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Manatt commissioners failed — JCC
Thursday, June 23, 2011
THE commissioners appointed to oversee the 'Dudus'/Manatt Commission of Enquiry failed to do their jobs, the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) has said.
In a six-point statement released to the media, the JCC, which was among the civic groups that clamoured for an independent enquiry into the Government's handling of the extradition request for Coke, said the commissioners behaved as judges hearing an appeal, rather than as investigators of motives and intentions.
"The commissioners, in our view, abdicated their responsibility to determine the credibility of the important players in the process. This, perhaps, explains why they made no findings of misconduct (page 55), as that would have required some assessment of motive and intention.
"Additionally, they did not carry out their investigative duty nor did they exercise their investigative powers thoroughly and, instead, divested that duty, in large measure, to Counsel appearing for the parties who were represented before the enquiry. The commissioners' mandate was to investigate; instead, they sat back like judges hearing an appeal," it said.
The Commission of Enquiry ran for two months between January and March this year, as was occassioned by the events surrounding the United States' request that former Tivoli Gardens strongman Christopher 'Dudus' Coke be extradited on gun and drug charges. In the end, the security forces led an operation into the barricaded community which left more than 70 people dead. Coke was apprehended and extradited a month after the operation.
In its statement, the Chamber spoke to the credibility of the justice minister and the prime minister, which it said had been shaken, and asserted that Opposition member of Parliament Peter Phillips should be hauled before the courts on the matter of the secret Memoranda of Understanding.
"The Chamber will continue to hold the Prime Minister accountable for that lack of judgment by ensuring that the matters promised in his apology continue to be addressed in a timely manner; asserts that the role of the Attorney General has shaken confidence in her and her credibility; (and) is of the view that the MOUs raise serious constitutional issues which should properly be ventilated before the courts," it said.
In spite of what it describes as the shortcomings of the report, however, the JCC urged Jamaicans not to view the process as having been a waste of time or money, and pointed out that to the extent that the commission of enquiry was convened and to the extent that the commissioners submitted a report, the Government and Prime Minister complied with its requests.
The JCC, which represents private sector business interests in the country, and which is headed by Milton Samuda, also took issue with the behaviour of counsel during the proceedings, saying, "While robustly advancing a point or cause, we must not, as a people, lose the ability to do so with decorum".
While it commended the commisoners for having frowned upon said behaviour, the chamber said it was an indication of another of the commissioners' failures: the inability to manage and control the proceedings to ensure an environment "in which individual rights are respected but in which the search for truth is not compromised".
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz1Q6AyQyFI
Thursday, June 23, 2011
THE commissioners appointed to oversee the 'Dudus'/Manatt Commission of Enquiry failed to do their jobs, the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) has said.
In a six-point statement released to the media, the JCC, which was among the civic groups that clamoured for an independent enquiry into the Government's handling of the extradition request for Coke, said the commissioners behaved as judges hearing an appeal, rather than as investigators of motives and intentions.
"The commissioners, in our view, abdicated their responsibility to determine the credibility of the important players in the process. This, perhaps, explains why they made no findings of misconduct (page 55), as that would have required some assessment of motive and intention.
"Additionally, they did not carry out their investigative duty nor did they exercise their investigative powers thoroughly and, instead, divested that duty, in large measure, to Counsel appearing for the parties who were represented before the enquiry. The commissioners' mandate was to investigate; instead, they sat back like judges hearing an appeal," it said.
The Commission of Enquiry ran for two months between January and March this year, as was occassioned by the events surrounding the United States' request that former Tivoli Gardens strongman Christopher 'Dudus' Coke be extradited on gun and drug charges. In the end, the security forces led an operation into the barricaded community which left more than 70 people dead. Coke was apprehended and extradited a month after the operation.
In its statement, the Chamber spoke to the credibility of the justice minister and the prime minister, which it said had been shaken, and asserted that Opposition member of Parliament Peter Phillips should be hauled before the courts on the matter of the secret Memoranda of Understanding.
"The Chamber will continue to hold the Prime Minister accountable for that lack of judgment by ensuring that the matters promised in his apology continue to be addressed in a timely manner; asserts that the role of the Attorney General has shaken confidence in her and her credibility; (and) is of the view that the MOUs raise serious constitutional issues which should properly be ventilated before the courts," it said.
In spite of what it describes as the shortcomings of the report, however, the JCC urged Jamaicans not to view the process as having been a waste of time or money, and pointed out that to the extent that the commission of enquiry was convened and to the extent that the commissioners submitted a report, the Government and Prime Minister complied with its requests.
The JCC, which represents private sector business interests in the country, and which is headed by Milton Samuda, also took issue with the behaviour of counsel during the proceedings, saying, "While robustly advancing a point or cause, we must not, as a people, lose the ability to do so with decorum".
While it commended the commisoners for having frowned upon said behaviour, the chamber said it was an indication of another of the commissioners' failures: the inability to manage and control the proceedings to ensure an environment "in which individual rights are respected but in which the search for truth is not compromised".
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz1Q6AyQyFI
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