Tweet
Rights activist warns against 'rule by fear'
Friday, July 16, 2010
HUMAN rights activist Yvonne McCalla-Sobers is warning the Government against allowing fear to dictate how it responds to crime, noting that this could lead to serious violations of people's rights and foster hostility towards the State.
McCalla-Sobers, who was speaking at the weekly Monday Exchange meeting of Observer editors and reporters at the newspaper's Beechwood offices in Kingston, pointed to recent actions by the Government in extending the state of public emergency, which she said violates the Constitution, and the passing of several crime bills as a signal that fear was at play.
McCalla-Sobers — who heads the group Family Against State Terrorism (FAST) — pointed to what she said were draconian laws passed in the 1970s in response to the rising crime rate as examples of Government acting out of fear. She said it was often "a weak Government, trying to be strong, that is motivated by fear and institutes a rule of fear".
She added: "Rule by fear requires punishment, and I'm not here to say that punishment does not have a role to play, but the focus [should be] on development, on rehabilitation on prevention rather than the focus on law that protect people. That to me is the primary focus of a government.
"The fear is very real but what has happened when we are driven by fear? What has happened in recent times?"
The events of recent times to which McCalla-Sobers refers is the extension of the state of public emergency, which she said represented a Constitutional breach as the conditions that warranted its implementation on May 23 had dissipated along with last Friday's passing of the crime bills by the Senate.
Prime Minister Bruce Golding had called the state of emergency, limited to Kingston and St Andrew at the time, in response to marauding gunmen who had set fire to two police stations in the downtown area and attacked members of the security forces, in their efforts to prevent the executing of an arrest warrant on former Tivoli Garden strongman Christopher 'Dudus' Coke. Coke has since been extradited to the US where he awaits trial on drug and gun-trafficking charges.
The state of emergency was extended on June 23 by Parliament and also implemented in neighbouring St Catherine. There has since been reports of people being detained for extended periods without valid reasons.
The controversial crime bills stipulate, among other things, that persons held on suspicion of committing serious offences such as murder, can be held up to 60 days without being brought before a court for the consideration of bail.
Still, McCalla-Sobers said that there is real dread within the society with the high crime/murder rate — an average of 1,000 persons being killed per year. But she cautioned against allowing fear to cloud better judgement.
McCalla-Sobers pointed to the Gun Court Act of 1973 that established the Gun Court, which proceedings are closed to the public, and the Suppression of Crime Act of the late 1970s as the perfect examples of Government acting out of fear in the face of crime.
These measures, she said, were meant to reduce crime, "which it did for a while", before creating a backlash, from which the society now suffers.
"It did [work] for a while because fear does work for a while. Until those we fear decide on ways of making us even more fearful," McCalla-Sobers said.
Under the Suppression of Crime Act that was in effect for 20 years the police were given free reins to detain citizens and restrict their movements and make arrests without warrants. There were also mounting reports of police abuse during the period.
"When we are driven by fear there are certain people that are designated the enemy. Those persons can be poor black boys, who live in certain communities... it is a weak Government trying to be strong that is motivated by fear and institutes a rule of fear so they appear to be powerful," McCalla-Sobers said.
Friday, July 16, 2010
HUMAN rights activist Yvonne McCalla-Sobers is warning the Government against allowing fear to dictate how it responds to crime, noting that this could lead to serious violations of people's rights and foster hostility towards the State.
McCalla-Sobers, who was speaking at the weekly Monday Exchange meeting of Observer editors and reporters at the newspaper's Beechwood offices in Kingston, pointed to recent actions by the Government in extending the state of public emergency, which she said violates the Constitution, and the passing of several crime bills as a signal that fear was at play.
McCalla-Sobers — who heads the group Family Against State Terrorism (FAST) — pointed to what she said were draconian laws passed in the 1970s in response to the rising crime rate as examples of Government acting out of fear. She said it was often "a weak Government, trying to be strong, that is motivated by fear and institutes a rule of fear".
She added: "Rule by fear requires punishment, and I'm not here to say that punishment does not have a role to play, but the focus [should be] on development, on rehabilitation on prevention rather than the focus on law that protect people. That to me is the primary focus of a government.
"The fear is very real but what has happened when we are driven by fear? What has happened in recent times?"
The events of recent times to which McCalla-Sobers refers is the extension of the state of public emergency, which she said represented a Constitutional breach as the conditions that warranted its implementation on May 23 had dissipated along with last Friday's passing of the crime bills by the Senate.
Prime Minister Bruce Golding had called the state of emergency, limited to Kingston and St Andrew at the time, in response to marauding gunmen who had set fire to two police stations in the downtown area and attacked members of the security forces, in their efforts to prevent the executing of an arrest warrant on former Tivoli Garden strongman Christopher 'Dudus' Coke. Coke has since been extradited to the US where he awaits trial on drug and gun-trafficking charges.
The state of emergency was extended on June 23 by Parliament and also implemented in neighbouring St Catherine. There has since been reports of people being detained for extended periods without valid reasons.
The controversial crime bills stipulate, among other things, that persons held on suspicion of committing serious offences such as murder, can be held up to 60 days without being brought before a court for the consideration of bail.
Still, McCalla-Sobers said that there is real dread within the society with the high crime/murder rate — an average of 1,000 persons being killed per year. But she cautioned against allowing fear to cloud better judgement.
McCalla-Sobers pointed to the Gun Court Act of 1973 that established the Gun Court, which proceedings are closed to the public, and the Suppression of Crime Act of the late 1970s as the perfect examples of Government acting out of fear in the face of crime.
These measures, she said, were meant to reduce crime, "which it did for a while", before creating a backlash, from which the society now suffers.
"It did [work] for a while because fear does work for a while. Until those we fear decide on ways of making us even more fearful," McCalla-Sobers said.
Under the Suppression of Crime Act that was in effect for 20 years the police were given free reins to detain citizens and restrict their movements and make arrests without warrants. There were also mounting reports of police abuse during the period.
"When we are driven by fear there are certain people that are designated the enemy. Those persons can be poor black boys, who live in certain communities... it is a weak Government trying to be strong that is motivated by fear and institutes a rule of fear so they appear to be powerful," McCalla-Sobers said.
Comment