EDITORIAL - Security forces must declare on Tivoli

It has been almost a year since the tragic events of last May when the Jamaican State was seriously threatened by armed irregulars, congregated mostly in west Kingston, attempting to prevent the arrest, and extradition to the United States, of then fugitive Christopher Coke.

The situation had parallels to 1990s Colombia when Pablo Escobar and others of the drug cartel operated with impunity in the city of Cali.

In Jamaica, Coke, an alleged smuggler of narcotics and guns, was close to the governing Jamaica Labour Party, and operated from the party's west Kingston power base of Tivoli Gardens. So when after months of stalling the Jamaican Government gave the green light for extradition proceedings against Coke, his supporters barricaded his Tivoli redoubt and attacked nearby police stations.

Elsewhere, gunmen attacked the security forces. Two policemen were killed in one incident.

In the effort to retake Tivoli Gardens, one soldier was killed. However, at least 73 other persons were killed. Therein lies our concern.

There is no question that the security forces faced a dangerous situation and have to be commended for their role in ensuring the integrity of the Jamaican State.

What, however, is not clear, and about which there has been no definitive declaration, is whether the security forces conducted their operation with complete professionalism, following the rules of engagement.

Indeed, there have been many questions about some of the Tivoli Gardens deaths, and claims that a number of young men who were taken away by either police or soldiers, or both, remain unaccounted for.

There have been calls for a commission of enquiry into the Tivoli Gardens incident and coroner's inquests into all the deaths. The latter seems impractical, given that ballistic tests on all the weapons used by the police and soldiers in the operation are ongoing.

Share review findings

In the meantime, however, it would help the public's understanding and appreciation of the events of the Tivoli engagement if the heads of the security forces were to share the initial findings of their reviews of the conduct of the police and soldiers during that operation. They should, for instance, say whether these showed full adherence to, or breaches of, the rules of engagement and/or any breakdown of discipline.

Statements of these kinds go to the accountability of the security forces and would help, either way, in the building of public trust.

While the Tivoli Gardens operation was large and complex and would perhaps pose problems for the internal investigators to give a full account, such issue should not arise in the case of Keith Clarke, a 60-year-old auditor. Mr Clarke was killed by soldiers days later, miles away from Tivoli Gardens, in his own home during a search for Coke.

Up to now, there has been no explanation from the army of the circumstances in which Mr Clarke was killed, with his wife and daughter present.

The silence deserves to be broken. This case, too, goes to the issue of trust.

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