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Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Jamaica INTER‐AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS OEA/Ser.L/V/II.144 Doc. 12 10 August 2012 Original: English REPORT ON THE SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN JAMAICA 2012 Internet: http://www.cidh.org OAS Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data Inter‐American Commission on Human Rights. Report on the situation of human rights in Jamaica = Informe sobre la situación de los derechos humanos en Jamaica. v. ; cm. (OEA documentos oficiales ; OEA/Ser.L) ISBN 978‐0‐8270‐5887‐3 Human rights‐‐Jamaica. 2. Civil rights‐‐Jamaica. I. Title. II. Title: Informe sobre la situación de los derechos humanos en Jamaica. III. Series. OAS official records ; OEA/Ser.L. OEA/Ser.L/V/II.144 Doc.12 Approved by the Inter‐American Commission on Human Rights on August 10, 2012 INTER‐AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS MEMBERS José de Jesús Orozco Henríquez Tracy Robinson Felipe González Dinah Shelton Rodrigo Escobar Gil Rosa María Ortiz Rose‐Marie Belle Antoine ****** Assistant Executive Secretary: Elizabeth Abi‐Mershed REPORT ON THE SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN JAMAICA TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................1 A. Scope and legal framework of the report....................................................1 B. The IACHR visit .............................................................................................2 C. Draft report and response by the Jamaican State .......................................4 CHAPTER II CITIZEN SECURITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS .............................................................5 A. Introduction .................................................................................................5 B. Situation of violence and insecurity in Jamaica ...........................................6 C. Killings at the hands of the security forces ................................................10 1. Violence and killings in May 2010................................................10 2. The evolution of the problem of killings by police ......................15 CHAPTER III ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE...........................................................................27 A. Introduction ...............................................................................................27 B. Access to justice.........................................................................................32 C. Police impunity ..........................................................................................36 D. Police investigations...................................................................................37 E. Forensic examinations ...............................................................................41 F. Director of public prosecutions..................................................................45 G. The coroner’s court....................................................................................47 H. Intimidation of witnesses...........................................................................49 iI The formation of an independent Commission .........................................52 CHAPTER IV CONDITIONS IN PRISON AND PENITENTIARIES AND THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS DEPRIVED OF LIBERTY ......................................................................................57 A. Arrest and detention practices ..................................................................57 B. Detention and prison conditions ...............................................................62 C. Conditions of detention in death row........................................................66 CHAPTER V RIGHTS OF WOMEN............................................................................................71 A. Discrimination............................................................................................71 B. Violence .....................................................................................................74 v Page CHAPTER VI RIGHTS OF CHILDREN ........................................................................................83 A. Legal and policy framework .......................................................................84 B. Effects of violence against children............................................................85 C. Children held in state custody ...................................................................86 CHAPTER VII DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND GENDER IDENTITY.................................................................................................................................95 A. Position of the jamaican state ...................................................................96 B. Jamaican law..............................................................................................97 C. A closed circuit of police and community violence....................................98 D. Access to justice.......................................................................................100 E. Non‐response of the state to discrimination within the community ......101 F The heterogeneity of discrimination........................................................102 G. Discrimination and HIV/AIDS in Jamaica..................................................103 CHAPTER VIII RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES......................................................111 CHAPTER IX THE RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF THOUGHT AND EXPRESSION ............................117 A. Defamation laws ......................................................................................118 B. Access to information ..............................................................................127 vi REPORT ON THE SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN JAMAICA1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Scope and legal framework of the report 1. Over the last three years, the Inter‐American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter “IACHR” or “the Inter‐American Commission”) has paid special attention to the situation of human rights in Jamaica through its different mechanisms including individual petitions and cases, requests for precautionary measures, and monitoring on the basis of reports from diverse sources. At the invitation of the government of Jamaica, the IACHR conducted an on site visit to that country from December 1 to 5, 2008 to observe its human rights situation. It subsequently held public hearings at its headquarters and reviewed reports from a variety of sources, including international human rights bodies and non‐governmental organizations, in order to follow up and update the information received during that visit. 2. The IACHR is the principal organ of the Organization of American States (OAS) responsible for promoting the observance and protection of human rights in the Hemisphere. The seven members of the Inter‐American Commission are elected in their personal capacity by the OAS General Assembly for a four‐year term. The IACHR’s competence derives, inter alia, from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights, treaties ratified by Jamaica. 3. The Inter‐American Commission, in the exercise of its primary function of promoting the observance and defense of human rights in the American States, and the powers granted by Article 41 of the American Convention on Human Rights, publishes this report containing its considerations and recommendations based on observations during the visit to Jamaica, and the information provided by government authorities and representatives of civil society before, during and after the visit. 4. During its visit and subsequent hearings on Jamaica, the IACHR has paid special attention to the situation of human rights and citizen security, the conduct of the country’s security forces, the administration of justice and prison conditions, as well as the situation of women, children, persons with disabilities, persons living with HIV/AIDS, persons deprived of liberty, and persons suffering discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation. 5. The IACHR has been observing an alarming level of violence in Jamaica that has affected all sectors of society for many years. The persistence of this widespread violence has had severely negative consequences for the human rights of the Jamaican 1 In accordance with the provisions of Article 17.2 of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission, Commissioner Tracy Robinson, of Jamaican nationality, did not participate in the debate or decision of the present report. 2 people. The Inter‐American Commission concludes that although the government has undertaken certain constructive efforts to address the problem, these remain insufficient. They are hampered by inadequate resources, a failure to sufficiently address the severe shortcomings of the security forces and the judicial process, and the lack of integral, effective policies to ameliorate the social conditions that generate the violence. 6. The profound social and economic marginalization of large sectors of the Jamaican population results in the poorest and most excluded sectors of the population being disproportionately victimized by the overall situation of insecurity. In the same way, the deep inequalities pervading Jamaican society are exacerbated by the State’s inadequate measures to protect and guarantee the human rights of women, children and other vulnerable groups. In particular, the IACHR finds the violent persecution and fear to which gays and lesbians are subject in Jamaica to be deplorable. 7. In this report, the IACHR will first present its concerns as to the
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