DURING the course of the past week we observed the first anniversary of the incursion of the security forces into Tivoli Gardens in the wake of the extradition request from the United States of America regarding Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke. However, a year after the events there are still many unanswered questions even as there are diverse opinions concerning the nature, impact, and outcome of this incursion.

The very mention of the name Tivoli Gardens conjures up feelings of fear and images of unbridled political patronage, sheltered criminality and indiscipline, and with tentacles that reach into every nook and cranny of this country, in the minds of many Jamaicans. And therefore, for many Jamaicans, party politics notwithstanding, anything that can bring that community under discipline and the enforcement of the law is to receive unwavering support.

Clearly, this characterisation of an entire community and its population of tens of thousands is an expression of fantasy, but illustrative of how fear, ignorance, and prejudice can influence our perception of people.

The truth of the matter is that Tivoli Gardens is not the repository of evil from which the rest of the society can withdraw in a state of self-righteousness while claiming a clear conscience. Tivoli Gardens is the creation of a political culture and process which finds its strength and base of support in the creation of garrison communities, something which has become a feature of our political landscape since Independence.

It was created in the clear view of all of us. In fact, I was present in the vicinity of Spanish Town Road and North Street on the morning those bulldozers moved into the shelters of persons who occupied the lands which now form Tivoli Gardens. I saw the displaced salvaging what they could of their possessions and placing them in handcarts on the side of the road. Many were in a state of bewilderment while others set out to form what has become much of today’s Bull Bay in the East and Sufferers’ Heights in the West of the city of Kingston.

Rising from the ruins of the displaced community was a new enclave of party loyalists who would forever give their vote to their patrons and their successors. It is unnecessary to chronicle the development of this community over the years; suffice it to say that it has seen the emergence of strong community leaders who have risen to national prominence and whose reputations have at times been associated with serious allegations of anti-social activities and criminality. Action by the security forces and those in governance to prove these allegations and to bring some semblance of justice to the situation has been seriously wanting.

In laying criminal charges against ‘Dudus’ and submitting a request for his extradition to the Government of Jamaica, this external authority was able to do what we have never been able or willing to do as a people, perhaps because of fear of what has been identified by one political figure as the possibility of bloodshed.

It is now clear from the events which followed in the wake of this request, and from the Dudus/Manatt Commission of Enquiry, and more recently from published WikiLeaks material, that the request was not handled properly by the prime minister and the Government. While local individuals and groups urged the Government to accede to the request, the local voices amounted to nothing more than a storm in a teacup where the authorities were concerned.

It took the prodding of a visiting official of the United States Government who stated that Christopher Coke was still “a person of interest” to her Government to get the momentum going in this country. Although the police had indicated that they were devising a plan to apprehend Coke with a minimum of disruption, they were ignored.

The ongoing debate of the matter in the public arena and the unprecedented announcement by the prime minister that the warrant for Christopher Coke would be issued the following day only served to enrage and rile up his loyal supporters in Tivoli Gardens and other communities across the island.

Having been given due warning of the impending detention of Christopher Coke, only the naïve can claim to be surprised by the blockade of sections of Western Kingston and Tivoli Gardens which followed and which degenerated into downright lawlessness. Without doubt, this response was a threat to law and order and a direct threat to the role and function of the security forces.

The show of force and the incursion by the security forces which followed represent a response of those charged with governance for the restoration of order and the containment of the expression of criminality which had attached itself to this communal protest.

What followed is a matter of dispute and is the subject of myriad interpretations. There was a significant loss of life which official statistics place at 74 but which is disputed by residents and various other sources, as it is claimed that far more persons were killed and many are still listed as missing and to be accounted for. The residents claim that they were subjected to violence, excesses, abuse and violations of their human rights, in addition to the loss of property.

