Jamaica, The State Of Emergency

I am not a liberal person when it comes crime and criminals. I have no love for criminals and when a person is guilty without a shadow of a doubt I want them to suffer, if we cannot rehabilitate them. When it comes to criminals I have a Punisher like revenge mentality. I sometimes talk about taking them to the back of the fowl shed and end them. I believe the laws of the land and people around me must be respected.

As much as I hate criminals, I hate the idea of innocent, law abiding people being treated like criminals. I cannot think of anything worse that having a respect for one’s self, respect for people around you, respect for society and a respect for the law of the land. To study hard, work hard and then for no reason at all, end up being treated like a damn criminal, being punish for a crime you did not commit. I would not want that happen to me.

Therefore, I get so upset when a person tells me that black people are treated differently under the law because some other black people commit crimes. Black people are not the Borgs collective with hive minds. We have as much control over other black people as white people have over other white people, which is none. We are only responsible for how we conduct ourselves and for the well-being of our underage offspring.

Under this Perpetual State of Emergency, in St. James, in a couple months the Government detained 4000 Jamaican citizens and only charged 150 of them. Which meant, 3850 innocents, law abiding Jamaicans going about their business was detained and treated like criminals and all I can do is put myself in the place of those 3850 people and wonder what that must be like. The low rate of charges by the justice system and the security forces tells me that the Government and the security forces have no idea what they are doing and playing “eenie meenie minie moe” with the lives of innocents, law abiding Jamaicans. I could, understand if the rate of charges was above 50% but 3.75% is state harassment.

On top of all that, the report came out detailing the disgusting, poor conditions under which the people who were detained are being held. Justice Minister Delroy Chuck has sought to offer an apology to people detained under the state of public emergency (SOE) in lock-ups described as deplorable by Public Defender Arlene Harrison Henry. If the people were know criminals I would not mind at all but the idea of innocent people treated this way, does not sit well with me.

The Tivoli invasion was a different matter because that breakaway republic challenged the nation state of Jamaica and we could not let that go unchallenged.

The only thing the State of Emergency gave the security forces was the ability to detain people without charge. The people detained had their constitutional rights and civil liberties suspended while the police investigate them. I would have preferred the parameters of the State of Emergency adjusted to make it more accurate and effective rather than suspending it. However, 99% of the things the police were doing under the State of Emergency can be done without the State of Emergency plus the extra under the Zone of Special Operation legislation(ZOSO).

The Opposition, declared they took a stand based on principles and to uphold the Constitution. They declared that they know it was a political risk and they are prepared to pay for it at the polls if that is the wishes of the Jamaican people. The Jamaica people do not care for or respect principles, so I expect the opposition will pay for the position they have taken. However, the Government threatening to withdraw the security forces because the opposition did not vote for extension of the State of Emergency would be vindictive. Done to spite the opposition and leave the people at the mercy of the criminals, to make the situation worse so the people can blame the opposition and score political points. If this is true, then that is a disgusting act because regardless of the political situation the Government is in, they are duty bound to protect the people of Jamaica, not use them as pawns.

I would have rather the Opposition engage the Government to FIX aspects of State of Emergency, to adjust it to better serve the people, instead of just NOT voting for it. I could understand if you tried to fix it, in the national interest first.

One cannot deny that the increase police presence on our street is having a positive effect on the crime rate but does the end justify the means and to what end. Should we lose our humanity. When people are scared, living in fear they tend to go to the extreme to eliminate what they are fearful of. We want to be tough on crime and criminals but we should also protect the law abiding and innocent citizens.