Human rights lobby group, Jamaicans for Justice, JFJ says the government’s current study of how people are detained is a signal step, which can be a turning point in how persons in detention are treated.
It says this could eventually help to correct some of the systemic injustices meted out by a detention system which it says is in need of serious reform.
The human rights group is praising the Ministers of Justice and National Security for taking steps to correct the problems plaguing police lock-ups and correctional facilities.
In a statement this afternoon, JFJ says it notes the recent announcement of the formation of three ‘working groups’, each tasked with specific responsibility to present a draft report and recommendations by the end of the month.
It says over the last fifteen years, it has documented and reported on Jamaica’s detention practices, especially in relation to police lock-ups, which have adversely affected the lives of many Jamaicans.
JFJ says complaints from members of the public about arbitrary detention and abuse inside lock-ups, outnumber any other issue it has dealt with as an organization.
JFJ says it’s an incontestable fact that Jamaica’s general detention practices breach the country’s constitution and laws, including the Bail Act and the Constabulary Force Act, as well as international human rights standards.
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