Bloggers Unite : Jamaica’s Violence A Human Rights Concern
The violation of Human Rights is of global concern. Today, I stand in solidarity with thousands of Bloggers across the world in drawing attention to Human Rights in an effort called Bloggers Unite. I cast my gaze on my homeland, Jamaica. I consider my country with deep sadness at our inability to stem the escalating violence by addressing some fundamental Human Rights issues in the Jamaican society.
The Jamaica Constabulary Force (Jamaica Police) recorded 1574 murders in the country for 2007. We are talking idyllic tropical paradise here, not Iraq. So for a country that is not in a state of war, these figures are traumatic in themselves. You could die from fear alone. And yet, people have just resigned themselves to their situation and are getting along with their lives. Perhaps too much so?
Most Jamaicans have grown disillusioned. We do not feel that the government has any answers let alone genuine commitment to making things better for the citizens of the country. After just 7 months in power the new Prime Minister, Bruce Golding shuffled the Cabinet this week to bring in a new Minister of National Security, Colonel Trevor MacMillan. Some have criticized the move as a sign of desperation of a government that has run out of answers.
I raise my own concern about the approach to crime and violence in Jamaica that places the reason for concern as the protection of Tourist Industry and foreign investment. Government agencies and pressure groups calling on Jamaicans to stem the violence, seem overly concerned with protecting ‘tourist’ lives and simultaneously sending the signal that the lives of Jamaicans are not as valuable.
It is a terrible situation. Yes the country cannot afford to lose its main source of income. However, there is something wrong with making the lives of your citizens out to be less than valuable. It is very telling that the high murder rate is of Jamaicans, not tourists. With all the crazy killing that is taking place, tourists are safe in Jamaica. It’s citizens and returned residents who are not. The life of Jamaicans are daily at risk of being snuffed out guns in the hands of children and youth with underdeveloped consciences and morals.
So Human Rights in Jamaica must be concerned with making all Jamaicans feel safe, providing the kind of environment where Jamaicans can truly flourish materially and moreso spiritually. And this is not a task to be undertaken in isolation – where we tackle ‘policing’ without addressing the social and moral challenges that attend the poor decisions being made by both politicians and people.
Jamaica’s escalating violence and attendant Human Rights concerns need to be addressed in an integrated manner, infused with a clear bias toward seeking justice for all. For without justice there will be no peace.
It would cause a government to ask and answer sensibly in favour of people not profiteering groups and individuals – how can I have such a nightmarish crime scene in Jamaica, not have the proper legislation in place to provide adequate policing and increased protection of our citizens and yet introduce Casino Gambling into such a volatile context? Is that insanity or what?
A beneficial Human Rights approach for Jamaica calls for an aggressive quest for solutions to:
- unemployment which makes the drug trade even more lucrative
- poverty which drives ‘alternative’ means of earning income including the commercialization of bodies in the trafficking of children and youth, boys and mostly girls and women for the sex industry (supported by men and women in high positions), trafficking of drugs in body orifices to major world centers where the demand for said drugs is high and the curbing of said demand seems less of a concern to places like Europe, UK and Canada,
- corruption and greed of those in high office (a historical situation) which tells the ordinary citizen that it is ok to go after ‘plenty and excess’ at the expense of others
- injustices in the legal system which sees one set of persons being able to evade the law and another condemned as guilty just for having the wrong address
- the entertainment industry filled with Ghetto-Fairy-Tales of the boy or girl who ‘buss out’ to fame in the Dancehall and supporting industries makes formal education a laughable option especially for our boys and the gun is more likely to come out of the pumpkin than the music contract
- Tourism sector which has largely excluded local offerings from the route of the tourists and how this has killed small community endeavors leaving the huge profits in the hands of the ‘large’ while the ’small’ and dissatisfied must now create ingenuous ways to make ends meet
- Brain Drain of the best and brightest minds who have been lured by more money if not to live like ‘equal citizens’ in foreign lands. Homes are broken up, children left behind to roam the streets and ‘raise themselves’ and the remittances of foreign exchange from UK, USA and Canada cannot repair the broken hearts and homes of our nations children
When Damian Marley released, Welcome To Jamrock it was not entertainment as usual. The song carried some cold truths that hit home. Hard. Many of us felt caught in the headlights because suddenly the eyes of the world were turned on the ‘place weh di thugs dem camp at’. And nobody wanted that kind of attention -at all, at all. The song soon became referred to as Jamaica’s real national anthem. See the video below.
Marley’s song captured the reality of the Jamaican society trapped in a vortex of violence. Analysts, pundits, and prophets of every shape and size have been positing theory after theory over the past 3-4 decades. We are no closer to arriving at the right solution. It is not for lack of good solutions why Jamaica continues along its destructive violent path.
I feel that both government and people have bought into the global consumerist trends attended by greed and rabid self-interest that lacks the kind of sacrificial communal discipline to make it happen.
God help us!
Please take a few more minutes read what others are saying on similar issues:
Human Trafficking In Jamaica – Irie Gal discusses Human Trafficking and the Jamaican situation.
