Geneva, 20 October 2011 – The United Nations Human Rights Committee today concluded its review of the third periodic report of Jamaica on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
The review allowed the Human Rights Committee to raise questions with the Jamaica delegation on several subjects of concern related to civil and political rights. Unfortunately, the Jamaican delegation did not include any representatives from the capital, which had a very negative impact on the quality of the dialogue. “The absence of a strong representation from the country is extremely rare and is an alarming signal sent to the United Nations on the little attention and priority paid to human rights by Jamaica”, said Patrick Mutzenberg, Director of the Centre of Civil and Political Rights (CCPR), a NGO that monitors the implementation of the ICCPR worldwide.
On this occasion, a civil society coalition led by Jamaican for Justice (JFJ) provided a full report on the implementation of the ICCPR at the national level. “Our report shows thatdiscrimination is at the root of many human rights violations in Jamaica and needs to be urgently addressed by the Government. We contend that the new Charter of Rights, rather than improving protection of human rights actually weakens the protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation, and discrimination against persons with disabilities or HIV / AIDS, among others”, said Dr. Carolyn Gomes, Executive Director of Jamaicans for Justice.
The very high numbers of extra-judicial killings by security forces was another subject of concern for the Human Rights Committee. This issue was discussed at length by the UN experts who were worried that the majority of these killings remain inadequately investigated and that there have only been four convictions of police out of more than 3500 incidences in the past 20 years. In her concluding remarks, the Chair of the Committee, Ms Zonke Majodina, said that “the lack of investigations reinforced the climate of impunity in Jamaica”.
On 4th November 2011, the Human Rights Committee will make its recommendations public and the State will be requested to widely disseminate them at the national level. It is hoped that the State will initiate a genuine dialogue with all sectors of the society that will lead to the implementation of the recommendations.
The report can be found on the Centre for Civil and Political RIghts website .
For more information contact:
Jamaican For Justice: Susan Goffe, suegoffe@yahoo.com
Meanwhile the Gleaner carried this:
UN Committee Criticises Jamaica's Human Rights
Debbie-Ann Wright, Assistant News Editor
The Gleaner/Power 106 News Centre
Jamaica’s human rights track record has again come under scrutiny with the country being cited as lacking in its compliance with international treaties to which it has signed.
The United Nations Human Rights Committee reviewed Jamaica’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
While the Jamaican Government’s representative at the review, Ambassador Wayne McCook, sought to outline the gains Jamaica has made in complying with the treaty, commissioners said the country was lacking in several areas.
Commissioner Krister Thelin called for the Government to reconsider repealing laws banning buggery, which he said was discriminatory.
Another commissioner, Gerald Neuman, criticised the Government for leaving out sexual orientation from the exclusion clause in the Charter of Rights, which was passed earlier this year.
The commissioners also articulated a concern regarding the availability of remedies for persons whose rights are violated.
Meanwhile, the Committee has expressed its disappointment with the Jamaican Government that it did not send a more qualified delegation to the review.
It said it felt Jamaica’s ambassador in Geneva, Wayne McCook, did not have the expertise or knowledge of all the subjects to be able to provide satisfactory answers to the committee.
In addition to the report from the Government, a submission was made by a group of non-government organisations (NGOs), which included Jamaicans for Justice, the Independent Jamaican Council of Human Rights and the Women's Outreach and Resource Centre.
debbie-ann.wright@gleanerjm.com
also see
REVIEW OF JAMAICA (PART I) 19 OCT 2011
and from Gay Jamaica Watch more on the issues
Peace and tolerance
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