Daily police abuse: Human rights watchdog gets one complaint per day
May 27, 2007
At least one citizen per day reports being abused by members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, according to the Independent Jamaican Council for Human Rights (IJCHR).
"Everyday, someone comes with a case of police brutality and most of them are credible," Nancy Anderson, secretary of the council, told The Sunday Gleaner yesterday.
Currently, the IJCHR is handling 34 cases of assault by the police, according to a report issued yester-day at the council's sixth annual general meeting held at the Norman Manley Law School in Mona, St. Andrew.
In addition to cases of assault, the council is also dealing with cases of killings by the police; property damage by members of the force; and, malicious prosecution or false imprisonment.
All classes abused
IJCHR member Dennis Daly said complaints of police brutality over the past few years have also come from persons in the middle and upper classes, though the poorer strata remain the highest-affected group.
"It appears to me that the police have resorted to murderin solving crime," said Daly, an attorney-at-law.
This Wednesday, the National Action Coalition, an activist organisation that speaks out against police brutality and other forms of injustices - the brainchild of Dr. Jephthah Ford - will be launched.
Ford was badly beaten by several members of a police party on April 9.
The well-known medical prac-titioner, politician and businessman, has not been able to practise since the incident, having suffered severe injuries to various parts of his body....
Author: Shelly-Ann Thompson
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