Yahoo! Human Rights Program – Earlier this month Yahoo! launched a new Business & Human Rights Program, intended to formalize its commitment to human rights, starting with full-fledged support at the highest levels of the company. The program also aims to build a …
Human Rights, Aid Effectiveness, and Development: a few findings … – Today, May 15th, an initiative called Bloggers Unite for Human Rights, was launched, with the international NGO on Human Rights, Amnesty International, partnering with BlogCatalog.com, the bloggers’ social network, partnering to raise …
Bloggers Unite for Human Rights: Network Neutrality – … I would not have heard of the cyclone in Myanmar, not the earthquake in China. I would not have been as well educated about politics and current events. In short, without an open internet, society and human rights can not thrive. …
Human Rights and the Internet – We, on the other hand, are much more fortunate to be where we are with the human rights we enjoy. And since we have the opportunity and access available to us, it is incumbent upon us to set the example. Promote open access to the …
Human Rights Report on Anti-Asian Racism – The Ontario Human Rights Commission has released a report on the recent wave of white racist attacks against Asians in the Canadian fishing industry. As Resist Racism and Angry Asian Man have suggested, this is not strictly a Canadian …
Let us continue to promote justice in the struggle for peace,
Marvia
Subscribe to RSS
May 15th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Excellent report…and great call for action!
I just prayed for Jamaica. Prayer is one of the most powerful and overlooked tools in recovery!
May 15th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Alexander,
Thank you for your prayerful support. We need to rise up and shake off the sense of futility and take action – now.
Peace,
Marvia
May 16th, 2008 at 3:32 am
tagged panama. Bloggers Unite : Jamaica’s Violence A Human Righ…bookmarked on 05/16/08
May 17th, 2008 at 1:51 am
I was not aware of this situation. Thank you for writing so eloquently about it. I too will pray and read up on the articles you’ve provided. I just signed up for your RSS feed.
May 17th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Connie,
Thanks so much for visiting and signing up. Thank you too for drawing attention to the plights of women enslaved in the sex industry.
It seems to me that there is not enough attention being given to the abuse of women and girls in the domestic realm and in the sex trade. There is an ambiguous silence in society on the exploitation of women’s sexuality that is frightening.
Readers of this blog may now read your article by clicking on your name
Thank you too for your prayers.
Peace,
Marvia
May 18th, 2008 at 9:05 am
1574 murders in Jamaica in 2007?! I had no idea the situation was that bad… Thank you for bringing this to everyone’s attention. It is indeed a shameful situation when a country’s government values and works to protect the lives of foreigners/tourists and largely ignores the plight of its own people. I also want to thank you for dropping by my blog and leaving your comment.
God Bless,
Sam Sotiropoulos
May 18th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Hi Marvia
First of all, thanks for visiting my We Are One World Healing
Second, I think your blog sheds light on another unknown drama.
Because there are soooo many issues in the world, many we are not even aware of, we set up our World Healing group, to send unconditional love (or positive healing energy/Reiki) to ALL people in the world, to all of nature and to mother Earth.
Do consider joining us, 1 hr a month….
each session a truly blissful experience!!
May 18th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Sam and Astrid,
Thanks for stopping by. I have been trying to read as many of the other Bloggers who participated in this event.
There are so many fantastic stories out there. I have edited your links to take persons directly to your articles so my visitors can share in those as well.
Peace,
Marvia
May 26th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Hey Sis,
I am not an eloquent writer and can’t think of a nice way to say…. This s*cks!
The issues you mention are so “in your face” all the time that it becomes the norm (the matrix) and will take a large jolt to wake us up. We do not realize that as ordinary citizens, we have the power to unplug from the matrix and stop being psychological slaves. Many of us choose the easy way out. Inaction.
I am the most layperson there is. I don’t profess to have the answers but from my point of view, youth are the answer. Imagine our youth –pre K on up- being taught by conscience teachers to challenge our matrix way of life. Teachers (not necessarily school teachers) who are not afraid of the bs bureaucracy of ANY institution…not even the church (as promised before I won’t get into my rant about the Black church). Instead of conditioning our youth to conform to the matrix, we steep them in true history of their respective cultures, encourage them to learn all they can about their perspective fields, instill in them the importance and operations of community/nation building, problem resolution, respect for nature among other things and last but not least…teach them the difference btwn entertainment vs.reality as well as the importance of challenging the norm.
Since I’ve let the cat out the bag, I’ll stop here because you have now confirmed that I am a proud card carrying looney tune.
Peace,
KA
May 27th, 2008 at 3:22 am
oh, i forgot to mention…..getting rid of that NYC cable would be a great start!
Peace,
KA
May 28th, 2008 at 11:05 am
KA,
Your card says something else and it’s not ‘loony’ at all. I do share your concerns for us a people – sometime ago I coined the ‘loony’ term – ‘the power of we’.
‘We’ sit down and wait for governments and politicians to do it for ‘we’ and then pass the blame on. Fact is much of what needs to be done whether it is applying pressure to policymakers or reject living off the spoils of criminal activities demands personal action on the part of everyone. But again ‘we’ are not prepared to go as far as it takes to solve the problem.
And I hear you re the cable TV. Listen, the rest of the world has never been able to safeguard or recover its moral values with the onslaught on its cultural values with the spread of Cable TV. And the sad thing is, at least in the US you have some kind of ‘legislation’ (even if it only works for some)…most of us have nothing at all to protect our children. And worse majority of parents don’t give two hoots!!
Take care girl.
June 15th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
[...] month ago, I shared my integrated approach to violence and crime in Jamaica in the Bloggers Unite campaign for Human Rights. At the time of writing that Blog post, I was [...]
October 17th, 2008 at 1:24 am
[...] crime and violence in Colon like Jamaica is not an isolated issue. And as in the case of Jamaica, the challenging issues that contribute to the increasing levels of [...]