Wayzata World Factbook 1996/The World Factbook - 1996 Edition - Wayzata Technology (3079) (1996).iso/pc/text/humanrts/jamaica.txt

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TITLE:  JAMAICA HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE:  FEBRUARY 1995

                            JAMAICA


Jamaica is a constitutional parliamentary democracy and a
member of the Commonwealth of Nations.  An appointed Governor
General represents the Queen as Head of State.  The elected
Prime Minister is the Head of Government.  An elected lower
house and an appointed upper house comprise Parliament.  Two
political parties have alternated in power since the first
elections under universal adult suffrage in 1944.  The last
general election, held in March 1993, was marred by political
violence and fraud.

The security forces consist of the Jamaica Constabulary Force
(JCF--police), the Island Special Constabulary Force
(ISCF--auxiliary police), and the Jamaica Defence Force
(JDF--army, air wing, and coast guard).  The JCF continued to
be responsible for serious human rights abuses and political
partisanship.  The JDF has been responsible for some abuses,
albeit fewer than the JCF.

The economy is based on primary products (bauxite and alumina,
sugar, bananas), services (tourism, finance), and light
manufacturing (garment assembly).  The Government has promoted
private investment to stimulate economic growth and
modernization, pursuing in the process a sometimes painful
program of structural adjustment.  As a result of concentrating
economic policy on maintaining a stable rate of exchange with
the U.S. dollar, interest rates were high and economic growth
suffered.

Among Jamaica's principal human rights abuses, there are
allegations that police and prison guards commit summary
executions and other extrajudicial killings and beatings, often
with impunity.  Other abuses included violence against women,
including attacks by police; warrantless searches; indefinite
detention; brutality against detainees; and vigilantism.
Conditions in Jamaican jails and prisons remain poor, with
serious overcrowding, awful sanitary conditions, and inadequate
diet the norm.  An inefficient and overburdened judiciary was
responsible for lengthy delays in trials, sentencing, and
appeals.

RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 1  Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
           Freedom from:

     a.  Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing

There continued to be credible reports that the JCF engaged in
the summary execution of suspects under the guise of
"shootouts."  Local media accounts disputing JCF claims of
shootouts continued to appear in 1994, albeit with less
frequency than in previous years.  JCF statistics have shown a
continuous pattern in recent years wherein persons shot and
killed by the JCF outnumbered those shot but only wounded.

The authorities charged a JCF officer with capital murder in
the July 1993 killings of Alfredo Bell and Leroy Chin at Nuttal
private hospital, but he has yet to be tried.  Authorities also
brought charges against a JDF lieutenant and a corporal for
killing a policeman guarding a candidate for Parliament in
1993.  The lieutenant has since died of natural causes.  The
trial of the corporal was postponed until 1995.  The JCF Office
of Internal Affairs continues to take disciplinary action
against other abusive officers.

The Jamaica Council for Human Rights (JCHR) received fewer
complaints about police abuses in 1994 than in 1993.  However,
police officers continued to enjoy apparent impunity for
extrajudicial killings.  For example, the courts freed in 1994
five police officers charged with the October 1992 deaths of
three men in Constant Spring jail when the judge found them not
guilty of manslaughter.  (The deaths were the result of
confining 19 men--arrested in a police sweep but never charged--
in a nearly airless cell for 2 days.)  The Supreme Court
subsequently awarded damages to 1 of the 16 survivors in a
lawsuit which the Attorney General did not contest.  The other
15 also have lawsuits pending.

Vigilantism, involving spontaneous mob executions, occurred
with some frequency in 1994.  In rural areas, the response to
crimes such as animal theft was often the rapid formation of a
local mob which beat, stoned, or "chopped" to death (with
machetes) the alleged criminals.  Police rarely brought charges
against vigilantes, and acquittals have been common in the few
cases that do go to court.

     b.  Disappearance

There were no reports of politically related abduction or
disappearances perpetrated by the security forces or others.

     c.  Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
         Treatment or Punishment

The law prohibits torture and other abuse of prisoners and
detainees.  Nonetheless, detainees and prisoners made numerous
credible complaints that guards and security personnel beat
them in local jails and prisons to obtain confessions.  The
JCHR continued to document cases where prison personnel beat
inmates in order to obtain confessions.

