Allegations of rape during Tivioli incursion resurface

Allegations of rape in Tivoli Gardens during and in the aftermath of the May 2010 operation by the security forces have again resurfaced.

Desmond McKenzie, the Member of Parliament for West alluded to the issue and his reason for not supporting a Commission of Enquiry  when he appeared on TVJ's Smile Jamaica on Wednesday.

The allegations of rape first surfaced during media visits to the Tivoli Gardens community in the months after the incursion. Members of the community did not hold back as they lambasted the then Jamaica Labour Party government and the security forces for disrupting their lives.

The matter was brought to the attention of then Prime Minister Bruce Golding during the incursion who sought the United States government's assistance in getting confirmation on allegations of extra-judicial killings and the rape of women by members of the Jamaica Defence Force.

This was revealed in emails from the US State Department which outlined that Golding contacted then US Embassy chargé d'affaires, Isiah Parnell on May 25, a day after the incursion began.

McKenzie in defending his position not to support a Commission of Enquiry stated that the truth to allegations such a those will not come out through an enquiry.

“We are talking about the lives of innocent people who were taken out of their houses and shot dead,  women who were slaughtered, you know how many babies are in the constituency now because of the actions of the security forces? You think a Commission of Enquiry will talk about that. Do you believe that the Government of Jamaica is going to expose the security forces of the country?

He says the government should remove the security posts in the community and provide monetary compensation for the victims of the incursion.

McKenzie is also insisting that the JLP has nothing to hide in not supporting a Commission of Enquiry.

“Why should it be a reason? The Member of Parliament was the Prime Minister at the time, what is there to hide? I have never denied that there are criminal elements in West Kingston, I would never deny that men didn’t take on the security forces, I’d be lying if I said that” McKenzie stated.