Arthur Hall, Senior Staff Reporter

Golding ... vowed not to apologise for going after the killers. - file

Prime Minister Bruce Golding is defending his government's new anti-crime measures following stinging criticisms from some members of the local human-rights community.

Yesterday, the prime minister scoffed at claims that the anti-crime proposals announced in Parliament on Tuesday are insufficient to make an immediate impact on the orgy of violence gripping the island.

A fired-up Golding rejected claims that some of the proposed measures would not stand up in court. He said the measures he announced in Parliament would be accompanied by tough policing, aimed at getting the "warlords" who are creating mayhem in the society.

"I listen to some of my friends in the human-rights organisations and I get a sense that what we really ought to do is go in with some powder puffs, and we really ought to sit down and engage these people to persuade them that they must stop killing off people," Golding quipped during yesterday's post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.

Golding announced pending legislative changes on Tuesday, as part of an effort to clamp down on criminals and to give the police more tools to keep offenders off the streets.

But human-rights activists and some members of the legal community responded with immediate concern about some of the proposals.

The prime minister was strident as he vowed not to apologise for going after the killers.

He argued that while human-rights groups can "pick out" what interests they are going to pursue, the Government has to embrace all the interests which are best for the country.

Accepting that the speedy arrests of criminals, securing convictions, and imposing punishment remained the biggest deterrents to crime, Golding said the operational measures implemented by the police have started to show positive results in several communities which have been under siege by criminals in recent months.

But the details of these operational measures could not be made public, the prime minister said.

In the first 20 days of this month, 69 persons were killed, a 26 per cent reduction over the 93 persons killed for the first 20 days of June, and a 46 per cent reduction when compared with the corresponding period in May.

The prime minister argued that while the decline was encouraging, the State could not relax and the country could not afford to have more than 300 persons charged with gun crimes out on bail.

This was a direct reaction to the criticisms of his proposal to refuse bail to persons charged with serious crimes and repeat offenders for the first 60 days after their arrests.

"We didn't take these decisions lightly; we looked very carefully at what the Constitution provides and the Constitution does make provisions for Parliament to take action in exceptional circumstances," Golding said.

He argued that these provisions are contained in Section 50 of the Constitution but require a two-thirds majority of Parliament to be approved.

Golding also sought to allay fears that the proposal for persons convicted of gun crimes to serve 10 years before being eligible for parole was an attempt by the legislature to interfere with the judiciary.

According to Golding, the proposal would not prevent judges from deciding on sentences to be handed down but, in cases where persons were sentenced to more than 10 years, the period before they become eligible for parole would be enforced.