Senator Mark Golding
Senator Mark Golding, Jamaica's Minister of Justice, has agreed that Rastafarians in Jamaica deserve an official apology from the government about the treatment they received in the 1963 Coral Gardens incident.
The excesses of the state response, which took place during the controversial incident, which have been blamed on the security forces, have long been known, but there has never been an official State apology.
Last week, Government Senator, Lambert Brown, called for such an apology while making his contribution to the debate on a Bill that will legitimise the operations of the Church of Haile Selassie I.
Senator Golding agrees that this is an appropriate time for such a matter to be addressed by the government.
“I believe the time has come for this to happen. The Prime Minister, if my recollection is correct, has established a committee to look at this issue. It occurred in 1963; it was, by all accounts, a disproportionate and inhumane response…I think that something needs to be done to right that wrong…beginning with an apology,” said Senator Golding. He was speaking on RJR’s Beyond The Headlines on Monday.
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