The State is collapsing

Stephen Vasciannie

SOME OF the most striking features of last weekend's horrors in Jamaica concern the collapse of the State. Of course, this is not to say that the State has yet collapsed in its entirety: our courts still function, primary schools still produce GSAT scholars, the occasional road is repaired, and, inexorably, the tax man cometh. But, even with that caveat, it is clear: aspects of the Jamaican State are falling apart, and the Government is quite clueless as to how to end this steady deterioration. Is this an exaggeration?

Consider reality: over 25 people are slaughtered in three days, in a country which still accepts the principle that the police are appointed to protect and serve the people. And, from early indications at least some of the people killed - if not most - lost their lives at the hands of the security forces: what service! what protection! More than that, although the circumstances of the weekend slaughter are not entirely clear, there are strong indications that the security forces are at fault in some respects.

In the first place, thanks to TVJ, there is evidence that some members of the Crime Management Unit believe that indiscriminate firing of high-powered weaponry, without any targeting whatsoever, is a part of their management function. Never mind that people may be on the streets of West Kingston: if it lives, it may be killed, precisely the philosophy one would expect to find in a collapsing State.

Secondly, it is curious that the security forces took no steps to clear the roads of West Kingston, or to facilitate clearing, from Friday to Sunday. It cannot be that gunfire prevailed for 48 hours, and that, therefore, dead bodies had to remain open to the decomposing forces of nature, just so. Rather, the explanation that comes strongly to mind is that the decision to leave the dead bodies in situ was part of the process of dehumanisation. In a collapsing State, you may not only kill indiscriminately, you also leave dead bodies exposed to grind the victims and their loved ones into the ground; for, they are enemies worthy of no respect.

The results of this attempt at dehumanisation are horrendous. One of the victims of last weekend's massacre was a 39-year-old man, said to be of unsound mind. When he was finally taken from the streets, his face was beyond recognition. According to his sister, who spoke firmly on Nationwide, maggots had overtaken the man's body, and there were, it seems, only two points for recognition to the untrained eye, namely, (a) his clothes, and (b) the fact that he had a tall, middle toe. Life ends brutally, and pathetically, for those who live in the war zone in a collapsing State.

More generally, last weekend's events have rapidly been summarised into two divergent versions. In one, the police went to West Kingston, acting upon intelligence, and found themselves pinned down by gunfire from organized, highly armed gunmen and firebombers. In this version, the resulting violence was necessary, and the police used only such force as was reasonable in the circumstances. In the alternative version, the security forces have acted as villains brutalising the people of West Kingston. This version posits that Senior Superintendent Adams is a 'hit man', and that he was acting with partisan political intent; the objective of the mission was really to attack Tivoli Gardens, and by extension, Mr. Seaga, who needs to be portrayed by PNP forces as a 'warmonger'.

Notice, however, that either version of the events highlights the collapsing nature of the State. The first version, advanced by the police, is based on the clear assumption that the firepower in West Kingston can withstand the country's most highly touted security squad. Moreover, it is also based on the assumption that, after tying down this squad, the gunmen and firebombers have simply been able to vanish into thin air. Such events cannot happen unless the State has failed to develop its security potential to match the might of the putative forces of evil. And, therefore, assuming, for argument's sake, that the police version is correct, a representative of the State will need to remind us how and why our political process has decomposed to the point where armed gunmen, in a garrison constituency, can prevail with such impunity.

The second version concerning the weekend's violence highlights the collapse of the State even more graphically. The Government wishes to retain power, by any means necessary, and, in keeping with a strategy which apparently worked in 1997 when Tivoli was subjected to a one-sided attack, the police have again decided to turn its bullets upon that community. If this is true, the State will stand condemned as having been hijacked by a gathering of criminals in high places. It would mean that desperate men are prepared to do anything to retain power.

From the armchair, it is quite difficult to reach conclusions on the divergent versions. However, two points may be helpful in this regard. One is that the signs of the gathering storm were there for those who would see. Step by step the fighting in South St. Andrew and West Kingston was moving to Tivoli Gardens, following the demise of Willie Haggart. Given the animosity which is known to exist between the rival political constituencies, a rivalry now increased by the Rema factor, the police should have set themselves more firmly as a buffer between the zones. Instead, they sought to raid Tivoli Gardens at just about the time when people expected something to be done to undermine Seaga's chances in the general election.

A position paper

This raises serious questions of police impartiality, notwithstanding protestations to the contrary. The second point concerns the electronic media. Ever since 1997, when the one-sided attack on Tivoli left the Commissioner searching in vain for tunnels, CVM's coverage of matters concerning West Kingston and the Police is fair game for scepticism. Now, TVJ has captured indiscriminate police shooting on camera, but CVM missed that particular sequence.

Also, certain CVM reports simply repeat police statements on controversial aspects of the weekend, or embrace police perspectives on divisive issues without critical analysis. Perhaps one day CVM might issue a position paper concerning its attitude to reporting from West Kingston, with an addendum on its perspective on coverage concerning Senior Superintendent Adams. It is one thing for the State to collapse around us. It is quite another for the private media to contribute to this process: I sincerely hope that this is not happening.

Stephen Vasciannie, an attorney-at-law, teaches at the University of the West Indies.

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