The Police Public Complaints Authority (PPCA), a nonpartisan
civilian body which began operation in 1993, received hundreds
of complaints in its first year of operation.  Most complaints
charged excessive use of force or abuse of authority by
police.  At year's end, however, the authorities had not
brought any charges against JCF personnel for matters arising
from complaints to the PPCA.

In the case of a police instructor who allegedly raped a young
female recruit in 1993, the woman subsequently refused to
testify against him.  The judge directed a verdict of not
guilty but recommended that the instructor resign from the JCF.

Conditions in maximum security prisons and police jails
remained abysmal.  Sanitary conditions were dangerously
inadequate, food insufficent, and overcrowding the rule.
Prisoners often have to resort to buying their own food or
medicine, or having relatives bring it to them.  At the general
penitentiary in Kingston, authorities imprison up to six men in
the 7- by 10-foot cells in the remand section, in near-total
darkness, for 16 to 20 hours a day.  The Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights found that while some of Jamaica's
prisons appear to meet international standards, others do not.
A Human Rights Watch/Americas report was highly critical of the
treatment of children in the prison system.

At his discretion, a judge may impose both whipping (with a
tamarind switch) and flogging (with a cat o'nine tails) as
punishment in criminal cases.  A judge sentenced a Kingston man
who paralyzed a woman with an ice pick to be whipped and
jailed.  This aroused considerable public debate on corporal
punishment.  Following the first flogging sentence, other
judges sentenced several more criminals to be flogged.

     d.  Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile

Parliament repealed the Suppression of Crimes Act (SOCA) of
1974, which permitted warrantless searches and the arrest of
persons "reasonably suspected" of having committed a crime.
The Jamaica Constabulary Force Act, however, now contains
several of these provisions.

The authorities regularly detained suspects without a warrant,
particularly in poor neighborhoods.  The law requires a court
appearance within 48 hours of detention, but the authorities
often held detainees for several weeks without bringing them
before a judge or magistrate.  However, the JCHR tallied fewer
complaints of illegal detention in 1994 than in previous
years.  There is a functioning bail system for Jamaicans;
foreign detainees, however, are regularly denied bail.

The Constitution provides immunity from expulsion from the
country, or exile.

     e.  Denial of Fair Public Trial

There is a well-established right to counsel for persons
charged with criminal offenses; indigents, however, must have
been accused of a "serious offense" (e.g., murder, rape,
robbery, gun offenses) to qualify for court-appointed counsel.
However, the law does not consider many offenses, including
wounding with intent to cause great bodily harm, as "serious,"
and courts thus convict many defendants without benefit of
counsel.

The judicial system, although independent, is overburdened and
operates with inadequate resources.  Budgetary shortfalls have
resulted in a steady attrition of trained personnel, causing
further delays.  Many cases take years to come to trial, and
others were dismissed because case files could not be located.

The court of appeal and the Parliament may refer cases to the
judicial committee of the Privy Council in the United Kingdom.
In September Prime Minister Patterson called for abolition of
appeals to the Privy Council and creation of a Caribbean Court
of Appeals.  Opposition leader Seaga and some human rights
organizations immediately opposed this proposal.

There were no political prisoners.

     f.  Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
         Correspondence

The Constitution prohibits arbitrary intrusion by the State
into the private life of the individual.  The revised Jamaica
Constabulary Force Act, however, continues to give security
personnel the sort of broad powers of search and seizure which
were consistently abused under the Suppression of Crimes Act.
Although the use of telephone taps without a court order is
officially limited to cases involving the drug trade,
terrorism, and subversion of the Government, politicians, trade
union officials, and local journalists have charged that the
authorities were tapping their telephones in recent years.  The
accused authorities did not respond to these charges.

Section 2  Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

     a.  Freedom of Speech and Press

The Constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, and
the Government respects these rights in practice, within the
broad limits of libel laws and the Official Secrets Act.

