THERE’S no doubt that the person who will succeed Dr Carolyn Gomes as executive director of rights group Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ) will have big shoes to fill.

For, love her or hate her, Dr Gomes has made a tremendous contribution to this country through her unwavering human rights advocacy.

Dr Gomes is moving on to head the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition, which states on its website that it is an alliance of “community leaders and non-governmental agencies providing services directly to and on behalf of Caribbean populations who are especially vulnerable to HIV infection or often forgotten in access to treatment and health care programmes”.

Of note is the fact that she will continue to serve JFJ as a director, therefore her contribution to raising human rights awareness across Jamaica will not be diminished.

And that, we believe, is very important. For it is vital that more Jamaicans are educated about their rights if the country is to keep step with global trends, especially in developed countries, some of which are our developmental partners.

It’s not often that people who are qualified to do well for themselves financially give that promise up in favour of working for the poor, dispossessed and abused. In most cases, those well-educated individuals shut their eyes to what is happening around them and focus on their own well-being.

Dr Gomes, however, gave up her medical practice to co-found JFJ in 1999, immersing herself in what can be a very thankless job that opens her up to immense criticism.

There were times, too, that the job proved dangerous, as Dr Gomes and her colleagues have received death threats, the most notable being in May 2010 after JFJ called for the resignation of then Prime Minister Bruce Golding.

The resignation call was made after Mr Golding admitted sanctioning a deal with United States law firm Manatt Phelps & Phillips to lobby the US Government in the controversial Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke extradition matter.

Her fearless response at the time was: “It’s not going to stop us. It’s not going to silence us. It’s not turned us off in the past and it’s not going to turn us off now.”

There are, of course, people who will argue that there is a level of stridency in the tone of JFJ’s position on police shootings and killings. The group has also been accused of giving little notice to the killing of policemen and women by criminals.

To be fair, JFJ has always sought to point out that there is a difference between the police who break the law and commit abuses, and ordinary citizens who commit crimes. In addition, Dr Gomes has, in the past, made it clear that any attack on the police is an attack on the justice system.

The jury is still out on whether the group has managed to convince the majority of Jamaicans that its focus is not biased. That, we acknowledge, can be very difficult to achieve, especially for the fact that our high crime rate is creating fear and frustration.

However, what no one can deny is that JFJ, under the leadership of Dr Gomes, has become a powerful voice for many Jamaicans who, before 1999, would have suffered State abuse in silence.

We wish Dr Gomes all the best in her new job.