As thou urgest justice, be assured

Thou shalt have justice

More than thou desirest.

— Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

WHAT is justice really? And is it administered fairly in everybody’s life? We often see people on TV chanting and wailing as they cry out for justice for some situation or person who they think warrants it. It may be a relative or a friend who ran afoul of the law and suffered the consequences. In almost every case they insist that the person was innocent and was dealt with unjustly by the security forces. So, they want justice.

Justice means to deal with someone fairly, the quality of being fair and reasonable, the administering of the law or authority in maintaining this, the quality of being fair and reasonable.

To achieve all this, justice has to be blind. And that’s why the symbol of justice in many jurisdictions is the image or statue of a Roman goddess wearing a blindfold and holding a measuring scale in her hand.

She’s supposed to apply equal justice without the benefit of seeing what’s on that scale. Blind justice it’s called. Maybe you’re aware of the practice of some dishonest sellers who will add weights to scales to fool the consumer into thinking that the product weighs more than it does. Or they’ll use their finger to press lightly on the scale, adding more weight.

Well, no such thing for blind justice who has to be fair and equal. So justice is supposed to be impartial in the pure sense but it’s often different in reality for very often, as the saying goes, “There are none so blind as those who will not see.”

Justice for whom? That’s where we’ll delve today, right after these responses to what I had to say about ‘Silent divorce’.

Teerob,

I lived in a silent divorce for 18 years, then out of the blue she applied for a regular, conventional divorce. Then, after getting the divorce, she sued me for everything that I had earned during the silent divorce. Ten years later she’s still fighting but hasn’t got not even one red cent as yet.

Pardy

Tony,

You wouldn’t believe it but a big chunk of my life was similar to that of a silent divorce, and I enjoyed it. I loved the freedom and independence to do what I wanted to do, whenever I wanted to do it. You are correct, the concept is not new, as many couples are living exactly as you described it. But, they gave it a name so now it’s a tangible reality:Silent divorce.

Patricia

‘
Everyone is crying out for peace,

No one’s crying out for justice

I don’t want no peace

I want equal rights and justice

I need equal rights and justice.’

— Peter Tosh

Justice must not only be done, it must appear to be done, and as our very own Peter Tosh sang, ‘I need equal rights and justice,’ which seems to be lacking in some quarters, or falls on deaf ears.

Now let’s face it: Jamaica seems to be at war within itself, with the criminals on one side and the security forces on the other. Many innocent people — men, women and children — get caught in the brutal crossfire. But many guilty ones pay the price.

And yet it appears that as far as some organisations are concerned, the security forces are the bad guys, the guilty ones in this brutal conflict that has claimed so many lives. Over the years, over 1,000 plus Jamaicans have been murdered annually, figures that rival or surpass countries that are actually at war. To put in in perspective, just add these figures up over a 10-year period and you’ll see a staggering number of over 15,000 people killed by criminals.

At this point let me heap praises on the security forces for bringing this terrible and frightening murder rate down by 40 per cent. That’s 400 fewer Jamaicans being killed by criminals every year. That’s commendable and should be applauded. But instead of being praised, there are people who appear to downplay this and focus more on the number of people killed by the security forces.

It should go without saying that if more gunmen confront the police, then more will get shot. If more police seek out and go after these gunmen, then more will be eliminated. The fact is, the murder rate has dropped significantly. It’s a case of cause and effect.

Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ) springs to mind, and I must confess that it’s an organisation that I do not hold in high esteem. I have felt this way for many years, and I am not alone in this sentiment.

I remember many years ago when the leader of another such organisation seemed to be on a campaign to discredit the security forces with a never-ending slew of criticisms, until her own son fell victim to violent crime. That’s when she changed her tune, and if I recall, left the organisation. As the saying goes, he who feels it knows it.

The impression is that it seems as if JFJ only seeks justice for the alleged perpetrators and always places scrutiny on the security forces after an altercation. This puts great pressure on the police when they go out on anti-criminal missions as they now have to think twice before taking any action.

Second-guessing during a firefight can cost you your life.

“I better think twice before I return fire or JFJ and Indecom will deh pon me case.”

