Dear Editor,

The issue of crime and violence has transcended political administrations.

Gangsters show no regard for the vulnerability of their victims or their loved ones. From the senior citizen to the milk-feeding toddler, criminals brutally take their air away.

The thugs, if caught, are showered with the finest in the lock-ups on visiting day by their loved ones. They are then offered back their liberty by a caring “Your Honour” and given the opportunity to sightsee on the West End while the victims’ families use their “partner draw” to plan their funerals.

Brand name defence attorneys then display their eloquence to make no-case submissions to grant criminals freedom on technicalities. It is important to note that in a country with a high murder rate the human rights groups are resting, “drawing snore” on a Posturepedic somewhere in Portland.

Members of Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ) snooze their alarms when criminals try to wake them, but they jump out of their nightmares when there are attempts to curb criminality by the security forces. Criminals have been killing Jamaicans in threes, fours, and fives and the silence of the JFJ is deafening.

In our hot climate of criminality, the JFJ should be mobilising the people to stand against the thugs and gangsters and echoing the words, “Justice for all”. It should not be that the only time the voices of rights groups can be heard is when the security forces seek to serve and protect, or when the Government tries to enact legislations to curb crime.

Crime has become a political football, but the rights groups who should be the referees are turning a blind eye to the fouls that are costing the lives of innocent citizens. Rights groups should be blowing the whistle on cases being thrown out due to technicalities, allowing criminals to reign terror on the innocent.

Rights Groups, Jamaica wants justice!

Hezekan Bolton

h_e_z_e@hotmail.com