Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1992
JAMAICA
Jamaica is a constitutional parliamentary democracy and a member of the Commonwealth
of Nations. The Governor General, appointed by the Crown on the advice
of the Prime Minister, represents the Queen as Head of State. The elected Prime
Minister, the leader of the majority party in Parliament, is the country's chief executive.
The Parliament is composed ofan elected House of Representatives and a Senate
appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister and the
Leader of the Opposition. Two major political parties have alternated in power since
the first elections under universal aault suffrage in 1944. In the last general election,
held in February 1989, the People's National Party (PNP) won 45 of the 60
seats in the House oi Representatives (it has since gained another). The opposition
Jamaica Labor Party (JLP), which formed the Government from 1980 to 1989, holds
the remaining 14 seats.
The security forces consist of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF—police), the
Island Special Constabulary Force (ISCF—auxiliary police), and the Jamaica Defense
Force (JDF—army, air wing, and coast guard). The JCF and ISCF report to
the Ministry of Nationsu Security. The JDF is responsible to the Prime Minister in
his capacity as Defense Minister. According to the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament
Agency, total military expenditures for 1989 were $36 million. The Government
has made substantial reductions in these expenditures and is likely to continue
to do so in the near future. Since 1974, the JDF has been authorized to conduct
joint operations with the JCF to maintain peace and order under the Suppression
of Crime Act (SOCA). In Ji^ JDF platoons were deployed on anticrime patrols
in the island's tourist centers. The police continued to be responsible for incidents
of human rights abuse.
Jamaica's economy emphasizes the private sector and is based on primary products
(bauxite/alumina, sugar, bananas), service industries (tourism) {md U^t manufacturing
(garment assembly). The Government has promoted private investment to
stimulate economic growth and modernization, pursuing in the process a sometimes
painful program of structural adjustment.
Extrajudicial killings, beatings, and threats perpetrated by police and prison
guards, often with impunity, remain Jamaica's principal human rights problems.
Conditions in Jamaican jails and prisons remain appalling, with serious overcrowding,
poor sanitary con
judiciary is responsible for lengthy delays in trials, sentencing, and appeals.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing.
^While there were no reports of political
killings in 1992, there continue to be credible reports that the JCF engages in
the summaiy execution of suspects under the guise of "shootouts." Police statistics
collected over several years show that the numoer of people shot and killed by the
police routinely exceeds the number shot but only wounded. In the first 9 months
of 1992, these statistics listed 69 people shot and wounded by police officers, while
107 were shot and killed. For the same period in 1991, the figures were 81 shot and
wounded, 116 shot and killed.
In 1992 a number of persons in police custody died under circumstances that
strongly suggest extrajudicial killing. Specific incidents included deaths in police
lock-ups in Savannah-La-Mar, Ramble, and Kingston, and in the maximum security
?>rison8 in Spanish Town and Kingston. The Jamaica Council on Human Ri^ts
JCHR) believes this pattern represents the continuation of longstanding practices
by the JCF.
Police are seldom punished for extraiudicial killings. Media reports indicate that
three members of the JCF had been charged with murder by July 1992. A March
1992 report indicated that one JCF officer had been sentenced to death for the 1991
murder of a Crown witness in a drug trial. Government sources did not provide any
information on the 33 JCF officers cnaraed with murder in 1991, although a media
report in August 1992 stated that 13 JCF members were convicted of 'Various crimintd
offenses'^in 1991.
Allemitions surfaced of official involvement in the February 1992 death of Lester
Lloyd Coke, who died when a fire swept his cell in the general penitentiary. A coroners
inqpiest into the incident was inconclusive and no chai^ges were brought, but
credible reports indicate that security personnel delayed Coke's passage to receive
medical treatment after he was pulled from his cell. Coke, who had been linked politically
with the opposition JLP, was facing extradition to the United States on
murder and drug charges.
