THE American based human rights lobby group, Amnesty International, has called for an inquiry into the killing of 21 people in just six days by Jamaican police.

In a release today the group called on local authorities to mount an effective investigation into recent and past police operations.

The lobby group claimed that 45 people have been killed by police in Jamaica so far in 2012, according to press reports.

“The recent wave of police killings in Jamaica is shocking but unfortunately not unprecedented,” said Chiara Liguori, Caribbean researcher at Amnesty International. “The problem is that police continue to enter marginalised inner-city communities as if everyone there was a criminal suspect.”

“If human rights abuses such as police killings go unpunished, it will only open the door for more abuses to take place,” said Chiara Liguori.

Amnesty International also said that the creation of the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) in August 2010 has been a crucial step towards enhancing investigations of abuses by the security forces.

However, the organisation believes authorities in Jamaica must ensure INDECOM is provided with sufficient resources and collaboration from other state agencies to conduct effective investigations that actually lead to justice for the victims.

“Faced with another wave of killings by the security forces in West Kingston, the Jamaican authorities must take decisive steps to fight impunity,” said Chiara Liguori “They should make all needed resources available to ensure a prompt, independent and effective investigation of the recent killings and appoint an independent commission of inquiry to ensure that all human rights violations committed under the state of emergency do not go unpunished.”