Dear Editor,
The public defender has submitted his interim report on the May 2010 Tivoli operation, and most Jamaicans should be concerned with the finding of excessive force and extra-judicial killings carried out by members of the security forces.
His recommended commission of inquiry is more than welcome and we hope this commission will be convened as soon as possible. In anticipation of this inquiry, let us as Jamaicans hope that the findings will reveal the extent of these excesses and the names of those responsible for them.
More importantly, the commission must establish what the State needs to do to prevent a recurrence. It appears that in Jamaica we have become masters of producing inquiries that provide nothing but fodder for the media and a bland acceptance that the State can right its wrongs simply by saying, especially to human rights bodies, "Look, we've had an inquiry, so all is well!"
What has happened repeatedly, from the Green Bay killings to the repeated Tivoli incursions, is that after each of these onslaughts and human rights abuses, our security forces appear to adopt the approach of just how best they can prevent being caught out in future.
Their public relations spin is improved, their cover-up methods perfected and their legal departments strengthened to protect, primarily, not the interests of Jamaica, but the individuals and institutions they represent to the extent of withholding the truth.
Convening this recommended inquiry and reaching an effective outcome will hopefully strengthen the State's ability to keep the actions of its security forces in check and have them understand that every member at all levels must, at all times, and under all circumstances, act within the law.
Colonel Allan Douglas
Maeven Ave
alldouglas@aol.com
Tivoli commission of inquiry important
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The public defender has submitted his interim report on the May 2010 Tivoli operation, and most Jamaicans should be concerned with the finding of excessive force and extra-judicial killings carried out by members of the security forces.
His recommended commission of inquiry is more than welcome and we hope this commission will be convened as soon as possible. In anticipation of this inquiry, let us as Jamaicans hope that the findings will reveal the extent of these excesses and the names of those responsible for them.
More importantly, the commission must establish what the State needs to do to prevent a recurrence. It appears that in Jamaica we have become masters of producing inquiries that provide nothing but fodder for the media and a bland acceptance that the State can right its wrongs simply by saying, especially to human rights bodies, "Look, we've had an inquiry, so all is well!"
What has happened repeatedly, from the Green Bay killings to the repeated Tivoli incursions, is that after each of these onslaughts and human rights abuses, our security forces appear to adopt the approach of just how best they can prevent being caught out in future.
Their public relations spin is improved, their cover-up methods perfected and their legal departments strengthened to protect, primarily, not the interests of Jamaica, but the individuals and institutions they represent to the extent of withholding the truth.
Convening this recommended inquiry and reaching an effective outcome will hopefully strengthen the State's ability to keep the actions of its security forces in check and have them understand that every member at all levels must, at all times, and under all circumstances, act within the law.
Colonel Allan Douglas
Maeven Ave
alldouglas@aol.com
Tivoli commission of inquiry important
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