Orville Taylor | Pull emergency brake

I don't always agree with Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck or his colleagues at the Bar, but I like when a big man acknowledges that he has fallen short and that he has an interest in making amends.

It has been almost a year since the country has been under a series of states of public emergency (SOPE). In 2017, almost two years after the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) displaced the shell-shocked People's National Party, one of the major campaign promises upon which the prosperity expectations were built was sticking around like an unwelcome distant relative. My friends in Montego Bay, Sav-la-Mar and Lucea, who used to tease me about living in 'Killsome' city, now had to recant, because the Second City had become one of the most murderous municipalities in the world.

Despite the caution of human-rights activists, the public was on the whole fully supportive of the idea of a limited SOPE in St James at least. Journalists like my friend Leighton Levy thought that it was worth considering and raised the question, "is it time for Prime Minister Andrew Holness to declare a state of emergency and have the security forces take a stand against the spate of murders rocking the island?" Indeed, there was bipartisan backing of the decision in Parliament in January this year. Parliament cast again in the same month for an extension until May 2018 and all 51 members present voted to support this. Other SOPEs were later declared in St Catherine, West Kingston and parts of St Andrew.

Despite some brazen killings in the SOPEs, we have seen a noticeable reduction in homicides. However, SOPEs are a quick fix and we need a national violence reduction plan.

A state of emergency is no joke. Speaker of the House Pearnel Charles knows what it is like to be detained for an inordinate period, and his colleague Olivia Grange has first-hand experience of being victimised at the hands of the agents of social control.

For there to be a SOPE, the governor general must form that opinion. However, his declaration of a SOPE should not arise from his imagination or a nebulous dictate from Jamaica House. Rather, Section 2 (b) of the Emergency Powers Act requires that "that action has been taken or is immediately threatened by any person or body of persons of such a nature and on so extensive a scale as to be likely to endanger the public safety ... ."

TAKING AUTHORITY

Out-of-control terrorists, acting with impunity, taking on legitimate authority and showing no sign of abating their onslaught could conceivably cause us to think that we need a SOPE. Under the act, which was passed in 1938, the same year that the JLP's founder, Alexander Bustamante, became popular as a labour leader, the Government has powers to detain, curtail movement, deport or prevent persons from landing, search without warrants, and a range of things that normally would not be permissible under the Constitution.

The prime minister must be held to his promises. Prior to the election in 2016, he guaranteed that the Government would take responsibility for reducing the level of violent crime and, post facto, that in the SOPE, he would be protecting human rights.

Very early after the assent was given in Parliament, Leader of Opposition Peter Phillips asked for a civilian oversight body to be put in place to address reports of human-rights abuses. Furthermore, he noted the concerns of the Cornwall Bar Association "that some of the detainees are not being granted legal representation and that the conditions leave something to be desired". His position was clear, and given the likely political fallout, the Government should have been mindful of his warning that in the fight to reduce criminality, "... we must remember always that the rights of the innocent need to be protected".

Thus, hearing from the public defender that thousands of Jamaican citizens have been arbitrarily scraped up and housed in inhumane conditions is a major violation by the Government. While I do not think that the request by the Opposition for former detainees to speak before Parliament about the atrocious environment would add any more value to the issue, it is a red mark against a Government that made the promise to do the exact opposite.

True, Chuck takes the manly stance to "apologise to some of these persons who were detained in unfortunate conditions". Just imagine if the detainees were little Chucks treated like impounded cars in a junkyard. The Government should have known by now what resources are needed and obtain them. At a time when the police are stretched thin with the mega-construction-caused traffic duties, longer working hours under SOPEs, and challenging lodging arrangements, what expectation can the Government honestly have from its constabulary who have to do the processing? Soldiers are not trained to detect criminal activity and to procure information that will be useful before a court of law, and police being used as sentries is a waste of their training.

I am willing to bet that given the resources and autonomy, the constabulary has operational tactics that do not require the powers of a full SOPE. It is not enough to tell the citizens to bend over backwards and give up their rights. Government must drop the SOPE and give us a comprehensive crime plan.

- Dr Orville Taylor is a lecturer and department head at the UWI. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.