Vigilantism, involving spontaneous mob executions, occurs with some freqpienQr in
Jamaica, and a number of accounts of such cases appeared in the news media in
1992. In an August case, a Kingston neirfiborhood watch group beat an accused robber
to death; in a September incident in Twickenham Park, St. Catherine, vigilantes
killed a would-be rapist with fists and machetes. Police rarely brought charges
against vigilantes, and in the few cases that do go to court, acquittals are common.
b. Disappearance.
^There was no evidence oi abduction or disappearances perpetrated
by the security forces in 1992.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Torture and other abuse of prisoners and detainees are prohibited bv law. Nonetheless,
there were numerous credible complaints of beatmgs, some ratal, by guards
and security personnel of inmates held in jails and prisons. One particularly troubling
case lo
fisherwoman by police, which left her unconscious and with eye damage. During the
second incident, the woman alleges that police beat and stripped her at one police
station, took her naked to anotner, and left her overnight in the police lock-up,
bleeding heavily. While efforts by the Government to improve the situation through
police training continue, few officers were tried and sentenced for such abuses during
the year. Two JCF constables who were charged with "mistreatment of prisoners"
in a 1991 administrative procedure by the JCF were reprimanded in early
1992 but did not face criminal proceedings.
Senior-level police officials on severtu occasions indicated publicW that serious
problems existed with excessive use of force by the JCF, and the JCF included a
seminar with the JCHR as part of its basic training regime for incoming poUcemen
for the first time in 1992. In addition, legislation to create a police civilian review
board was passed by Parliament in June; the Governor General named the three
members ofthe board on December 16.
As in past years, some persons brought civil suits successfully against the police
for unlawful actions. Damages paid by the Government averaged $265,000 annually
over the past few years. In September 1992, a man who was shot by a police officer
in 1989 and subsequently charged with assault and illegal possession of a firearm
won his civil suit against the Attorney General for false imprisonment and was
awarded damages of $40,000 arising from the loss of his leg. In a June 1992 interview.
Police Commissioner Roy Thompson stated that 123 members of the JCF and
ISCF were facing criminal charges for various offenses, while an August media report
indicated that 99 policemen had been dismissed from the force since March
1991. Of the 123 arrested, 33 were chained with murder, 5 with manslaughter, and
12 with unlawful assault upon civilians.
There were no significant changes in conditions in maximum security prisons and
police lock-ups, which remain abysmal. Sanitary conditions are appedling, food inadequate
at best, and overcrowding the rule rather than the exception. At the general
penitentiary in Kingston, up to six men are held in the 7- by 10-foot cells in the
remand section, in near-total daikness, for 16-20 hours a day. In October, 3 men
died in the Constant Spring Police lock-up after having been neld in a 7- by 7-foot
cell with minimtd ventilation for more than 48 hours with 16 other detainees. The
coroner's report indicated they died of asphyxiation. There was some evidence that
stab wounds were inflicted on the bodies after they were pulled from the cell by police,
three days after their initial detention. In December a coroner's inquest jury
returned a verdict of criminal negligence; by year's end, the Director of Public Prosecutions
had not decided which police officers at Constant Spring were to be charged
with manslaughter.
Another longstanding problem is the failure to provide timeW and adequate medical
attention to prisoners and detainees. Prisoners who can afford to pay And access
to medical treatment, supplemental food, and other amenities. Prisoners without access
to money from family members and friends must subsist on the 60 cents a day
eer inmate budgeted for food. Conditions at Bellevue Hospital, the main mental
ealth facility in Jamaica, were highlighted in a 1992 television news series which
alleged tJiat patients were going hungry while the staff diverted food suppUes for
private sale.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
The Suppression of Crime Act (SOCA),
adopted in 1974 and still in force in Kingston, St. Andrew, and St. Catherine parishes,
allows police to make arrests and conduct searches without warrants oi the
homes and property of persons "Veasonably" suspected of having committed a crime.
It has also been used as justification for curfews in urban areas. The SOCA also
applies to the territorial waters off Jamaica. In response to increases in some categories
of violent crime, the Government initiated a combined JCF-JDF program,
called "Operation Ardent," in late October. Three joint police-military task forces
were created as rapid-response units for the entire island, while foot patrols bv joint
units were increased. The task forces were also given authority over specially constructed
detention centers to be commanded by the military.