The Jamaica Broadcasting Company, largely deregulated in 1988,
operates two radio stations and one of the island's two
television stations.  The Government's broadcasting commission
has the right to regulate programming during emergencies.
Foreign television transmissions are unregulated and available
to tens of thousands of Jamaicans through satellite antennas.
The four largest newspapers, all privately owned, regularly
report on human rights abuses, particularly those involving the
JCF.  Foreign publications are widely available.

There were no reports of censorship or interference in academic
institutions.

     b.  Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association

The Constitution provides for freedom of assembly and
association.  The police routinely grant without favoritism the
permits required for political parties to stage public
rallies.  Large numbers and varieties of professional,
business, service, social, and cultural associations function
freely.

     c.  Freedom of Religion

Freedom of religion is well established in law and practice.

     d.  Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
         Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation

The Constitution provides Jamaican citizens freedom of movement
and the authorities respect these provisions.

The authorities adjudicate applications for refugee status on a
case-by-case basis.  In coordination with the local office of
the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Government
has processed more than 80 Haitian boat people.  The Government
was considering applications from approximately 60 Cuban asylum
seekers, also in coordination with the UNHCR.  The Government
had not made a decision on the refugee status of either the
Haitians or the Cubans at year's end.

Section 3  Respect for Political Rights:  The Right of Citizens
           to Change Their Government

Jamaicans have, and freely exercise, the right to change their
government.  All citizens aged 18 and over have the right to
vote by secret ballot.  Two political parties have alternated
in power since the first elections under universal adult
suffrage in 1944.  The People's National Party (PNP) holds 52
of the 60 seats in the House of Representatives.  The
opposition Jamaica Labor Party (JLP), last in power from 1980
to 1989, holds the remaining 8 seats.  The JLP boycotted both
by-elections in 1994, charging that needed electoral reform was
not in place.  Two small-party candidates contested the April
election which the PNP candidate won overwhelmingly.   One
small-party candidate contested the August election, which was
marked by very low voter turnout, and the PNP candidate again
won.  The newly appointed head of the electoral office
dismissed allegations of fraud in the August election as
unfounded.

There are no legal limits on the participation of women in
politics; in practice, women constitute a small minority of
national parliamentarians and an only slightly higher
proportion of local representatives.  In May Senator Maxine
Henry-Wilson became the first woman in either party to hold the
post of general secretary when she was elected to the post by
the leadership of the ruling PNP.  The Minister of Labor and
Welfare is a woman, as is the mayor of Kingston.

Section 4  Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
           Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
           of Human Rights

There are no restrictions on human rights organizations.  The
JCHR, the country's only formal human rights organization, has
vigorously protested abuses by the police.  Its work has been
hampered, however, by a lack of adequate resources.  There was
no official followup on the August 1992 break-in and fire at
the JCHR headquarters, which left the organization in a
perilous financial position.

The Government of Jamaica has not attempted to hinder
investigations by foreign and international human rights groups
into alleged violations of human rights.  The Human Rights
Watch Children's Rights Project noted in a report on children
in police lockups that the Commissioner of Correctional
Services and the Commissioner of Police were "especially
cooperative" during the investigation.

Section 5  Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
           Disability, Language, or Social Status

The Constitution prohibits discrimination on grounds of race,
place of origin, political opinion, color, or creed.

     Women

The Constitution and the 1975 Employment Act theoretically
accord women full equality.  In practice, however, they suffer
from economic discrimination, sexual harassment in the
workplace, and cultural and social traditions that promote
violence against women.  According to statistics from the
police sexual offenses unit, there has been an increase in
reported cases of rape and other sexual assaults from 1,308 in
1992 to 1,520 in 1993, and reported rapes for the first
3 months of 1994 were 19 percent above the figures for the same
period in 1993.  Women remain reluctant to press charges
against their partners in cases of domestic violence when jail
sentences are mandatory.  The Government, which promised
legislation to introduce noncustodial sentencing, had not done
so by the end of 1994.

     Children

The Juvenile Act of 1951 covers a number of aspects related to
the protection of children, including prevention of cruelty,
prohibition on causing or allowing juvenile begging, the power
to bring juveniles in need of care or protection before a
juvenile court, the treatment of juvenile offenders, the
regulation and supervision of children's homes, and
restrictions on employment of juveniles.  However, the Human
Rights Watch report contends that the Government has not
committed an adequate level of resources to enforce the Act.

