July 12, 2001
JAMAICANS UNITED AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY Dear Friends, There are estimates that as many as 27 people were killed, and forty injured during recent security forces operations in Western Kingston. Some of the dead included women, the elderly and a child. Television pictures showed soldiers and police letting off nonstop rounds of ammunition indicative of random firing. One such individual casually emptying his gun was Senior Superintendent Reneto Adams who apparently was in charge of the operations. As is the custom with the one-sided Jamaican media coverage of police operations, there were no pictures of whom the security forces were firing at or who were firing at them. Many claimed that the security forces fired indiscriminately at whatever moved inside Coronation Market and hence the number of people killed. These were not gunmen as Adams tried to mislead people into believing but noncombatants. In addition, very few guns have been recovered by the police to justify this mammoth operation resulting in so many deaths. Prime Minister Patterson has called out the entire military and given them "immunity" and police powers of arrest. There are no clear guidelines as to what is the purpose of this military call out which is more in keeping with a state of emergency or anticipation of civil war. Patterson's heavy-handed reliance on the security forces is part of a pattern of quick resort to the use force as a means of solving social problems. It was Patterson who created the Crime Management Unit (CMU) which few can argue is anything but a death squad with a benign sounding name. Patterson has shown scant regard for the daily police practice of executing inner city youth. Amnesty International's report about the human rights emergency in Jamaica was dismissed out of hand by Patterson's government. As for the decision of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to convene a Coroner's inquest into the March killing of the 7 Braeton youth, we do not expect much to come of this. At best the Coroner's Court may find the policemen criminally responsible for the death of the seven youth. As a matter of practice, however, the DPP will not prosecute because the forensic evidence will not be able to determine who fired the fatal shots. Official impunity once again rules the day. Jamaicans who believe in respect for human rights and social justice are therefore faced with a serious dilemma. There is absolutely no indication that this or any future government is seriously interested in reforming the police force and ending police brutality and corruption. The security forces are an instrument of political rule in a fragile economic environment. Patterson's command of the security forces exemplifies the belief that official violence and intimidation are necessary to maintain political rule. But as the latest incident in Western Kingston also demonstrates, this over-reliance on brutality de-legitimizes the system. A corrupt and brutal police force, heavy-handed official violence, political involvement in gang warfare, could easily convince people who are without work, who are poor, who have no future, that the political system is illegitimate and should be resisted with the force or arms. This is the danger that Patterson's leadership style provokes. It is either that the present political system is capable of guaranteeing justice or radical measures will be required to bring about justice. We therefore believe that since the police have perfected the art of killing and getting away with it, then the next step must surely be to hold accountable the person most responsible for the operations of the security forces and that is the prime minister himself. As prime minister, head of government, minister of defence, sworn to uphold the laws and constitution of Jamaica, PJ Patterson must ultimately be held criminally responsible for the actions of the security forces. (1) PJ Patterson knowing fully well that the security forces engage in a practice of extrajudicial executions has done nothing to end this practice; (2) PJ Patterson is therefore criminally liable for the deaths of thousands of inner city youth killed by the police during his term as prime minister of Jamaica; (3) PJ Patterson was responsible for the creation of the Crime Management Unit (CMU) which has proven to be a death squad; (4) PJ Patterson by approving the appointment of Senior Superintendent Reneto Adams as head of the CMU and knowing fully well his reputation and involvement in extrajudicial killings sent a clear message as to what was expected of the CMU; (5) PJ Patterson must therefore bear criminal responsibility for the execution of 7 Braeton youth by the CMU under the leadership of Reneto Adams; (6) PJ Patterson having approved the recent military operations which resulted in the deaths of 24 persons and the wounding of 40 others must be held criminally liable for the excessive and criminal use of force by the security forces; (7) PJ Patterson as head of the Defence force must be held criminally liable for other degrading and brutal acts committed by security forces against the people during this operation. On the basis of the above facts we believe that a writ should be drawn up to compel PJ Patterson to answer charges of crimes against humanity and against the Jamaican people. Simultaneously, such a writ should be filed with relevant international tribunals such as are investigating charges against the likes of Augusto Pinochet (Chile), Slobodan Milosevic (Yugoslavia), Ariel Sharon (Israel) and Habre (Chad). Heads of state do not have immunity for crimes committed against humanity. That none of these heads of state were first indicted in their own countries is due to internal politics rather than internal criminal statutes precluding them from being so charged. In the case of Jamaica, while we may be charting new legal terrain, we see an overwhelming political and a moral imperative to bring Patterson before the courts to answer charges stemming from criminal actions carried out by the security forces. Lloyd D'Aguilar
Click here to return to Jamaicans United Against Police Brutality homepage. |