Although Prime Minister P.J. Patterson denounced the SOCA in July as legislation
whose time had passed, it was reinstituted islandwide in September, in response
to threatened industrial action by the police federation. Islandwide application
was revoked 2 days later, leaving the Act in force in Kingston and the two adjacent
parishes.
Detention of suspects without a warrant occurs regularly, particularly in poor
neighborhoods. According to the JCHR, many detainees are held for several weeks
without being brought before a judge or magistrate. For Jamaican suspects charged
with a crime, there is a functioning bail system. Foreign detainees, however, are
regularly denied bail. Persons unable to post bail while waiting for a judicial hearing
are often detained for long periods. One group of some 80-100 persons is being
held indefinitely without the right to trial, generally for capital offenses committed
as minors. They are subject to indefinite detention; many have been held for more
than 10 years. Others in the group, mostly mentally ill, have been judged unfit to
plead. In response to a September media report of a man held without trial for 23
years aa unfit to plead, the Ministry of National Security and Justice stated that
such cases were being processed for possible review by the Governor General. By
year's end, some 5-10 of these detainees had been released.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
There is a well established right to counsel for
persons charged with criminal offenses; indigents, however, must have been accused
of a "serious ofTense" (e.g. murder, rape, robbery, firearms offenses) to qualify for
court-appointed counsel. The Court of Appeal and the Parliament may refer cases
to the judicial committee of the Privy Council in the United Kingdom.
A special gun court, established in 1974, considers all cases involving the illegal
use or possession of firearms and ammunition. Ihiblic attendance is restricted, and
cases are heard by a panel of three judges, with less rigorous rules of evidence than
in regular court proceedings. In capital cases, hearings before the gun court serve
as preliminaries to jury trials under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
'file judicial system, although independent, is overburdened and operates with inadequate
resources. Budgetary shortfalls have resulted in a steady attrition of
trained personnel, causing further delays. Some cases take years to come to trial,
and others have had to be dismissed liecause case files could not be located. The
Government has in recent years taken some steps to reverse the deterioration of the
legal system. These include raising judicial salaries, increasing training for justice
personnel, and upgrading court house facilities.
There are no political prisoners in Jamaica.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence
The
Constitution prohibits arbitrary intrusion by the State into the private life of the
individual. Under the SOCA, however, homes or businesses believed to be occupied
by persons "reasonably" suspected by the police of having committed a crime may
be searched without a warrant. There have been numerous credible reports of
abuses of this authority. In November, a media report told of two plainclothes policemen
who entered a five-room house owned by a 74-year-old woman, told her they
were searching for guns, and proceeded to ransack the premises without a warrant.
Upon finding a knue under the bed of the woman's son, they threatened to arrest
her. No charges were filed, nor was the woman ofiered recompense for the damage
done to her property.
Although the use of telephone taps without court order is ofTlciaUy limited to
cases involving the drug trade, terrorism, and subversion of the Government, the
opposition JLP and the union representing rank and file police oilicers chai^ged in
September that their phones were being tapped.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
Freedom of speech and press are provided for
in the Constitution and are observed in practice within the broad limits of libel laws
and the Official Secrets Act.
TTie government-owned Jamaica Broadcasting Company (JBC) operates two radio
stations and the island's only television channel. The Government's influence over
JBC program content, previously strong, diminished significantly over the past few
years, due at least in part to the 1991 installation of a nonpartisan board of directors
for the JBC. Three JBC regional radio facilities were sold in 1989-90 to groups
of private investors, and another private radio station went on the air in December.
A private group was granted a license to begin operating a second television channel,
but the start-up was delayed by financial problems. The Government's Broadcast
Conunission has the right to regulate programming during emergencies. There
are now more than 25,200 satellite antennas serving 26,600 households on the island,
permitting many Jamaicans to watch foreign television broadcasts, principally
from tne United States, without any government restriction.
Jamaica's four largest newspapers, all privately owned, regularly report on alleged
human rights abuses, particularly those involving the JCF.
