Critiquing Human Rights in Jamaica: Who Gets to Speak and What is Its Actual Value?

Traditionally, the discussion of human rights in Jamaica has been conducted in what may be considered 'the privileged voice'. This speaks to the privileged positions occupied, in many ways, by those Jamaicans who set themselves up as 'the authority'. This extends even in the case of Jamaicans who live outside of the country. The privileged voice, therefore, gets to set the tone of the discussion, if not the discussion itself and arrogate unto itself the wherewithal to determine who has access to the conversation and who does not - a kind of gate-keeping practise like we have never seen before!

In that regard, if you are not considered part of the inner-circle of the 'privileged voice(s)' then your position is largely seen as hostile, if not counter productive in terms of how this conversation on (human) rights is constructed and performed here. A case in point is a recent exchange between myself and some members of human rights groups in Jamaica, on Face Book. Without expounding on those details, several attempts were made in different ways to ridicule, if not censure the fact that I openly acknowledged, as I have also done previously, that I am not a member of any known and or named human rights group in Jamaica.

Obviously, my lack of direct involvement in the human rights community in Jamaica does not preclude me from commenting, substantively, on this very important issue which affects us all, however. Indeed, the impression that only, if not mostly, those with a known track record on human rights issues in Jamaica are either able to comment fulsomely on its implications in this country or for that matter offer solutions is plainly wrong. Thus, it relegates those percieved to be on the 'outside' to a defensive posture in this very important discussion, wherein they are constructed as either threatening and or counter productive to the goals of the movement.

This position is, of course, largely inaccurate and definitely insiderist. Its sole aim is to politicise poverty to the extent that it is set up as in explicitly dichotomous relationship with the state vis-a-vis human rights (organisations). Here, 'Government' is perceived as almost always complicit in strangling the personal and other freedoms of a particular kind of 'poor people' and as result, is directly implicated in the high rates of murder exhibited each year in Jamaica, especially those committed by the Jamaican Constabulary Force (JCF). Thus, perceived the JCF is, by and large, construed as the enemy of 'poor people'.

Consequently, those sent to save us all from this unfortunate cocktail of oppression, murder and despair are a select group of people with credentials which largely mark them as 'uptown', if not 'upper middle class' Jamaicans. Indeed, there is nothing, necessarily wrong with this reality in and of itself. This is in the sense in which the police are often implicated in some especially heinous crimes which the news media does not hesitate to bombard us with each evening. Thus, it is important that a dedicated group of volunteers and non-Governmental Organisations, with both the resources and time, are devoted to addressing this cause.

Still, the references/ registers in which human rights are encoded in Jamaica nonetheless warrant questioning. This is epecially in terms of how human rights groups in Jamaica impact the development of a functioning and functionable civil society; that is, one which empowers regular, ordinary citizens with the aim of including them in the process of goverance at various levels. It may, therefore, be argued that through their own actions; however noble, the near universal focus on seeing Government as the enemy and, rarely, ever including the voices of (poor) people directly impacted by the causes they champion, human rights groups inadvertently sideline and or stifle the development of a functioning civil society in Jamaica.

Human rights continues to be a devalued conversation/ topic of interests in Jamaica, in part, because it is largely seen as only advocating the views of otherwise intolerable values and attitudes, such as claiming rights for known murderers and other anarchists in the state, including homosexuals. This is not to say that I agree with this position, however. On the contrary, it is argue that, in Jamaica any unofficial poll of the so-called 'man in the streets' would confirm that this is not only the common perception there is also a great deal of concern and anxiety over how to treat with these matters, especially where people seem to have less and less faith in the 'Government' to provide meaningful answers to their plights, currently.

In that regard, claims made by some members of the referenced Face Book conversation that, a Don Anderson poll found that 43% of Jamaicans do not care about whether someone was murdered, presumably, in cold blood are to be rigourously questioned. This is because it implies that, Jamaicans do not care about (each other) which also, presumably, explains the reasons why murders occur with such impunity in the society and, perhaps also why human rights groups face such a hard time winning support for their cause. Hence, there is no end in sight for the meoteric murder rate, in terms of the needless loss of seemingly expendable, black lives, especially those in Downtown, Kingston.

Significantly, these figures do not define how 'care' is operationalised, as well as the implications which follow from such a conclusion. Indeed, they do not even make a connection between why people would not be concerned about as obviously as distressing a matter such as crime and violence here, whether that presumably sanctioned by the state or for that matter random or even calculated acts of violence conducted by person outside of that group. Consequently, there is need for greater awareness building, in terms of working with institutions like the media, church groups, community based organisations and others to celebrate successful human rights cases as a way of raising the profile of the disussion.

