JFJ Congratulates all Winners in Jamaica’s 2007 election

[Mosiah]

JFJ Congratulates all Winners in Jamaica’s 2007 General Election

Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) would like to congratulate Prime Minister designate Mr. Golding and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) for their victory in the 2007 general elections. Congratulations also to all 60 candidates who won in their constituencies, the Jamaican people have placed their trust in the hands of these elected representatives, both JLP and PNP. JFJ is heartened by Mr. Golding’s indication that his government will work with the Opposition to move Jamaica forward in a positive and productive manner and we will be watching for the cooperation that will facilitate good, effective governance.

JFJ is proud of all Jamaicans who took part in this democratic process – voters, electoral workers, candidates, the media, etc. – and wishes to congratulate all on an election that has been declared free and fair by both national and international bodies. Special congratulations to the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) for the changes to the process that have so improved the transparency and fairness of Jamaica’s elections.

JFJ will remain vigilant in pursuing its goals of a Jamaica that provides equal justice to all and will be monitoring the new administration to ensure it lives up to promises made in the 2007 JLP manifesto. That document included a commitment to a ten-year justice reform process as recommended by the recent Jamaica Justice System Reform Task Force. We consider it particularly urgent to implement reforms in the Justice system to ensure the elimination of the case backlog and the improvement of court and case management to ensure the timely delivery of justice for all. We are also particularly interested in working towards the adoption and entrenchment in the Constitution of a new Charter of Rights to guarantee the fundamental rights of every citizen.

We believe that urgent attention has to be paid to:
Ø Improved management and accountability of the police force by, among other things, strengthening the powers of the Commissioner of Police to discipline (including dismiss) members of the force to enable him or her to weed out corrupt and non-performing members
Ø Restructuring the Police Public Complaints Authority into an independent investigative authority to investigate all cases of police abuse or excess, with the proper resources needed to carry out its mandate and empowered to initiate prosecution or issue recommendations to the Police Services Commission and the Police Commissioner.
These reforms are necessary in light of the current, unacceptable level of fatal shootings by police, the impunity of some members of the force for illegal actions and the distrust in the police that this causes.JFJ will be watching for urgent action from the new Government in this area.

JFJ looks forward to working in a peaceful and helpful way with the new administration, and all the elected members of parliament, to improve the knowledge and realization of the rights of all Jamaicans.