Dear Editor,

The following is an open letter to Prime Minister Andrew Holness:

During the recently concluded budget debate in Parliament you made some very profound statements about the right to life. We wish to explore these statements with you in terms of how they relate to the ongoing struggle for justice for the people of West Kingston and Tivoli Gardens stemming from the May 2010 security forces operation.

You stated: The “first duty of Government is to protect, preserve and promote life. All other rights follow from the right to life…Government is not merely a passive observer of fundamental rights and freedom. Government, its organs and agents, have a duty not to take life or deprive anyone of their freedoms and security”.

Your words are profound. There is hardly anyone who would not agree with you that “Government must set the example: the wrongs of the past must be acknowledged and an apology offered to the victims of State-inflicted violence…”

No other Jamaican prime minister has ever acknowledged such a thing.

You are no doubt aware that for decades Jamaica has had one of the highest per capita rates of police extrajudicial killings in the world.

We agree, therefore, that you do have a duty to work to “protect, preserve and promote” the right to life and not to be a “passive observer”.

You are the person who has the duty and the power to put a stop to abuses once you are aware of them. Your role means that you cannot be indifferent to past State-inflicted violence and that is why you have agreed to apologise to the victims of the 2010 incident.

In light of this recognition we wish to remind you of the following facts that necessitate that you take action:

1) None of the superior commanders has been held accountable for what happened.

2) The Tivoli Committee has decided to pursue private prosecution of these individuals for terrorism as defined under the Terrorism Prevention Act.

We call upon you to support the necessity to bring terrorism charges against these superior commanders in our quest for justice on behalf of the victims.

We call upon you to use your office to encourage the director of public prosecutions, in the interest of the public good, not to hinder private prosecution.

By taking this position you would be sending a strong message about not being passive in your duty to protect the right to life, and it would underscore in the most profound way the sincerity of your intended apology to the people of Tivoli Gardens and West Kingston.

We have no reason to believe that you are not sincere and so we look forward to your support in the interest of justice and breaking the cycle of impunity for State-inflicted violence against innocent citizens.

We look forward to your response.

Lloyd D’Aguilar

Convenor

Tivoli Committee

tivolicommittee@gmail.com