DR Carolyn Gomes will demit office as executive director of human rights group Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ) next month, the Jamaica Observer has been reliably informed.

According to our sources, Gomes will take up the job as executive director of another non-governmental organisation (NGO). The sources, however, declined to name the NGO.

Last night, the Observer tried without success to contact Gomes for a comment.

Gomes, a medical doctor, co-founded JFJ in 1999 and immediately established its credentials as a non-profit entity focused on protecting Jamaicans from State abuse.

Her strong advocacy catapulted JFJ to become the foremost rights group in the country and her work has been recognised internationally by the United Nations, which presented her with its Human Rights Award in 2008.

The following year, Gomes was vested with the Order of Jamaica, the country’s fourth highest national honour, in recognition of her human rights advocacy.

Although JFJ has attracted flak for its strong opposition to police killings, the group has won plaudits from citizens who have benefited from its work, including seeking redress from the State for cases of abuse, and public education on human rights.

The group played a major role in the lobby for the passage of the Access to Information Act, and was very strident in holding the Government responsible for the conditions in which children in State care were being held.

A feature of Gomes’ human rights advocacy has been a significant number of articles and papers that she has produced on the issue and which have been published locally and internationally.

Her bio found online says that she gave up her private medical practice to work with JFJ.

In recent weeks she has been in the news after making a public call for Police Commissioner Owen Ellington to resign.

According to Gomes, the police commissioner has failed to keep the murder rate under control; has failed to improve the police clear-up rate for murder; and has presided over the highest cumulative rate of police fatal shootings ever seen in Jamaica.

The call has attracted harsh criticism as well as support.