Tell the truth! It's time for truth and reconciliation

Wendel Abel, Gleaner Writer

Jamaica is a nation in pain. A nation psychologically shattered by crime and violence. Far too many have died, lost loved ones, homes, businesses and other sources of livelihood. Far too many are victims or know people who are victims of crime and violence. The wounds are raw. We need closure to move on as a nation. The time has come for truth and reconciliation.

It's difficult to identify a politician, political party, security force member, media personnel, bureaucrat or citizen who has come forward and admitted to wrong doings. The truth and reconciliation process is not a witch-hunting exercise but a process to understand who made mistakes, who failed us and the way forward.

South Africa did it

Today, I add my voice to the numerous calls for the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission. This process has been used in many countries including South Africa. Truth and reconciliation commissions are sponsored by governments to allow victims, witnesses and offenders to tell their stories without fear of prosecution.

This is a part of restorative justice in contrast to adversarial or retributive justice. Retributive justice seeks to determine guilt or innocence in order to punish. Restorative justice allows for the telling of truth, acknowledgement of wrong and facilitates mourning, forgiveness and healing.

Truth telling is important to:

1. Uncover all relevant facts. We need to know the truth about the involvement of political parties in violence, the creation of garrisons and their associations with dons and gangs. We need to know the truth about some of the violations by the security forces.

2. Acknowledge the wrong and the pain. The pain and trauma suffered individually and as a nation cannot be undone. However, the process will hold accountable those who perpetuated the culture of crime. It will give them an opportunity to accept responsibility for the things that have gone wrong in this country. This is important for healing.

3. Facilitate public mourning. The truth telling will give us that opportunity to tell our stories and to acknowledge our losses and the negative impact the culture of crime on our families and communities. We need the space to grieve our losses and the possibilities stolen from us as a nation.

4. Facilitate forgiveness. Too many communities are locked in constant war because of past atrocities. There is too much acrimony between some followers of the political parties. There is also too much anger directed towards the police. As a nation, we need to come to a place where we can forgive. Forgiveness cannot be granted until those responsible come forward and asked for it through confession and repentance. This will allow for healing and reconciliation.

5. Facilitate healing. Truth telling is important as it facilitates healing on the individual and collective levels. We need to heal as a society.

6. To ensure that we never return to those dark days. We need to reflect on the impact of crime and violence on Jamaica. The truth needs to be told so that we will never return to those dark days. Those who forget the lessons of the past are condemned to repeat them.

Please join me and others in the call for a truth and reconciliation process.

Dr Wendel Abel is a consultant psychiatrist and head, Section of Psychiatry, Dept. Of Community Health and Psychiatry, University of the West Indies, 977-1108; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.

Letters

To leave or not to leave

Dear Dr Abel,

I read your article online and I must say you are on point. The question is how many are willing to stand up and fight honestly. The situation in our country has broken many hearts here in New York. Some have fallen apart while others are hiding because of shame. It hurts when Jamaicans here in the United States swear not to return home and this situation gives them more reason. Take care.

- Kes Graham snr

Dear Dr Abel,

I read your column and agree with it to such an extent that my question to you is: Can't you and other thinkers like you DEMAND these changes? Left to their own devices, the politicians will not implement these measures.

Take the issue of contracts to criminal elements, I can't see how it could be so difficult to demand that these be taken out of the hands of politicians. Couldn't there be a contracts awards committee for example, with oversight, through which all contracts must pass?

I can go on and on, but my point is that people like you who are the leaders of the country could begin something, instead of just making observations in the media. Please don't take this as a criticism, just an observation. By the way, I think the media is a hotbed of corruption and any change can begin there. Best wishes, Dr Abel, and I wish you and your generation success.

- E.R.

Dear Dr Abel,

I congratulate you on your article. I would not add to it. All I can say is, I live here in the USA. It is no bed of roses when one has lived 40 years in 'our' beautiful island. I went there at 17 years of age from the UK. I am sure you will be bombarded with mails on your wonderful article. I know just how you feel.

Please do not give up yet. There is no place to compare with the most beautiful island and some of the most wonderful people in the world.

- Bernadette Jadusingh

Dear Dr Abel,

Just read your piece in The Gleaner. I endorse everything you've said and have been conveying similar concerns and suggestions for the last 20 years!

- UWI alumni, Florida, USA

Dear Dr Abel,

Beautiful article. I don't know you, but I am a sad soul today by reading your article. Please, if I could persuade you, don't leave. Jamaica needs you. As I was walking on the U of T Scarborough campus this morning, I overheard someone talking about your article and I have to say that at that moment it felt as if someone had kicked me in my stomach.

Again, please don't leave. You may be wondering why did I leave, but I left when I was a toddler. But I do give back. I am too sad to continue this letter. Hang in there!

With best wishes,

- J.J.

Send questions and comments to our health specialists at Your Health, c/o The Gleaner, 7 North Street, Kingston; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com. Unless otherwise indicated, letters and the specialists' responses are usually published.