RETIRED Court of Appeal President Justice Seymour Panton is to head a three-member committee being set up by the Government to decide on suitable compensation for Tivoli Gardens residents who have made claims of damages relating to the May 2010 operation by security forces who had gone into the West Kingston community in search of then fugitive Christopher “Dudus” Coke.

The other two members are to be named in time for the committee to begin its work by the end of October for completion within nine months, as ordered by Cabinet. The justice ministry made the announcement in a release yesterday.

The committee is to investigate all claims brought by aggrieved persons and determine the compensation payable to injured individuals and to the personal representatives of those who perished in the operation.

A commission of enquiry into the event, in its report submitted to Parliament on June 15, had recommended that not only should the Government apologise in Parliament to the people of West Kingston and Jamaica as a whole for the excesses of the security forces during the operation, but that a compensation committee should also be set up to investigate and determine claims for compensation for loss and damage to property and business.

“It is the right thing to do. And it should be done fairly and promptly,” the commissioners stated. It was also advised that a retired judge or senior attorney-at-law with expertise and experience in the assessment of compensation for personal injuries and death should chair the committee.

“The decision of the Government to establish the compensation committee means that it will not rely on the defence of the expiry of the limitation period as stipulated in Jamaican law,” the statement said.

The commissioners had, in their report, noted that formal legal claims against the State for compensation in situations such as some of those which resulted from the May 2010 operation would have been barred after three years, making it too late for aggrieved persons to file claims against the Government for deaths, personal injuries, and loss and damage to property.

Among the 15 recommendations made in the inquiry report are that the serving police officers against whom adverse findings were made should be stripped of their operational commands and not be allowed to serve in any special operations units.

“This measure is not recommended as punishment, but as a protective measure against similar abuses of power in future operations,” the report said.

The commissioners also named officers from the police special operations unit — Mobile Reserve — at which most of the accusations of extrajudicial killings were levelled, stating that the officers should “never again be allowed to lead or otherwise participate in internal security operations”.

It was also further recommended that the unit be overseen by a special external oversight body. There were also recommendations regarding use of weapons; improving legal and administrative accountability for use of force; strengthening of oversight for Jamaica Defence Force involvement in police operations; dismantling garrisons; amendments to the Extradition Act; and reform of the criminal justice system.

The justice ministry noted that Cabinet has received a report from its ad hoc committee on the progress of that ministry and the national security ministry in implementing 14 of the recommendations made by the commissioners. A final report on the implementation of the recommendations is to be made to Cabinet by the end of this month.

This will form the basis for statements from the prime minister, minister of justice and the minister of national security to the Parliament, the release outlined.

In May 2010, then Prime Minister Bruce Golding — amidst a souring relationship with the United States (US) over an extradition request for Coke to answer to drug and gunrunning charges in the US, and increasingly loud calls from the Opposition —announced on May 17 that the Government would sign the request.

Six days later, the security forces met armed resistance from gunmen loyal to Coke when they went into Tivoli Gardens in search of the then fugitive. The operation left 69 people dead, including police and soldiers.

Coke had fled the West Kingston stronghold, but was captured on June 22 in the company of clergyman Rev Al Miller. Coke, who was 43 years old at the time, was sentenced to 23 years in prison by a US federal judge in New York, after pleading guilty to racketeering. Last month, at the end of a trial that spanned six years, Miller was found guilty of attempting to pervert the course of justice and sentenced to pay $1 million or serve one year behind bars.