THE Jamaica Civil Society Coalition (JCSC) has called on the island’s legislators to step up pressure in demanding answers from Public Defender Earl Witter about the delay in producing a report on the May 23, 2010 incursion in Tivoli Gardens, West Kingston.

In a press conference Wednesday at the office of human rights lobby group Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) at Fagan Avenue in Kingston, coalition members lamented the many months that Witter’s office has been taking to produce a report and hinted that it could have dire consequences for those who endured the onslaught of the security forces.

While acknowledging that Witter has complained of less than ideal circumstances hampering his presentation of the much-awaited report, Archbishop Donald Reece of the Jamaica Council of Churches argued that the two-year delay in concluding the investigation was a moral and social hazard.

“The truth that is hidden under a rubble and human disaster that all experienced three years ago needs to surface fully so that justice, already delayed for too long, can begin to shore up the faltering hope that this nation needs so badly if we are to grapple with other serious issues of holistic development,” Reece told reporters.

More than 70 people were killed by bullets of agents of the state while six policemen and two soldiers lost their lives during the two-day battle as lawmen attempted to find and serve a warrant of arrest of former Tivoli Gardens strongman Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke.

Coke was eventually arrested in the company of embattled clergyman Al Miller on the Mandela Highway in St Catherine a month later. He waived his right to an extradition hearing and was extradited to the US.

He is now serving a 25-year sentence in a Federal Correctional Institute in Edgefield, North Carolina and is scheduled to be released on July 4, 2030.

For Barbara Royes, who was in West Kingston during the gunbattle between the security forces and gangsters loyal to Coke, the nightmare of the experience is still etched in the forefront of her mind.

Royes recalled on Wednesday how bodies were left in the streets for days and dogs began to eat them. The woman said while Tivoli Gardens bore the brunt of the attack, which included military firepower and cluster bombs, other sections of West Kingston were just as badly affected.

“Residents of Denham Town, Hannah Town, Fletchers Land, Rose Town and neighbouring communities were held captive by security forces and gunmen. Persons from these areas had relatives killed, they were treated unjust by the security forces and many human rights were breached. Innocent men and boys were taken to holding areas for days without contact to anyone and basic needs like food and proper shelter. I live as far away as Torrigton Bridge and the kids were traumatised from the excessive gunfire and the movements of all were restricted,” Royes said.

Reece said he hoped that if and when a report was submitted to Parliament, the decision would be taken to hold a Commission of Inquiry into the incursion. “The JCC reiterates its call made in July last year that with the receipt of the report a commission of inquiry should be considered,” he said.

Reece’s stance was supported by JCSC director Horace Levy, JFJ chairperson Susan Goffe and Nancy Anderson Director of Citizens for Free and Fair Elections.

“How could we have a Mannat, Phelps and Phillips inquiry and not have one for Tivoli Gardens. Its absolutely absurd,” said Levy.

Last week Wednesday Witter missed the latest of several deadlines to produce the report and reported that the sheer magnitude of paperwork and his limited staff were hampering his efforts to produce the report.

There have since been calls from international human rights activists, Amnesty International, the JCSC and Generation 2000 — the young professionals arm of the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party — for the resignation of the public defender.