Foreign pubhcations are widely available. There is no censorship or interference
in academic institutions.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The Constitution provides for
freedom of assembly and association. Public rallies are staged by all political parties.
Such events require a police permit, which is normally granted. Large numbers
and varieties of professional, business, service, social, and cultural associations function
freely.
c. Freedom of Religion
Freedom of religion is provided for by the Constitution
and is well established in Jamaica. More than 80 percent of the population belongs
to various Christian denominations, and religious groups of all kinds operate free^^.
Evangelical Christian movements have gained a sigmficant following, and foreign
evangelists visit regularly.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
The Constitution provides Jamaican citizens freedom oT movement and
immunity from expulsion from the country. Apart from persons under criminal investigation,
there are no restrictions on foreign travel or emigration. Citizenship is
not revoked for political reasons.
Those who apply for refugee status are handled on a case-by-case basis. In coordination
with the United Nations High Conrunissioner for Refugees, the Jamaican
Government established a facility wmch processed more than 100 Haitian boat people,
who were housed, clothed, and fed at the Montpelier camp throughout 1992. By
year's end, most had been voluntarily repatriated to Haiti.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change Their Government
All citizens age 18 and over have the right to vote by secret ballot and in general
exercise that ri^t freely. In some urban electorates, however, gangs are known to
intimidate voters and reportedly interfere with the electoral process. In the May
1992 by-election for East Kingston and Port Royal, the ruling PNPs candidate was
elected with little opfmsition (the JLP, which had announced it would not contest
by-elections ahead oi" the next general election, did not participate, leaving the tiny
Republican party as the only competition). Although exit polls suggested a 40-percent
voter turnout, the final tally showed a 70-percent turnout, with several polling
stations listing more votes for the winner than there were legally registered voters.
No government action was taken with reg«u-d to these anomalies.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation
of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
There are no restrictions on human rights organizations in Jamaica. The JCHR,
the country's only formal human rights organization, has vigorously protested
abuses by the pobce and has called for corrective reforms. Its work was hampered,
however, by a lack of adequate resources. In August the JCHR's offices were broken
into and several files taken, while others were burned. Some office eouipment was
also stolen, and some destroyed. There was extensive speculation in tne media, in439
eluding the popular radio call-in shows, that elements of the JCF were responsible
for the break-in. The JCF had not identified a suspect in the break-in by year's end.
The JCHR's coordinator, chairman, and vice-chairman have all received death
threats since 1989 related to, inter alia, their opposition to the death penalty.
Section 5. Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Language, or Social Status
Jamaican women are accorded lull equality under the Constitution, and the 1975
Employment Act requires equal pay for equal work. In practice, because of cultural
and^social traditions, women often still suffer economic oiscrimination, which is frequently
evidenced in hiring practices.
Reports of violence against women increased in 1992. Rape reports increased from
1,006 in 1990 to 1,091 in 1991. Complaints filed with the JCHR alleging police attacks
on women increased dramatically from 1991 to 1992, leading the organization
to focus formally on women's issues for the first time since its creation in 1968. The
Women's Crisis Center and Sistren (a women's resource collective) both reported increases
in the number of, and level of violence involved in, attacks against women.
Women remain reluctant to bring assault charges against their domestic partners
when jail is seen as the likely result.
Tliere are several community groups descended from freed blacks and escaped
slaves, some of whom claim descent from the Arawak Indians, the original inhabitants
of Jamaica. These people, who are called Maroons, live in separate communities
in the interior of the island and since British colonial times have eiyoyed a
degree of autonomy p-anted by treaty. There is no provision under the Jamaican
Constitution for special or separate treatment for the Maroons, and no evidence of
discrimination against them.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The Constitution specifically provides for the right
to form or join a trade union and obligates the Government to protect the person
and property of trade unionists. Labor unions function freely. The Labor Relations
and Industrial Disputes Act (LRIDA) codifies worker rights. There is a spectrum of
independent national unions, some of which are associated with political parties.
Jamaican law neither authorizes nor prohibits the right to strike, but unions and
workers do strike. Striking woikers can interrupt work without criminal liability
but cannot be assured of keeping their jobs. Woncers in 10 broad categories of "essential
services" are nrohibited from striking, a provision of the LRIDA which the
International Labor Organization (ILO) has repeatedly condemned as overly inclusive.
