TWO of Jamaica’s major human rights groups have welcomed the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) commitment to have the Charter of Rights, which has been in gestation for over 15 years, entrenched in the Constitution in short order should it form the next government.

The JLP, in its Manifesto which was launched on Monday pledged to, among other things, seek entrenchment in the Constitution of a new Charter of Rights to gaurantee the fundamental rights of every citizen and to establish a Citizens’ Protection Bureau headed by the Public Defender with expanded powers to defend the rights of and secure redress for citizens whose constitutional rights may be violated.

The new charter which has been the subject of much wrangling since the 1990s is expected to replace the Chapter III of the present constitution and has the support of both parties.

Attorney-at-law and chairman of watchdog group Jamaicans for Justice, David Wong Ken, said the move would be a consequential one for Jamaica.

“What it would mean for Jamaica is very fundamental. Firstly, it indicates a philosophical shift, a paradigm shift, from thinking that human rights are a gift from the state to thinking that it’s a right that every single human being is born with. It’s a right because you are a human being and it’s inalienable; in other words it cannot be alienated by some simple majority in Parliament,” Wong pointed out.

He went on to say that “the problem with the existing Charter is that it does not enjoy constitutional protection as an entrenched provision which means that the human rights provisions contained in the Constitution can actually be sidestepped”.

“The truth is, as it exists today, the human rights provisions are fairly weak. Entrenching them in the Constitution would mean that no simple majority in Parliament could suspend those rights or in any other way change the law regarding those rights and that’s what human rights groups such as Jamaicans for Justice would welcome, that’s what we’ve been fighting for,” Wong told the Observer.

“What we anticipate is that a Human Rights Charter would be clear in its pronouncements as to what every Jamaican citizen is entitled to as a human right, for instance the right to freedom, the right to life, the right to pursue religious practices.”

As to the proposal to establish a Citizens’ Protection Bureau the attorney-at-law said he was also in favour of the idea of an impartial body that citizens can complain to.

“I think it’s an excellent idea and that isn’t limited to human rights at all. That is a person’s constitutional right generally speaking and those will go well beyond human rights. I think it’s an excellent proposal,” Wong told the Observer.

In the meantime, legal officer for the Independent Jamaica Council for Human Rights (IJCHR) Nancy Anderson, said they were also eager to see the amendment being brought through its final stages but with conditions.

“The wording of the Charter is what we are very concerned about and we would have to wait to see what is presented to Parliament,” she pointed out, adding that since Parliament had been dissolved before the amendments were made, the Bill would have to be brought anew when the brandnew Parliament convenes since it is not bound by the old Parliament.

She said one concern was that the current Charter does not include the right to health care.

“We believe the Charter should express the gaurantee of the right to health care, but based on what the JLP has been saying about the right to health care it seems fairly possible that they will want to have this included in the Charter,” Anderson said.

“I’m encouraged that they wish to push forward and have a new charter of rights, the details we will have to wait and see,” she told the Observer.

Meanwhile JLP general-secretary, Karl Samuda, said the Charter would be acted upon as a priority should the party take office.

“It has just been launguishing and we feel very strongly about that because it is something of great national importance. Whatever we do in terms of the Charter of Rights will be acted upon as soon as we take office. It’s a commitment that we have to ensure that it is entrenched as soon as is possible. We are going to act on it immediately,” Samuda said.

“It must be emphasised that there is no fundamental disagreement between the sides on the Charter of Rights, but we feel it must be acted upon independent of any other constitutional reform measure, we feel that it is just that important,” he added.