Rights debates thwarting crime response, Holness claims
Published:Wednesday | June 15, 2022 | 7:54 PM
Prime Minister Andrew Holness has argued that his administration's response to the country's escalating crime and violence situation is being thwarted by debates about rights.
"We can't respond because every move we make there is some legal argument or some political argument being made about the preservation of rights. The rights of who? It is never a debate about the rights of the victims," said Holness today.
He was speaking on the deadly shootings that led to a lockdown of Spanish Town, St Catherine yesterday. Three men were killed in incidents the police have linked to an internal feud in the One Order Gang.
Holness, who is from Spanish Town, said the situation of organised crime in the Old Capital is a "national emergency".
"It has the potential, if it is not dealt with strongly and firmly and immediately, to claim many more lives," he said, noting that "the social ethic of Jamaica needs to change to match the irresponsible ethic of those who seek to destroy our society. If you make bad decisions you must face the consequences."
Holness said he wanted to communicate to frustrated Jamaicans who are questioning his administration's response to crime and violence.
He argued the debate about rights when his government contemplates security measures does not give enough consideration to the rights of "those people who suffer, those people who are killed, those people who are injured in accidents."
"Justice must be blind, but it cannot be deaf. It has to hear the cries of the victims," said Holness, adding that "I can understand that there must be defence of our democracy and our rights and I can understand and, indeed, I am first defender of that."
Holness said: "We cannot allow an emergency or a disaster to change the liberal nature of our democracy. There is no greater democrat than myself but disorder will lead to anarchy. And where we are now with the average person in Jamaica, is that if they can't get law, they will settle for order. So, those who believe that their very eloquent pronouncements about rights are finding favour with the masses of the people, what they are doing is increasingly alienating the people from the system of justice and law enforcement."
"I do not have the luxury to be dithering on these matters any more. We have to act on it. We have to act to protect the innocent, law-abiding citizens."
The debate over the Holness administration's response to crime intensified last week after Minister of Legal and Constitutional Affairs Marlene Malahoo Forte said a new Bail Act will be proposed with provisions to deny bail to persons on gun and murder charges.
The Constitution guarantees bail for every person charged with an offence subject to some exceptions to be imposed by a court.
The government's use of States of Emergency has also resulted in criticisms.
Jamaica has one of the highest murder rates in the world, with more than close to 50 per 100,000 of the population killed yearly.
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