Sept 6, 1999
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Sept 6, 1999 |
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Political crime and confession
Diana McCaulay
ON AUGUST 31, I went to the Jamaica Ex-porters' Association's forum entitled: United Against Crime for Economic Development and Social Justice. For me, it was the second-most hopeful event in Jamaica's recent history, the most hopeful being the April demonstrations.
Each speaker contributed valuable insights to the intractable and complex problem of crime in Jamaica, but it was attorney-at-law Richard Small who elicited a storm of applause, some heckling from a member of the audience, and ultimately brought a large number of people to their feet in support of what he had to say. Speaking without notes, Mr. Small's voice rang with anger and conviction. He said Ambassador Dudley Thompson's apology was the result of pressure brought by the Jamaican people, and, while a significant and welcome beginning, Ambassador Thompson had much more to apologize for. Mr. Small said that all of the main institutions of the country had been involved in the organisation and dispersal of violence, while the people of Jamaica "suppressed their consciences, hoping for crumbs from the (political) table." He said he could reel off a string of atrocities committed by the PNP administration and no-one had ever been found responsible. He pointed out the defence used by the policemen who were charged in the Agana Barrett case was that Barrett was a homosexual and was touching the other men, which is why he was killed by them. He deplored the lack of any response from the JLP over the recent trial and conviction of Eli Tisona, a man with known drug connections, who, under the JLP administration of the 1980s had "had the run of (Jamaica's) southern belt." (Interestingly enough, I have seen far more press prominence given to Mr. Small's remarks on the JLP's failings than the PNP's. In fact, he was exceptionally even-handed in his criticisms.) Mr. Small called for the establishment by statute of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to allow full and genuine confession by those who had used violence, so that those who had suffered at their hands could have a chance to forgive them and obtain some form of closure. And he ended his impassioned speech with roughly these words: "No-one involved in violence should have the words 'Honourable' or 'Right Honourable' appended to their name." A line quickly formed at the microphone for questions from the audience. I noticed there were a large number of men wearing similar suits; they turned out to be members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force. The first one to speak objected to the fact that Commissioner Francis Forbes was seated in the audience, while former Commissioner Trevor Macmillan was at the head table. He called the function "development by invitation" and said it showed contempt for the Police Force. As other police officers spoke, it struck me how deeply the Police Force is still mired in denial. One wanted to know if Mr. Small would support a law to allow Jamaican police officers to fingerprint and photograph anyone arrested, as was done in New York. Mr. Small asked, mildly enough, I thought, whether the police in New York were in the habit of scraping up 50 men at a time. The policeman thought that quite irrelevant. And at the end, very inadvisably, Member of Parliament Sharon Hay-Webster took to the podium. She said she was a politician and it was a label she wore with pride. No-one in the room wanted to hear anything along that line and they said so. Mrs. Hay-Webster retired, unheard. The discussion continues on radio talk shows and at podiums all over the country. Advisor to the Prime Minister Delano Franklyn hopes for silence. Apologists for the Government say we must look forward and not back. The JLP is silent. Talk show host and former JLP Cabinet member Anthony Abrahams says that if he gets immunity from the Director of Public Prosecutions, he will tell all he knows about political criminal activity. And NDM President Bruce Golding says he does not need immunity to talk. We can only hope that, finally, the people of Jamaica will insist in knowing the whole truth about the role of their leaders in constructing, quite consciously, a society, where, in the words of one recent caller to the Breakfast Club, "it is easier to get a gun than a job." (Taken from the Sunday Gleaner) |
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