it. (5) The prime minister and the minister of national security probably knew of the police commissioner's plan to deal with those who had supposedly killed the Above Rocks policeman. (6). The head of the Bureau of Special Investigations (BSI) charged with spearheading the investigations is already compromised by being under investigation for allegedly providing protection to Colombian drug dealers. Competence aside, can this body impartially investigate a police crime which has implications concerning the professional competence of the police commissioner, not to mention possible embarrassment for the government? What is to be done? The ruling People's National Party has begun its campaign to win the next elections. They have already indicated that human rights will not be an issue. Though the opposition leader has indicated support for the Amnesty International report, he has yet to state what he intends to do about police killings. Similarly, the National Democratic Movement is also gearing up for elections but it too has been silent on police killings. JUAPB calls upon Jamaica's human rights organizations to endorse the following: (1) The immediate establishment of an independent civilian body, staffed by professionals to investigate police killings. (2) A restructured Coroner's Court to hear ALL cases of police killings. Most police killings have never been heard by a court of any kind. (3) Removal of present police commissioner. The present police commissioner is incompetent, indifferent to complaints of police brutality, and is compromised by his support of the Braeton killings. (4) Human rights in general and police brutality in particular must be addressed by all parties seeking election. A human rights charter must be drafted, containing elements of a restructured judicial system and a radically restructured police force. Political parties must be forced to state their position on this human rights charter. (5) The Braeton killings demand a public inquiry independent of any other current investigations. . What role did the police commissioner and the minister of national security play in the planning of this assault? Why were there contamination and removal of evidence? Who gave the orders to kill the youth? How did the police gain entry into the house? (6) It is time for a public investigation, including international jurists, into the management of the police force, with particular reference to its policy of extrajudicial killings. As usual we welcome your comments. Lloyd D'Aguilar
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