I do recall that many years ago, many police personnel were reluctant to go on raids for fear of being hauled over the coals by Indecom and criticised by JFJ. Their hands were tied — not by the criminals but by organisations that should work in their favour and not against them.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there must be checks and balances and accountability when there is a deadly police action, but it should be fair and balanced. Instead, the impression given, the perception — real or imagined — is that every police shooting is unjustified, and the alleged criminals are innocent. The police aren’t allowed to act freely as the accusing eyes are always on them.

This demoralised many cops who felt great trepidation in doing their jobs for fear of being ostracised by JFJ and Indecom.

“Why should I risk my life fighting gunmen when I’ll have to fight JFJ too?”

Do you realise what a society we’d become if our police laid down arms and refused to go after criminals? I tell you, it’s a war, and our security forces are the buffer between peace and anarchy. Just look a few miles to Haiti and take heed.

The perception is that the security forces are always wrong and the criminals were unjustly dealt a blow. Perception is as powerful as reality. My research tells me that JFJ is linked to Amnesty International, which gives them the ability to impact negatively on front line police officers. Those officers who are under investigation are refused certain privileges such as career advancement and advanced courses. So, to avoid any such action some cops will avoid combat — or risk being branded in a negative light and suffer the consequences.

Again, justice should be fair, and our security forces should not have to work under such immense pressure and stress from organisations that should be there to protect us all, including police officers.

The perception is: All policemen are guilty until proven innocent and all gunmen are innocent until proven guilty. When I speak to people, the impression is that police do not get a fair deal from JFJ and Indecom.

“It seems one-sided, and dem sympathise wid de gunman dem and not the police.”

A few weeks ago, two young policemen were killed by gunmen or gunboys — because the alleged shooters were teenagers — outside a business establishment. That’s what prompted me to write this article as I was so outraged and saddened by the incident.

I didn’t hear a peep out of JFJ or Indecom. Can you just imagine what the hue and cry would have been if those cops had shot those killers instead? Where is the sympathy? Where is the cry for justice? Where is the humanity? Two young lives, snuffed out by gunmen, yet no placards or press conference saying ‘We want justice?’ Aren’t those cops Jamaicans too?

I understand that Indecom is mirrored on the British model, a country with a murder rate of one per 100,000. Jamaica averaged 50 per 100,000, prior to the reduced figures of the 40 per cent decrease. There is no comparison.

To compound this, there is a foreigner in the leadership of Indecom. How can that be? His reality in England is a far cry from our deadly conflict here. I feel the same way about hiring an English football coach to be in charge of our Reggae Boyz. Their frame of reference is different; they do not know our culture or our ways.

How can we implement the strategies of a foreign country to be the solution to our problem? I can assure you that many ‘experienced’ English cops have never been in a shoot-out — in fact, many do not even carry guns. I used to live in England for a while, so I know of what I speak.

Horses for courses I say, and it takes fire to fight fire. I repeat, I am not advocating that police go and shoot innocent people at will. Those who do so should be brought to book and suffer the consequences. What I do know, though, is that many of those criminals are not human beings. They cannot be reasoned with, cannot be redeemed; they have no sympathy, no conscience, no soul.

Not until you’ve seen what they can do will you understand or appreciate their viciousness. Many of them commit murders while out on bail. It’s their way of life, and death.

So I do believe in justice for all Jamaicans, but that means justice for our security forces too.

More time.

seido1yard@gmail.com

Footnote: Our sportsmen and women are doing extremely well in the so-called non-traditional sports. We shocked the bobsleigh world by copping gold recently in the North American Cup, beating big names like Canada and USA. Then our rugby team also won gold in a major tournament held overseas. Sara Misir won gold in the Monaco Grand Prix speedboat championship; Fraser McConnel copped gold and other podium finishes in international motocross; Anthony Johnson, my fellow martial artist, won gold in pistol shooting in South Africa a few months ago; our Para Olympians won gold in ice hockey, as did our male hockey team. Nicholas Dussard is unbeaten on the international taekwondo circuit. Rosandre Evans won gold in karate at the Central Caribbean Cup. We have so much to be proud about.