Peter Espeut | Justice delayed and denied

Last Thursday – International Human Rights Day 2020, and a day after International Anti-Corruption Day – the government of United States President Donald Trump announced travel and other sanctions against six present and past Jamaican policemen who were part of the controversial Reneto Adams-led Crime Management Unit (CMU). According to The Gleaner of December 11, 2020, the CMU was criticised as a “trigger-happy police squad that committed multiple extrajudicial killings”, and the State Department revealed that the six were targeted by Washington for their involvement in gross violations in human rights in Jamaica”, citing the extrajudicial killings of four people – two men and two women – on May 7, 2003 at Kraal in Clarendon.

According to the 2008 report prepared by Jamaicans for Justice and the International Human Rights Clinic of The George Washington University Law School, “The police officers said that they were ‘greeted by gunfire’ when they arrived at the property and during the shoot-out the four victims were killed. According to members of the community, however, an unmarked white bus with policemen aboard was driven to the gate of the premises with no opposition. Police got out and began firing at a group of persons on the veranda” (page 21).

The report went on to say that “Experts who observed and reviewed the post-mortem autopsies concluded that the victims’ bullet wounds indicated they were all shot at close range. Angela Richard’s gunshot wounds appeared to have occurred as she was sitting down. Additionally, it appeared that Matthew James’ arms were raised when he was fatally shot” (page 22).

The incident occurred in May 2003, but the six officers were not charged until April 2004, largely due to public and international pressure. The case was brought to court at least 10 times over the course of 18 months before it finally went to trial in October 2005. Due to the delay, witness testimony was compromised, and Joshua Black, an important witness who worked in the JCF’s Scene of Crime Division, was killed in the interim.

According to the report, prosecutorial and judicial conduct was questionable in several other important respects. Prosecutors failed to bring key witnesses to the stand to testify; the bases for these decisions are unclear (see page 23 of the report).

FOREIGNERS TO FURNISH JUSTICE

If we can get past the credibility issues associated with the Trump administration bringing human rights charges against anyone, we must recognise the failure of the Jamaican investigative, prosecutorial and judicial systems to deliver justice. Why is it – we must ask – does it take foreigners to furnish justice for Jamaicans – albeit 17 years later?

For me, though, another CMU action two years earlier in Braeton, St Catherine, was much more egregious. On March 14, 2001, while searching for gunmen who killed a policeman and a school principal, 60 CMU policemen surrounded a house at Seal Way in Braeton Newtown Phase III; the police claim that they called out that they had a search warrant, and were greeted with gunfire, which they returned; in the end seven young men lay dead inside the house, in what has since been called the Braeton Massacre.

Most of the youths had head wounds and were found in a room at the back of the house, which was more in line with extrajudicial killings than a shoot-out. The policemen were tried for murder, but the judge upheld a no-case submission as no particular policeman could be tied to the killing of any particular boy.

The 60 heavily armed policemen were not under real threat from the seven boys; they could have disconnected the electricity and water and starved them out. Instead the brave security forces stormed the house, and all seven boys were killed.

Some weeks later I assisted at the funerals of four of the boys at the Braeton Roman Catholic Church. I am not saying that they were bad boys or innocents, but their deaths were unnecessary, and a breach of their human right to life.

It would be interesting to know why the prosecution did not seek to prefer a charge of “accessory to murder”, or “excessive use of force” against any of the policemen, which might have had a greater chance of success.

Given that the US State Department has demonstrated its willingness to overlook legal niceties and rulings, I think Jamaica’s prosecutorial authorities must consider themselves lucky they were not included in the US State Department sanctions last week.

The Rev Peter Espeut is a sociologist and a Roman Catholic deacon. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com