Ja urged to end rising violence

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Jamaica urged to act to end rising violence

By Benedict Mander
Published: March 31 2008 19:18 | Last updated: March 31 2008 19:18

The Jamaican government must take “urgent” measures to solve a serious and escalating problem of violent crime, according to a report to be released by Amnesty International on Tuesday.


The human rights group attacked authorities for “stigmatising and wilfully neglecting” poor Jamaicans by failing to tackle corruption and violence, leaving the Caribbean island with the highest murder rate in the Americas.
“Poor, inner-city Jamaicans are paying the price of this public security crisis with their lives. They are being held hostage in an endless confrontation be-tween criminal gangs, police officers who kill with impunity and authorities who are failing to protect their human rights,” said Fernanda Doz Costa, the group’s Jamaica researcher.


In 2007 there were 272 police killings and 1,500 homicides, causing the homicide rate to rise to a record 62 per 100,000.
Gang violence has been a problem in Jamaica since the island’s independence in the 1960s, and Ms Doz Costa said that governments had “actively maintained” an environment in which gang violence could flourish. But, she added, there were “encouraging signs” from the new government of Bruce Golding, prime minister, elected last September.


“Still, things haven’t changed on the ground yet,” said Ms Doz Costa. Many communities were controlled by gangs through the collection of “taxes”, the allocation of jobs, the distribution of food and “scholarships”, and the punishment of those who transgressed gang rules, she said. But fear of reprisals, lack of confidence in the judicial system and a mistrust of the police had prevented Jamaicans from reporting abuses.


She emphasised that violence was “absolutely confined” to the inner cities and did not affect Jamaica’s key tourism industry. “It’s the poor killing the poor.”


Mr Golding admitted to the FT soon after his election victory that violence and crime were a “major impediment” to Jamaica’s progress. But, he said, it could not be tackled “overnight”. He stressed the need for a better law enforcement agency, job creation and improved infrastructure.


“The most important thing is trying to restore a sense of hope, for people to find the energy they didn’t think they had, rather than leave them feeling that they are facing a blank wall,” he said.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008

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Slums locked in violence,

Jamaica slums locked in violence, report says

· Inner cities at mercy of gangs and corrupt police
· State failing to protect poor, says Amnesty

• Rory Carroll, Latin America correspondent
• The Guardian,
• Tuesday April 1 2008
• Article history

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This article appeared in the Guardian on Tuesday April 01 2008 on p24 of the International section. It was last updated at 00:17 on April 01 2008.


Jamaica has abandoned its ghettoes to violent crime and shocking levels of police brutality, leaving communities terrorised and bereft of hope, according to a report.
Armed gangs and corrupt police units have turned inner cities into arenas of mayhem and impunity, with killings taking place in daylight, Amnesty International says in a report published today.
The investigation, Let Them Kill Each Other, depicts a Hobbesian world where many slum-dwellers are condemned to a life that is poor, brutish and short. "There is a public security crisis in Jamaica and the state is failing to effectively provide human security to its population, especially to those most vulnerable to crime and violence, namely people living in poverty in inner city communities."
The Caribbean island's high crime rate has long been recognised. An annual murder rate of around 1,500 in a population of 2.7 million puts Jamaica on a par with South Africa and Colombia as among the world's most violent countries. Because the violence is largely confined to slums and seldom threatens foreigners on resorts and beaches Jamaica has been able to turn itself into a tourist magnet.
According to Amnesty, the scale and nature of what is happening in the ghettoes is horrific. "This is not a sudden crisis, but follows a steady increase in violent crime over recent years. Far from protecting people from violent crime the Jamaica Constabulary Force is contributing to the escalation of violence. Jamaica has one of the highest rates of police killings in the Americas."
The 55-page report includes testimony from people who claim police killed their relatives. Philbert Thomas, a Kingston resident, said his 19-year-old son Andre, wounded in the leg and hand, was taken away in a police vehicle. "When I got to public hospital, Andre was dead. The doctor told me he had wounds all over his body: in his leg, on his belly, in the centre of his stomach and one in his back. When I left him he only had two wounds. I know they murdered him."
Amnesty accused the political establishment of dividing slums into "garrisons" where armed gangs delivered votes in exchange for near-impunity. Prejudice among public officials stigmatised people in slums as worthless and deserving of their fate, it said. Civic society organisations, some set up by former criminals, have improved security in some areas. Former Scotland Yard detectives who have joined the Jamaica force claim it is becoming more professional and accountable.