Jamaica has the highest rate of police killings per capita in the world

In April 2001, Amnesty International launched a world-wide campaign to highlight the pattern of extra-judicial killings and other human rights abuses committed by members of the Jamaican security forces - the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), with the launch of its report, JAMAICA: Killings and Violence by Police - How many more victims?

The loss of life at the hands of the Jamaican Constabulary Force (JCF) borders on a human rights emergency. The rate of lethal police shootings in Jamaica is one of the highest per capita in the world. More than 1,400 people have been shot dead by police over the past 10 years in Jamaica; in a country whose population is only 2.6 million.

Since the 1980s, Amnesty International has been monitoring the cases of killings by Jamaica Constabulary Force officers. As a result, the organisation has identified a pattern of extra-judicial executions and excessive use of force committed by police officers. The cases featured in this Appeals Circular, published as part of Amnesty International's worldwide campaign against torture, are typical. Tragically, they represent only a fraction of the police executions that have occurred over the past decades. Nevertheless, in a country where the statistics on police killings are so high, the importance of seeing justice in individual cases must not be forgotten. Dismantling a culture of impunity can only start when those responsible for each and every individual violation are brought to account by the authorities.

In Amnesty International's view, all the cases of fatal shootings listed in this circular appear to constitute extra-judicial executions. In every case, information carefully assessed by the organisation included forensic and other evidence, witness and police accounts. The Jamaican police continue to kill individuals posing no physical threat. The most common explanation for such killings given by police is that they were ''shoot-outs'' - with the police returning fire from armed individuals. In many cases, compelling forensic and other evidence clearly indicates to the contrary.

PLEASE WATCH THIS VIDEO ON POLICE KILLINGS IN JAMAICA.

jamlink.com/

Amnesty International
www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/case-study-killing-

Taken in: Jamaica / Saint Andrew / Half Way Tree (show map)

Taken on: April 3, 2009

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