Further, any suggestion that we are somehow unable to initiate a 'culture of peace' with the now, obviously, unacceptable 'culture of violence' which suppousedly characterises all of Jamaican society through negotiation and partnership is flawed. Certainly, no one is suggesting that this be the only approach, nor that we meet and engage in discussions with known criminals. However, there is much value in the way of real engagement between traditionally warring factions, especially in cases where there are areas of common interests.

A more gentle approach which does not seek to demonise all with whom it does not agree must also be considered. This requires real commitment and not half hearted attempts which go no further than merely expressing alarm over vioent incidents. After all, so long as they do not touch us then all is well. It is important to note therefore that, human rights are rights not just limited to violent murders 'Downtown', but also involves the systemic and entrenched economic and class systems which orchestrate the untimely destruction of innocent Jamaican lives and also life chances.

With respect, therefore, making a great noise about crime in Jamaica and engaging in long, impassioned discussions about just how 'unacceptable' it all is, as representative of our frustrations with the current state of affairs does not truly help. If there are no reasons to be hopeful then we are all in trouble. What is then, is the track record of our successes in this area? How many human rights issues have been successfully resolved in its history in Jamaica?

And, why have we not, in addition to campaigning for the rights of others, show how these strategies have worked in the past? At what point do we recongise that, while we discuss the proverbial Rome, in this case Jamaica, burns? What then would it profit the so-called 'regular', 'ordinary' Jamaican to sit back and callously enjoy the savage murder of other innocent Jamaicans? The traditional view of 'poor people' as 'victims' and police officers as 'bullies' and the state as supportive of/ enabling this narrative, in which police excesses are excused under the rubric of some spurious 'investigation', continues the trajectory in which the skills necessary for coping with the problems in the society are ignored.

As a result, the question of the successful examples is a valid one because, whether we are still caught in the trap of the colonial militia set up to immobilise poor, disenfranchised black people, historically, we still need to have hope! How do we get 'buy-in' and build consensus through actual empowerment? Where are the solutions from the people who are also directly affected by these harsh realities? And, why is it that, to suggest that there is need for this kind of broad based partnership, at the levels at which civil society plays a greater role, if even facilitated by the state, are not usually seen as legitimate options? Could it be that we do not want solutions? Or, is that, we have also given up hope? Lost sight of our commitment to service? Service, after all, encompasses even the difficult and trying times and the perseverance that comes with the hope of success.

Who wants to fight if there is no end is sight? Who wishes to make time for causes that have no heroes; no faces to celebrate in order to galvanise further support, if even at grassroots levels? What of the views of the mothers, sisters, brothers, fathers and communities in pain? Where are the job training and esteem empowerment workshops that will equip disadvantaged and at risk people with new skills to tackle the problems in their communities?

Unless there are actual solutions then this is a pointless exercise. Unless we are actually doing more than demonising Government, though they are very much deserving of that, then we are doing extremely very little. Unless we are widening out our frames of reference to see human rights as the rights of all Jamaicans, even those with other issues beyond a murdered son, or daughter then we have not yet started this especially important discussion.

Human rights include more than just a fight against homophobia; though it must have this as an important pillar of its make up. Human rights must also get to the root of the problems which give rise to these issues in the first place - the colonial patriarchal misogynistic attitudes enshrined by the state and practised as class politics in Jamaica. If we are not also engaging in this discussion and finding solutions to those problems too, then we are all dead in the water - no pun intended.

There must be more than just talk; there has also got to be action; and real action to boot!

 

 

Kevin Brown; the Amnesty Report: Jamaica’s PR Nightmare!

To say that April Fools’ Day (Tuesday, April 1, 2008) gave us more than we had bargained for as a nation would perhaps qualify as a major understatement – perhaps the one of greatest significance so far this year. First, we heard the story of the Amnesty International Report entitled: “Let Them Kill Each Other: Public Security in Jamaica’s Inner-Cities”, in which the human rights group made the damning charge that the Jamaican government has, effectively, left the inner-city, urban poor to fend for themselves regarding the provision of adequate security by the state. Then, there was the even more distressing report that the thirty-two year old Jamaican-born, United States (US) army veteran Kevin Brown started acting strange during check-in for Air Jamaica Flight 80 at the Orlando International Airport (OIA). According to the Orlando Sentinel:

Brown was watched, questioned and detained Tuesday by Transportation Security Administration and Orlando police officers after he was deemed to be acting strange during check-in for Air Jamaica Flight 80.

