Please note: This will be live-streamed on Monday lunchtime in Jamaica. Why don’t you listen in?
19 October 2017
On Monday 23 October, Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) and Amnesty International will attend a hearing at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in Montevideo, Uruguay, to raise concerns about ongoing allegations of unlawful killings by the police in Jamaica, the situation of pre-trial detention, and the impunity that families of victims face.
Since 2000, law enforcement officials in Jamaica have allegedly killed more than 3,000 people; mostly young men living in marginalized communities. Between January and September 2017, police killings had increased by 44%, compared with the same period in 2016, according to the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM).
The organisations will be joined by Mercia Frazer, mother of Mario Deane, who died after a severe beating in police custody in 2013, as a representative of families whose relatives have been killed by the police.
The hearing will be livestreamed at 01:45 PM (Jamaica Time) in www.oas.org/en/iachr
Additional Information:
In November of 2016, Amnesty International released the report, Waiting in Vain: Unlawful Police Killings and Relatives’ Long Struggle for Justice. The report details the catalogue of illegal tactics used by police across Jamaica to ensure relatives of victims of unlawful killings by the police do not pursue justice, truth and reparation for their loved ones.
For more information or to request an interview, please contact:
Rodje Malcolm in Jamaica / +876 329 03 20 / malcolm@jamaicansforjustice.org
Sergio Ortiz in Mexico / +52 1 55 41 94 78 86 / sergio.ortiz@amnesty.org
Petchary's Blog 
With the exception of Mario Deane who died under suspicious circumstances, I would very much like to hear what these organizations think about the everyday-people/victims of the criminal elements? It seem that the anarchists and criminals have more rights than decent citizens.
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These organisations advocate for human rights for ALL, which is at the core of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Every human being (“decent” or not) has rights, whether you think they deserve them or not. Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status. We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination. These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible. The distinction here is that agents of the State have a special responsibility to uphold those rights, including the right to life. International human rights law aims primarily to protect individuals and groups from abusive action by states and state agents.
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