Justice Minister Delroy Chuck has sought to offer an apology to people detained under the state of public emergency (SOE) in lock-ups described as deplorable by Public Defender Arlene Harrison Henry. At the same time, he is insisting that there have been no reports of abuse, and that the only issue is the state of the lock-ups.

Speaking at a meeting with justices of the peace in Montego Bay on Wednesday, Chuck argued that the security forces have strict orders to respect the rights of citizens during operations in the states of public emergency in St James, Kingston Western, and St Catherine North.

“I know that in their operation no one has yet complained that they have been abused. What the complaint is now, by the public defender and others, is that the area where they have been detained has been in very poor condition. The abuse, if there is any, is not the picking up or the taking off the street and the checking of persons who are being detained in the conditions in which they are being kept,” Chuck said.

He said this was unfortunate, and is a situation that obtains across most lock-ups and detention centres. “When I came as minister of justice and I saw, and still see some of the holding areas where persons who are charged are kept, I’m ashamed,” he stated.

Chuck said he was therefore instructing his ministry that all holding areas at the island’s courts must be improved, including bathroom facilities. “When I go and see some of the toilet conditions in these holding areas, they are appalling. So I am going to do this for all the holding areas,” he said.

Over the past week, Harrison Henry has described in alarming detail to the Internal and External Affairs Committee of Parliament, the state in which people are being held at the Freeport lock-up in particular.

She lamented that citizens of St James are being “scraped up” and locked away, the majority of them without charge, and that the conditions they are made to endure infringe on the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms.

Harrison Henry has appeared before the committee twice and outlined the situation, expressing strong concerns over the manner in which the police in particular are operating under Regulation 30 of the Emergency Powers Act, the legislation used to invoke the SOE in St James on January 18 this year.

On Wednesday, Chuck pointed out that there is also an ongoing drive by the Ministry of National Security to improve police stations, but stressed that the changes would take time and resources.

“In the meantime, we have to apologise to some of these persons who have been detained in unfortunate conditions. What is clear is that having been detained, not many of them remain detained for more than 24 hours,” he said.

Arguing that only five per cent of detainees have been charged, he said the disruptions of the rights and freedoms of the individuals locked up, is hurtful to them but the overall good to the public interest was manyfold.

According to data from the Jamaica Constabulary Force, up to November 16, a total of 4,084 people were detained under the St James SOE. Parliament recently voted to again extend the SOE until January 31, 2019.