What is clear is that by any calculation the residents, blockaded in the community, voluntarily or not, were traumatised. The members of the security forces deny the allegations of the community and to date the reports from the two sides cannot be reconciled. The public defender has been working assiduously with the citizens in recording the experiences and losses of the citizens and in seeking to be a force for lobbying for their rights and for truth-telling in relation to what actually happened. The emotions are still raw and the nation fools itself into thinking that the maintenance of an external environment of peace means that the people are at peace and the situation is now resolved.

As a related concern, there were several incidents that took place in other communities which were linked with developments in Tivoli Gardens. There is, of course, the State of Emergency and the extension of curfews into several communities in which it is claimed that several criminal elements associated with the blockade and subsequent shoot-out in Tivoli resided.

Highly controversial also, is the extraordinary circumstances of the killing of Keith Clarke in Kirkland Heights by the security forces. The official story offered at the time is that there was a connection between Keith Clarke and Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, a claim which the family has denied and for which, to date, the State has produced no evidence to substantiate.

The arms of government and the security forces have, in the wake of the Tivoli Gardens events of a year ago, made their mantra the fact that the citizens of Tivoli were in a state of insurrection and lawlessness master-minded by criminal elements, and that the show of force which followed was necessary in combating the chaos and disorder which were in evidence at the time.

They have also cited the crime statistics since the Tivoli incursion as the watershed point in the decline in crime and the vindication of all that was done in that incursion. Many in the wider society either could not care less as it did not affect their community or any of their loved ones, or have simply latched on to the response of officialdom as all that is needful in the situation.

There have been many calls for a commission of enquiry into what actually happened during those days of incursion into Tivoli, the extent of the loss of life, the conduct of the security forces, and the thorough investigation and release of information surrounding the circumstances of the death of Keith Clarke. There have been statements from time to time suggesting that the security forces have carried out their own investigations and evaluation. Unfortunately, this is not enough.

The Government has a responsibility to see to it that a properly constituted independent authority, whether a commission of enquiry or not, do a proper investigation into all of what transpired during that incursion, not only because it has this responsibility to the citizens of this country but because it is culpable in what developed due to its display of incompetence and bungling in the handling of the extradition request for Christopher Coke, which is, in fact, the backdrop to all of these events.

In recent weeks I have been reading a book by Dennis R Maynard entitled Forgive and Get Your Life Back, and which is intended to help persons who have been victimised or abused to experience healing and to get their life back on track. We fool ourselves if we believe that the people of Western Kingston have moved on and have their life back together because the dust has settled and there is now a strong security presence.

Equally, we fool ourselves if we believe that the Clarke family will just get their life back together and move on if the Government maintains the lid of silence on what actually happened in the Clarke household on that eventful night. Maynard offers the insight that the experience of healing becomes possible where there is acceptance of responsibility by those whose actions have victimised or abused others.

There must also be a recognition of the consequences of one’s actions for the life of others, as well as an acknowledgement of the offences which have been committed against others. Finally, there must be some expression of resolution which speaks to what one intends to do about the situation and in moving forward. Clearly, this is a process which involves individuals, groups, and governments.

I am unmoved by some of the behaviour of the nations of the north and their institutions which parade as the moral police and conscience of the world, knowing full well that there are no such moral perfectionists, and yet, I must concede, even grudgingly, that if they do not act at times, the authorities in nations like our own will not do what they need to do from a moral perspective and in the interest of our people.

The indictment and unrelenting pressure from the United States Government led to the extradition of Christopher Coke on serious criminal charges of which our local authorities could not have been unaware. Our uproar as civil groups and citizens concerning the handling of the request was treated with polite indifference by the authorities. A year later our call for an enquiry into the Tivoli incursion is being treated with the same indifference.

Thankfully, Amnesty International has stepped into the picture and is pressing for an enquiry and placing it in the context of an unsatisfactory manifestation of respect for human rights. Perhaps again, not being entitled to respect by our own as we are too local and commonplace, this international body will receive due respect and its advocacy heeded by our Government.

— Howard Gregory is the Suffragan Bishop of Montego Bay.