EDITORIAL - A call to accountability

There are a number of unresolved matters in 2010 that require the Golding administration's urgent attention if the prime minister is serious about rebuilding public confidence in the country's political process and the institutions of the state.

Among them is for a full accounting for the actions of the security forces during May's state of emergency, in which scores of people were killed, especially in the West Kingston enclave of Tivoli Gardens.

Lest we be misunderstood, this newspaper held then, and still holds, that the declaration of the state of emergency was the right decision, although, unfortunately, it happened only because the administration's back was firmly against the wall, with no room to retreat. The administration having long contorted and wriggled in avoidance of America's wish to extradite the alleged crime boss, Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, it, eventually, found itself caught in its own web of prevarication. It could hold out no longer.

General belief

Coke's supporters - it is generally believed under his guidance - barricaded themselves inside their Tivoli Gardens redoubt from which they appeared to direct coordinated attacks on the institutions of the state. Police stations were burned, or fired at, police officers killed and terror unleashed in several communities, mostly in the Corporate Area and St Catherine.

The security forces, rightly, entered Tivoli Gardens to put down this act of urban terrorism which, if it had got out hand, could, conceivably, have led to the fragmentation of the national territory and the entrenchment of a narco-democracy. The 15 per cent decline in homicides in Jamaica in 2010, compared with the previous year, is directly related to the success of the state of emergency in disrupting, at least initially, the activities of criminals.

Unfortunately, the necessary incursion into Tivoli Gardens, in which the security forces engaged real gunmen, cost over 70 lives. What, is not clear, though, is how many of these were partisans, or innocent bystanders.

We believe that the country has a right to know - not out of any sense of vindictiveness or witch-hunt of the security forces, but because accounting and accountability are right - the norm in a properly functioning democracy.

Issues in need of resolution

Indeed, the security forces ought to have an interest in knowing whether field commanders operated according to procedures, whether mistakes were made and if any of their numbers deliberately broke the law, or abused people's rights. A handful of complaints about missing persons who were claimed to have been arbitrarily removed from their homes are, too, among worrying issues in need of resolution.

We accept that it is difficult and time-consuming to complete the ballistic analyses of all the weapons used in the Tivoli Gardens operations and to match these against the 'civilians' who were shot and killed.

But it seems to us that no such argument can be advanced in the case of Keith Clarke, the accountant, who was shot dead at his East Kirkland Heights home, miles away from Tivoli Gardens, after it was broken into by soldiers during their search for Christopher Coke.

Justice, a key plank in the rule of law, which is a pillar of democracy, demands accountability.

The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.