A luggage search, according to an affidavit filed Wednesday by Orange County sheriff's Detective Kelly Boaz, turned up:

*Two galvanized pipes.
*End caps with holes drilled in them.
*BBs.
*A model-rocket igniter.
*Batteries.
*Lighter fluid.
*A lighter.
*Two vodka bottles with flammable nitromethane.
*Instructions on making explosives (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/crime/orl-airport0308apr03,0,5200541.story)

To say that this is a cause for concern is, of course, stating the obvious. Among others, these two reports together highlight the tragedies of war; in this instance, the war in Iraq and its lasting impact on world politics, currently, as well the far reaching political implications of crime in countries like Jamaica. On average we murder approximately 1500 hundred of our citizens each year in what might be rightfully entitled our undeclared civil war. Of course, what is more distressing about these alarming facts is that it is generally contended that crime statistics are deliberately under reported as a way of not alarming the citizenry any more than needs be…Psych! Too late! The proverbial puss is out the bag and amongst the pigeons, to boot!

Between Brown’s actions and the recent Amnesty International report which identified the Jamaican government as a fairly callous institution in terms of its abandonment of its citizens to the whiles of dons, community leaders and other thugs for hire, make the point only too well. Jamaica is an unsafe place to be, let alone in which to live. If you are not rich and possess the means by which to remove yourself from the violence, death and despair then you are a moving target, it seems, and even then there is no guarantee.

In an effort at damage control, Prime Minister Golding has pleaded with Amnesty International for clemency insofar as explaining the extent to which the Jamaican state has been rendered incapable of undertaking the types of interventions needed to critically address the crime problem here. According to the PM Jamaica’s debt servicing obligations, especially in light of the recent Estimate of Expenditures which were announced as part of the 2008-2009 Budget presentations is a real problem. In the words of PM Golding:

"I urge you to be sympathetic to the real difficulties faced by a Government that must find $723 million each day to service the national debt. You will, I am sure, appreciate the extent to which this constrains our ability to address the urgent need to provide social services and economic opportunities in these areas," he said in a statement released yesterday." (http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20080402/lead/lead4.html)

While, certainly a noble gesture in terms of the Government’s admitted recognition of the real needs to be addressed in such a context, the flip side is all the more distressing when considered against the background of world-wide price increases in basic food supplies as well as the rising cost of living, which, ultimately, also impact crime. The state’s recognition of the problem is a good start, however, it remains to be seen whether that by, itself, will prove a sufficient basis on which to request leniency and, therefore, a ‘letting off the hook’ regarding the significance of this report and Jamaica’s growing international reputation as a crime capital.

In public relations it is often stated that you cannot sell a bad product; that integrity and high standards speak for themselves; and that, where there is a scarcity of money to advertise, as is often the case, a good product will sell itself. But, is this really the case? And, how does this apply in the Jamaican context where these two incidents, which are only but the most recent developments in a very long line, likely to negatively impact the country’s public image; that is, as a hot spot for violence? This, notwithstanding that some of the violence does not directly emanate from us, as in the case of Kevin Brown.

Surely, the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) has its work cut out, as well as the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Information, Youth, Culture and Sports. In the case of the latter, there is a generally held view that part of the aggression and energy of crime in Jamaica is also what accounts for our athletic prowess internationally. In effect, the same energy exerted in dodging bullets and outsmarting and outrunning the police is what is also used to break world records and win Olympic and other international sporting medals. Of course, this is only conjecture and reflects badly on our sporting image and our sports people. After all, there are no known studies which have yet made the link between these two things.

What can be said, however, is that if and when the academy finally catches up with public opinion on this issue, it will prove all the more obvious that there is a clear need for more creative solutions to be invested in the issue of governance, specifically as they impact crime fighting. This does not simply mean a removal of M16 weaponry nor penalizing officers for shooting randomly in public. Though the latter is cause for very real concerns, especially as an eleven month old infant was tragically killed in one such incident, recently.

Rather, there is need for more meaningful investigation skills and specialized training; an upgrading of our forensic and scientific crime detection skills; as well as fostering and enhancing public trust and engendering public/ private partnerships, as part of key crime fighting efforts. A master plan in which community policing plays a critical role is also essential. This must address too, the trade in illegal guns; narcotics; and the influence of politics on crime, as a matter of urgency. Indeed, the security budget has to be made into one of the priority areas of governance to the extent that social programmes which seek to alter the tense relations between the police and some inner-city communities are addressed. This might well prove the time for the application of specialized behaviour change and social marketing skills to crime fighting in Jamaica.

After all, the US Army just recently indicated that it has discovered that physical combat alone cannot stem the problems of regime change in places like Iraq. Hence, the Operation Hearts and Minds campaign, that also addresses the other needs of the country thus affected. While, surely we are neither in Iraq nor Afghanistan it does not hurt to learn from this example, especially where it is commonly felt that some members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) play on both teams simultaneously – the good guys and the criminals.

