JFJ wants crime unit off streets - Until all investigations into its actions are completed

Gomes

THE HUMAN rights watchdog group, Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ), has called for the disbandment of the controversial Crime Management Unit (CMU), whose actions it says cut against any attempt to bring peace and unity to Jamaica.

Carolyn Gomes, chairperson of JFJ, yesterday restated her organisation's objection to the unit, which has been enmeshed in a web of controversy, following a number of high-profile killings in which it has been involved.

The latest such killings took place on Wednesday in Arnett Gardens. According to Constabulary Communication Network (CCN), the information arm of the police force, two unidentified men were killed by members of the CMU, after they engaged the unit in a shootout. The CCN added that a 9 mm Smith and Wesson pistol was taken from one of the men.

However, residents in the area who have disputed the police reports, on Wednesday staged a protest, claiming that the men were killed execution-style.

"We want the unit off the streets. We don't think there is any place for that," Dr. Gomes told The Gleaner. She said since its formation, the unit had left a trail of dead bodies in the wake of its operations.

Barring taking the unit off the streets, the least the au-thorities could do is ensure that proper international procedures are followed when members of the unit are involved in controversial shootings, she said.

In a press release yesterday, JFJ called on Minister of National Security and Justice K.D. Knight and Police Commissioner Francis Forbes to ensure that the unit is taken off frontline duties until all investigations into its actions have been completed.

"The authorities have an obligation to protect the rights of citizens," the JFJ statement said. "It is also an obligation of the authorities to ensure that national and international protocols for the protection of citizens from extra-judicial actions by the police are followed."

The CMU, which is led by the tough-talking Senior Superintendent of Police Reneto Adams, has been involved in a number of killings, including that of seven young men in a house in Braeton, St. Catherine, in March. A coroner's inquest into the men's deaths is to begin on September 6.

The unit was also a part of the joint police-military group which conducted a recent operation in Tivoli Gardens. That operation led to a fierce gun battle between the security forces and gunmen in the area. In that encounter, some 27 persons were killed, including two members of the security forces. Prime Minister P.J. Patterson has since set up a Commission of Enquiry to look into the incident as well as other issues of crime in the society.

The CMU was formed late last year amid a rising wave of crime which swept the nation. Its task is to target and disarm criminal gangs across the island and reduce the spate of violence.

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