September 10, 2001
JAMAICANS UNITED AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY Dear Friends, The official hearings into the July killing of 27 people involving the Jamaican security forces in Western Kingston are underway. We have no expectations but do hold out the hope that the hearings will shed some kind of light on the operations of the Crime Management Unit. As we have maintained, the CMU is a death squad organized by the prime minister ostensibly to deal with crime. The CMU is alleged to have been involved in least 70 killings since its formation last year. Its finger prints are writ large with human rights violations in terms of killings, beatings, illegal detentions and destruction of people's property. In another court police lawyers were arguing for a postponement of the Coroner's hearing into the killing of seven youth in Braeton because — you guessed it — the CMU is also involved in the Western Kingston killings. We believe it is fitting that as a minimum a special commission of enquiry should be held to investigate the operations of the CMU. It is clear that with the approach of elections there will be no sensible debate about the deplorable state of human rights in Jamaica. The minister of national security and justice signaled this when he recently attacked the human rights record of the opposition Jamaica Labour Party during its term of office in the 1980s. As important as it is to be reminded that both parties have used the security forces as a tool of repression Knight shamelessly believes that he should be applauded because the police are killing 150 per year instead of 200 under the JLP. Perhaps this is his way of silencing the JLP but we find it reprehensible that Knight in his 12 years in office has arrogantly refused to seriously address police killings. Indeed he has on occasion encouraged the police to kill (his famous ‘send them to the morgue' statement). The lower numbers have nothing to do with anything done by Knight and gives little comfort to inner city youth targeted for death by the security forces. Finally, we find it quite chilling that the police have decided to give summonses to entertainers, including foreign ones, who at a recent concert are alleged to have used indecent or abusive language. While no one condones incivility, this law, a hangover from our colonial heritage, has been used for too long to give police additional powers to repress freedom of expression. Summonses may have been issued in this case but it is known that people have been killed or beaten for being "facety" to police. The constitution guarantees us the right of free speech and except in cases of libel or slander the state has no business prosecuting people for exercising that right, no matter how offensive it might be to some. We therefore call for the immediate repeal of such law. It is but another wedge that encourages police brutality. Once again the state's agenda is clear: to use brutality in varied forms to stifle dissent among the oppressed classes. Lloyd D'Aguilar
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