Amnesty Demands Justice For Tivoli Victims

International human-rights group, Amnesty International, has called for Jamaican authorities to bring to justice those responsible for human-rights violations, including the killing of 74 people in Kingston, during a state of emergency imposed last May in an operation to arrest former Tivoli strongman Christopher 'Dudus" Coke.

In its latest report, 'Jamaica: A Long Road to Justice? Human Rights Violations under the State of Emergency' released today, the London-based group said despite some positive steps, the authorities have failed to prosecute anyone for the killings, consequently supporting local calls for a full commission of inquiry.

"An independent commission of inquiry must be established in order to ensure that all human-rights violations committed in Tivoli last year do not go unpunished like so many others in Jamaica," the human-rights watchdog noted.

details of report

In addition to unlawful killings, the 40-page report also cited enforced disappearances and arbitrary arrests, as allegations of violations of human rights, during the state of emergency.

"More than 4,000 people, including children, were detained under emergency regulations. Most were held without charge or trial or effective access to a court to challenge their detention. Some 980 people arrested during the first five days of the law-enforcement operation in west Kingston were held at the National Arena in Kingston. They included 67 juveniles under the age of 18 and four women."

The document also indicated that during the police-military operation which began in Tivoli Gardens on May 24, last year, at least 54 people, including 28 members of the security forces, were injured.

At the same time, Amnesty argued that the investigations initiated by the authorities around the killings have not yet established facts and responsibilities. In fact, the document stated that information collated by the group's legal experts revealed that investigations have suffered shortcomings in the initial phase which might have compromised the findings.

"Shortcomings in the initial phase of the investigation include the lack of protection of crime scenes and the failure to remove from service the firearms used during the confrontations for ballistic testing."

The report also mentioned a general lack of resources for the investigations, particularly in the Legal Medicine Unit of the Ministry of National Security, staffed by only two forensic pathologists.