There was a major increase in strikes and other industrial actions by a wide
variety of unions and professional associations in 1992. The announced layoff of
8,000 government employees, and the erosion of real wages through inflation (which
excee^d 100 per cent in one 12-month period in 1991-1992) were the most common
reasons for industrial action.
Jamaican unions maintain a wide variety of regional and international affiliations.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
The Constitution provides for
the right to organize and belong to labor unions, and LRIDA provisions include
guidelmes for labor, management, and government on issues such as organizing
work sites, negotiating agreements, and conflict resolution. The Government rarely
interferes with union organization efforts, and judicial and police authorities effectively
enforce the LJRIDA and other labor regulations. However, in 1992 the ILO
once again criticized Jamaican labor laws for giving too much power to the Labor
Minister and infringing on the workers' right to bargain collectively, in the latter
case through excessive ballot requirements.
Labor, management, and the Government remain firmly committed by law and
in practice to collective bargaining in contract negotiations and conflict resolution,
even in some nonunion settings. When labor and management fail to reach an
agreement, cases may be referred to the Ministry of Labor for conciliation; when negotiation
and conciliation fail, parties to the dispute may agree (or, in cases affecting
flie national interest, the Labor Minister may decide) to refer the matter to an independent
Industrial Disputes Tribunal (IDT). Any cases not resolved by the IDT pass
to the civil courts. The LRIDA prohibits antiunion discrimination; for exarnple, employees
may not be fired solely Tor union membership. This law has been effectively
enforced. On the other hand, union affiliation may not be a prerequisite for employment.
Domestic labor laws apply in the "free zones" (export processing zones); however,
there are no unionized companies in any of Jamaica's free zones. Union organizers
attribute this to resistance by foreign owners in the zones to organizing efforts.
Wages and conditions within the free zones are set by management and are gen440
erally better than those in similar industries outside the zones. Before the April
1992 reductions in the civil service, inspections of labor standards occurred eveiy
few months inside the free zones; in factories outside the zones, inspections often
occurred only once a year. Since the reduction in force of the Labor Ministry
through civil service layoffs, however, no inspections of labor standards have occurred
in any of the free zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
The Constitution does not specifically
address the matter of forced or compulsory labor. However, Jamaica is a party
to both ILO conventions which prohibit compulsory labor, and there have been no
allegations that this practice exists in Jamaica.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
The Juvenile Act provides that
children under me age of 12 years shall not be employed except by parents or
guardians, and that such emplojnment may be only in domestic, agricultural, or horticultural
work. Children under 12 years of age may not be employed at night or
at industrial sites, but enforcement is erratic, and children under 12 can be seen
peddling goods or services on city streets. There is no evidence of widespread illegal
employment of children in other sectors of the economy. The Educational Act stipulates
that all children aged 6 to 11 must attend elementary school. Industrial safety,
police, and truant officers are charged with enforcement. Given the diflicult economic
circumstances of the past few years, however, thousands of children were
kept home for varying period^ to help with housework and to keep expenses down.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
In July the Government raised the minimum
wage by an unprecedented 87 per cent, in an eflbrt to keep pace with inflation of
over 275 per cent since the previous increase. Although the legal minimum wage
rate is widely considered inadequate, most salaried woricers receive a living wage.
Work over 40 hours per week or 8 hours per day must be compensated at overtime
rates, according to the LRIDA. This provision is widely complied with, reducing the
need for enforcement.
The Labor Ministry's Industrial Safety Division enforces industrial health and
safety standards; however, it is hampered by an inadequate number of inspectors.
The standards themselves are extensive and include legal protection for workers
who remove themselves from a workplace they believe to oe unsafe. Industrial accident
rates were once again low in 1992. The Ministries of Labor, Finance, Public
Service, and National &curitv are charged with enforcing labor laws and regulations;
again, however, the reduction of the public service oy 8,000 positions had a
grave impact on the ability of those Ministries to enforce the law.
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