     People with Disabilities

There are no laws mandating accessibility for people with
disabilities.  Several government agencies and nongovernmental
organizations provide services and employment to various groups
of disabled Jamaicans.

Section 6  Worker Rights

     a.  The Right of Association

The law provides for the right to form or join a trade union,
and unions function freely and independently of the
Government.  The Labor Relations and Industrial Disputes Act
(LRIDA) defines worker rights.  There is a spectrum of national
unions, some of which are affiliated with political parties.
Approximately 15 percent of the work force is organized.

The LRIDA neither authorizes nor prohibits the right to strike,
but strikes do occur.  Striking workers can interrupt work
without criminal liability but cannot be assured of keeping
their jobs.  Workers in 10 broad categories of "essential
services" are prohibited from striking, a provision the
International Labor Organization (ILO) has repeatedly condemned
as overly inclusive.  No strikes were declared illegal in 1994.

Jamaican unions maintain a wide variety of regional and
international affiliations.

     b.  The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

The Government rarely interferes with union organizing
efforts.  Judicial and police authorities effectively enforce
the LRIDA and other labor regulations.  All parties in Jamaica
are firmly committed to collective bargaining in contract
negotiations, even in some nonunion settings.  An independent
Industrial Disputes Tribunal (IDT) hears cases where management
and labor fail to reach agreement.  Any cases not resolved by
the IDT pass to the civil courts.  In 1994, however, the IDT
was not able to resolve the large number of disputes before
it.  The LRIDA prohibits antiunion discrimination:  for
example, employees may not be fired solely for union
membership.  The authorities enforced this law effectively.

Domestic labor laws apply equally to the "free zones" (export
processing zones).  However, there are no unionized companies
in any of the three zones, established in 1972, 1985, and 1988,
which employ approximately 18,000 workers.  Organizers
attribute this to resistance by foreign owners in the zones to
organizing efforts.  Attempts to organize plants within the
zones continue.  Company-controlled "workers' councils" handle
grievance resolution at most free zone companies, but do not
negotiate wages and conditions with management.  Management
determines wages and benefits within the free zones; they are
generally as good as or better than those in similar industries
outside the zones.  The Ministry of Labor has not performed
factory inspections in the free zones since 1992.

     c.  Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

The Constitution does not specifically address the matter of
forced or compulsory labor.  However, Jamaica is a party to
both ILO conventions that prohibit compulsory labor, and there
were no reports that this practice exists.

     d.  Minimum Age for Employment of Children

The Juvenile Act provides that children under the age of 12
shall not be employed except by parents or guardians, and that
such employment may only be in domestic, agricultural, or
horticultural work.  However, enforcement is erratic.  Children
under 12 can be seen peddling goods or services on city
streets, but there is no evidence of widespread illegal
employment of children in other sectors of the economy.  The
Educational Act stipulates that all children aged 6 to 11 must
attend elementary school.  Industrial safety, police, and
truant officers are charged with enforcement.  Under current
economic circumstances, however, thousands of children are kept
home to help with housework and avoid school fees.

     e.  Acceptable Conditions of Work

The minimum wage, raised from $9.00 (J$ 300) to $15.00 (J$ 500)
per week in 1994, is widely considered inadequate.  Most
salaried workers are paid more than the legal minimum.  Work
over 40 hours per week or 8 hours per day must be compensated
at overtime rates, a provision that is widely observed.

The Labor Ministry's Industrial Safety Division is charged with
setting and enforcing industrial health and safely standards,
which are considered adequate.  Industrial accident rates,
particularly in the bauxite/alumina industry, were once again
low in 1994.  Public service staff reductions in the Ministries
of Labor, Finance, National Security, and the Public Service
have contributed to the difficulties in enforcing workplace
regulations.  The law provides workers the right to remove
themselves from dangerous work situations without jeopardy to
their continued employment if they are trade union members or
covered by the Factories Act.  The law does not specifically
protect other categories of workers in those circumstances.