Jamaican Security Minister Withdraws Remark

Last week, Dwight Nelson, Jamaica's Security Minister said that people killed by police are collateral damage in the country's war with criminals. According to the group Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ), in an address to Jamaica's Police Federation's Annual Conference, Nelson said the following:

"I pledge to you today that. I will use every effort to assemble a team of first-class legal officers to defend policemen when they are hauled before the court like common criminals," Nelson told the conference.

"This country must recognise and accept that we are fighting a war, and in any war there will be collateral damage. No policeman should be made to pay for this damage," Senator Nelson said.

"I am prepared to stand by you as you go out there to trample the underground network who have no compunction to dabble in criminal activities," he added. "I want to say to you today, I have the support of this Government, of which I am a part, in my unequivocal support of all policemen and women in the lawful execution of their duty. Inspite of the challenges we face as a nation, we must recognise that we have to provide you with the tools to get the job done."

JFJ condemned these remarks by saying:

"The rule of law demands that those who have acted outside the law are called to account," said JFJ. "Our problem in Jamaica is not that many policemen are "hauled before the courts like common criminals" as the minister is suggesting. Our problem is that our justice system fails to credibly investigate, charge and effectively prosecute those policemen against whom allegations of unlawful conduct are made. The result of these failures is impunity for unlawful police actions, increasing distrust of the police by citizens and increasing frustration by the citizens at the failure of the Government to protect them from unlawful actions by the police force."

Nelson apologized and withdrew the remark. He said that he did not mean that the government should back illegal acts by officers, but that police officers are justified in using deadly force against criminals.

For background, I recommend a couple of useful reports that I have come across or been a part of in my work.

"Killing Impunity: Fatal Police Shootings and Extrajudicial Executions in Jamaica, 2005-2007," by Jamaicans for Justice and the George Washington University Law School International Human Rights Clinic.

“'Let them kill each other': Public security in Jamaica’s inner cities," by Amnesty International. Amnesty International's latest human rights report, which just came out last week, mentioned police killings.

"I would prosecute every person who was involved in that torture."

Jesse Ventura, former governor of Minnesota, was on Larry King yesterday and he had some scathing criticism of former Vice President Dick Cheney and his torture regime.

Nigerian Justice Advocacy Group Wins MacArthur Award

Access to Justice, a Nigerian justice advocacy group that promotes the rule of law, won the 2009 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. A large part of their work focuses on ending impunity for extrajudicial killings in Nigeria.

Access to Justice will use its $350,000 award to support the development and implementation of a public interest law center in Abuja to conduct research, train lawyers, and litigate public interest cases across Nigeria.

Michel Martin, of NPR's "Tell Me More," interviewed Joseph Otteh, the founder and executive director.

Fast Track Courts for Gujarat Riots

India's Supreme Court has ordered the establishment of five special courts to try cases related to communal riots in the state of Gujarat in 2002.

My post on the Indian elections has some more information.

China Releases “The National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2009-2010)”

China's New UN Plan Won't Delude Its Human Rights Lawyers:

On the same day that Mr. Cheng [an attorney who defended a Falun Gong adherent] was beaten by public officials, China released “The National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2009-2010).” The document is an attempt to respond to criticism by the world human rights community and to show that China's communist leaders are now serious about taking action to improve human and civil rights.

Beating up attorneys and jailing them is not unusual police conduct in China. The AsianNews report notes that there has been an increase in intimidation and violence against the brave lawyers who defend human rights.

The plan says nothing about ending the monopoly of one-party rule in China. Instead, it muddles the concept of human and civil rights by speaking of subsistence rights and economic rights in a socialist state run by the Chinese Communist Party. It doesn’t discuss the fundamental freedoms that the civilized world cherishes—freedom of speech, freedom to practice one’s religion, freedom from arbitrary arrest, independent courts, equal justice under the law, and so on.

Anti-Torture March in DC

Going on right now:

Protesters gathered at the Capitol on Thursday morning before proceeding to a park facing the White House for a rally.

They say they are protesting detention policies in the United States and what they call the government's refusal to prosecute torture.

UN Security Council to Review MINURSO's Mandate

Monika Kalra Varma, of the RFK Center for Human Rights (here in DC) has a post about the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara at the Huffington Post. The UN Security Council will be reviewing its mandate this week.

Every contemporary United Nations peacekeeping mission on the ground today has a mandate to protect human rights, except one, the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). Without direct authorization from the UN Security Council, MINURSO cannot monitor or report on the human rights situation in Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa. As a result, the Sahrawi people continue to suffer from human rights abuses with no recourse or relief.

Why then does MINURSO continue to operate as the only contemporary U.N. peacekeeping mission without a human rights component? With Morocco's rise as an important ally in Western efforts to thwart terrorism, its human rights record and disregard for international rule of law has been conveniently overlooked by permanent members of the Security Council. Furthermore, Morocco has informed the international community that the inclusion of a human rights component in the MINURSO mandate would be tantamount to endorsing the Polisario. Morocco's successful politicization of the situation is not difficult to see. What is confounding is the U.N. Security Council's determination to passively acquiesce to such politics in the face of this true human rights problem - and, especially because MINURSO is the only contemporary Mission in the world where it has chosen to do so.