August 2, 2001
JAMAICANS UNITED AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY Dear Friends, One of the most well known secrets is that Jamaica has one of the most brutal and corrupt police forces on the planet. It has one of the highest per capita homicide rates. It carries out extrajudicial killings with impunity -- sanctioned by the state. During the past two years of intense local and international scrutiny the present government has shown a yawning indifference to calls for drastic reform of the police force. This arrogance undoubtedly stems from its belief that without the threat of international sanctions it has nothing to fear. In a most cavalier fashion, it dismissed Amnesty International's recent report on human rights abuses by the security forces. It was not in the least outraged by indications that seven youth in Braeton were executed by Senior Superintendent Adams and his men. Unimpressed by Amnesty's threat to publicly shame them they attacked Amnesty like a pack of hyenas. Amnesty, they realized, is without teeth since they do not believe in sanctions. This depraved indifference to the human rights of poor Jamaicans, has been bolstered by the sinister support they are now receiving from none other than former colonial master -- Britain. The same colonial power which set up the present paramilitary police force, then turning it over to their desperate but rather well tutored middle class replacements who now use this force just as effectively to maintain their class rule. In less than a year Britain has gone full circle from holding up a shipment of hand guns because of the human rights record of the Jamaica Constabulary Force to now giving them millions of dollars supposedly for training. According to one newspaper report, "the British government said it was now convinced that adequate steps were being taken by the Jamaican authorities to promote an awareness of human rights, as well as greater stress on the proper use of force within the JCF." The criteria for what are "adequate" must clearly be uniquely and subjectively British because the Jamaican police continue to shed blood on a daily basis. Respect for citizen's human rights appears to be something incomprehensibly foreign to them. This is certainly not ignorance or naivete on Britain's part. They are surely aware of the continued blood letting by the police (the Braeton executions starkly exposed any claim of restraint). They are also no less aware of the political dimensions of the problem. The fact is that Prime Minister Patterson is directly responsible for creating one of the most notorious death squads in recent memory. This death squad, the Crime Management Unit, is said to be responsible for at least seventy killings since its formation last year. The CMU has political protection at the highest level. On what basis therefore can the British government argue that the CMU showed concern for the proper use of force when they indiscriminately let loose with their high-powered weapons in Western Kingston recently, resulting in 25 deaths? The British High Commission is reported to have said that the British will be financing the training of officers to: (1) handle siege and other situations where the security forces face potential violence; (2) techniques to avoid resorting to weapons wherever possible; (3) provide immediate medical services at the scene of any incident; and (4) further improve the JCF's and the Police Public Complaints Authority's capacity to quickly investigate complaints about the police. We suggest that all of the above are disingenuous British ways of continuing support for the Jamaican police force without necessarily intending to have any impact on its brutal methods. The problem lies not in the technical skills of the policeman. Or even in his understanding of the rights of citizens as necessary as that is. The problem is a political one that begins with the political directorate. Until the political directorate unequivocally acknowledges and then disavows state sanction of police brutality as a method of dealing with poverty and the poor then the culture of brutality will continue no matter what kind of training is instituted. Until the legal loopholes are closed which allow the police to kill with impunity, extrajudicial killings are not likely to end soon. Until these changes are put in place, it is not possible to deal with the deliberately slovenly way in which the police investigate themselves. Without recognizing this aspect of the problem it is ludicrous to suggest that training a policeman with medical skills will help after he has deliberately executed someone. The British government is surely aware that the criminal and negligent management of the Jamaican police force is what needs to be addressed as the first order of priority. Giving money to the police force under the guise of training is not only cynical but directly supports the policy of using the high crime rate as an excuse for police brutality and extrajudicial killings. Since official impunity protects police killers it is only logical that the prime minister should be held legally responsible for the crimes of the security forces which fall under his command. The most appropriate test at this time would be to sue him directly for the wrongful deaths in Braeton. As the cases of Salvador Allende and Slobodan Milosevic demonstrate, the world is demanding accountability of those responsible for crimes against the people and against humanity. Lloyd D'Aguilar
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