JFJ Executive Director Mickel Jackson
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Mickel Jackson and St. Ann businessman Alrick Denton
By Warren Bertram/Kimone Witter
Human rights group Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) has expressed disappointment with the government's decision to declare another round of states of public emergency.
The emergency measure covers St. Ann, Clarendon, St. Catherine, sections of Kingston & St. Andrew and the western parishes of St. James, Hanover and Westmoreland.
JFJ Executive Director Mickel Jackson said the group maintains its position that the imposition of SOEs is not effective in tackling the country's rising crime rate.
She added that while the SOE might reduce the instances of crime in the parish in which it is imposed, it causes migration of criminals to adjoining areas where the security measure is not in effect.
Calling this phenomenon the "hopscotch approach", Ms Jackson questioned the efficacy of the SOE, insisting there is nothing to suggest that it is working.
SOEs unconstitutional
The JFJ executive director has also sought to challenge statements made by Prime Minister Andrew Holness regarding the constitutionality of States of Public Emergency.
Ms. Jackson said she noted the Prime Minister's comments about the court's decision regarding Roshaine Clarke, who was awarded compensation after the court determined as unconstitutional the emergency regulations under which he was detained during a state of emergency in St. James in 2018.
But she said it was interesting that Mr. Holness did not reference the case of Everton Douglas.
In the case of Douglas, the presiding judge deemed that his detention, along with that of four others, was unlawful and unconstitutional.
According to Ms Jackson, the judge ruled that "the mere declaration of an SOE from the Governor General is not enough", noting that despite the alarming crime rate, "it still does not meet the constitutional threshold of SOEs being utilised in the way that it has been".
Perturbed
A businessman in St. Ann has said he is perturbed by the declaration of a state of emergency in the parish.
Alrick Denton, who operates a shop in Brown's Town, said crime in St. Ann is not at the level that warrants the emergency measure.
After two years of lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he argued that businesses were "trying to recuperate" in the Christmas season, but now the SOE will make them worse off.
Mr. Denton said there was a recent meeting with police in the parish where issues to do with crime and traffic management were "ironed out", so he does not understand the logic behind the imposition of the measure.
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