EDITORIAL - Don't bargain with our State

Memories can, indeed, be short and selective. But we hardly expect them to recede so rapidly and to have become so skewed that we forget or misapprehend what happened in Jamaica a fortnight ago.

Essentially, a force of irregulars held a section of the capital and engaged the forces of law and order to prevent the capture and arrest of a reputed organised crime boss. At the bottom line, there was a challenge to the legitimacy of, and an attempt to overthrow the Jamaican state.

But for the "members of the security forces who bravely fought to take our country back from criminals", the country "might have been overrun". We do not know what will happen next time, which is a "frightening prospect for law-abiding Jamaicans".

Indeed, what the Labour Day insurrection in west Kingston by the criminal supporters of Christopher Coke should have forcefully brought home is that Jamaica does not have a 'normal' crime problem. Of course, with a murder count of more than 750 for the year so far and an annual homicide rate of 65 per 100,000, we should have known this a long time ago unless we are in a state of denial.

Classic terrorist insurgency elements

As much as we might pretend otherwise, the west Kingston fighting had many of the elements of a classic terrorist insurgency, with the aim of undermining the country's institution and establishing Jamaica as a narco-democracy. That kind of criminality is not fought in the short term with normal policing tactics.

The terrorists have first to be confronted and suppressed, the state's authority reasserted and its institutions re-established in the areas from which they had retreated. That, essentially, is what is taking place in Tivoli Gardens and swathes of west Kingston, where the security forces are now operating under the umbrella of the state of emergency that was declared for the parishes of Kingston and St Andrew.

We make this point out of concern that some of our leaders might find it expedient to adopt populist postures in a scramble for political advantage, but packaging their intent as respect for "the rule of law, due process and respect for individual rights and human dignity".

Special measures necessary

We, too, respect these rights but understand that in extreme circumstances, when the very basis of the State and its democratic institutions are threatened, special measures might be necessary to prevent their collapse and allow for their ultimate survival. Indeed, the British people understood this in face of actual and threatened terrorist acts a decade ago. The society accepted, for instance, that it was in the interest of the majority, at least for a period, that they make adjustment to habeas corpus rights.

Similarly, in our environment - where criminals can act with impunity, our overburdened constabulary report a clear-up rate of less than 30 per cent for homicides and witnesses are often eliminated - it may be appropriate to limit the terms of bail and extend the period that those who are credibly accused of certain crime can be held.

We may abhor the recent behaviour of those who propose these measures and sneer at their declared conversion to decency. What, however, is at stake is the sanctity of the Jamaican state.

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