I recall, for example; that in 2004 I was a victim of extortion courtesy of three police officers in Spanish Town, the old capital. Here is the story, for those who may be interested:

I was held up by three police officers while driving along the, then, newly opened Spanish Town leg of Highway 2000. Lost and confused, at the time, as I had never driven on this stretch of road before, my horror was further cemented by the fact that Jamaica had just begun recovering from a double dousing of very heavy rains from Hurricane Emily and Tropical Storm Dennis; and there were no street lights along the highway. In the case of the latter, I was not aware of this before, otherwise I would have stayed put in Kingston.

Afraid that I had gone too far off the beaten path, I became aware that there was a car following behind me. Soon there was the flashing of lights and the screeching noise of a police squad car siren. I was told via bullhorn to stop the car and get out. Frightened, lost and completely stressed out, I complied immediately. However, this was only the beginning of my ordeal which was compounded by the fact that I was driving in the wrong direction and with an expired driver’s licence, to boot! (I foolishly thought, at the time, that you were allowed a one month grace period, as in the case of the Road Licence. But alas! This was not to be!).

I was then accosted by three police officers bearing long weapons which were pointed directly at me. They insisted on knowing why I was driving in the wrong direction. They commented that they had been observing me for sometime and had noticed that I seemed lost and unsure of where I was going. At this, I immediately confessed my dilemma, hopeful, that I would be assisted by the officers of the law. However, this was not to be. I was told to show them my driver’s licence along with the other car documents. In between all this, they glared at me very sternly, oblivious to my plight.

Finally, the one who asked to see my licence indicated that it was expired and that I was to accompany them to jail (This was in the dark night; midnight for all I knew and cared then!). After all, the penalty for this breach is – you guessed it, a night in jail with all kinds of people! You can imagine my distress and consternation! So, it was obvious that they had me where they wanted me. They proposed that as an alternative I was to pay my way out of jail (And, God knows how long I would have been in lock-up, at that rate, right?).

Realising that I was being victimized by the classic “hol’ dung an tek way!”, approach as we say in Jamaica, I pleaded that I did not have any money and that; I was actually on my way to Portmore to see family members and had got lost due to the poor visibility and the state of the Mandela Highway which was badly flooded. Only one lane of traffic was opened, at the time. (Hence, how I came to take a wrong turn on the newly constructed highway).

Long story short, I was given two options – go to jail for driving with an expired licence and in the wrong direction to boot! Or, pay my way out of an otherwise unpleasant experience, the lasting consequences of which I did not wish to imagine. Consequently, I was told that they would accompany me to the ABM machine and that I was to approach the machine, just on the outskirts of Spanish Town (Brunswick Avenue, to be exact!) and not draw attention to myself.

After withdrawing the six thousand dollars (approximately 100 plus US dollars, at the time), which they had demanded I was to drive to a safe location and then pay them. Totally petrified, I complied with the request and then drove, very foolishly in hind sight, to a darker spot in the centre of town, behind the old Registrar General’s building where I handed over the money. When finally released; that is, when they had determined that I had been very compliant and that the money was, in reality, six thousand dollars, (which I could ill afford then as now!), I was told to go.

Needless to say, I sped out of Spanish Town and back to Kingston like bat out of hell. I was so distressed I sat in Café Deli at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, regarded as one of Kingston’s finer hotels, all night relaying my story to anyone who would listen. Before that, I had sat dazed at the bar of Christopher’s Lounge, at the Quad – a very popular night club in New Kingston. I subsequently made a report to the Professional Standards Branch (PSB) of the police force. However, as I did not get the number of the squad car or the badge numbers or names of the officers (like I had time to notice that!), I only received an apology and the matter was forgotten.
Hence, my conviction that police officers here tread a fine line between criminality and upholding the law in many instances.

It is useful hear news reports that more officers are being charged as a result of the actions of the PSB, though the matter is also very distressing at the same time. At last count, there were approximately twenty-four who are facing possible sanctions. Indeed, to address the problem of crime and Jamaica’s growing reputation as ‘Murderville’ there is an urgent need for more than just words – all of which are useful in drawing attention to the issue, but which are woefully insufficient in terms of allaying public as well as international fears on this subject. This reality is, of course, further compounded in the case of Kevin Brown by the fact that the allegedly unstable Iraqi war veteran was about to board a plane to Jamaica with bomb making equipment in tow. According to him he was going to assemble and show his friends in Jamaica how to make explosives like those he saw in Iraq. Do we really need to point out how serious all of this is? Of course, the answer is no!

Much more needs to be done to address this very worrying problem. Pronto!