Amnesty International Report 1994 - Jamaica

About 80 prisoners had their death sentences commuted as a result of changes to the law and more commutations were expected as a result of a landmark judicial ruling. At the end of the year about 160 people were under sentence of death. At least six new death sentences were passed but there were no executions. Four prisoners were killed by prison warders at St Catherine's District Prison; they may have been summarily executed. There were further cases in which people were killed by police in disputed circumstances. The People's National Party won a large majority in the general election held on 30 March; Percival J. Patterson was confirmed as Prime Minister. The implementation of the Offences against the Person (Amendment) Act, which became law in October 1992, continued in early 1993. The act differentiates between capital and non-capital murder: only the first category carries a death sentence on conviction (see Amnesty International Report 1993). The law was applied retroactively to all prisoners under sentence of death. Nearly 40 per cent of the death-row population benefited by having their sentences reduced to prison terms. Those whose death sentences were confirmed had the right to appeal. However, there were grave concerns about the fairness of the appeal process. The law stipulates that prisoners should have 21 days to apply for a review of their classification by three judges from the Court of Appeal whose decision is final, and that prisoners should also be able "to appear or be represented by counsel". However, in most cases the prisoners had not had an adequate opportunity to consult legal counsel. At the time they were notified, in December 1992, few of the 85 prisoners concerned had lawyers; there is no legal aid for representation after trial and direct appeal. The government later agreed to grant legal aid to these prisoners. In February Albert Huntley, a death-row prisoner sentenced in 1983, whose case had been classified as capital, filed a constitutional motion on the grounds that the classification process contravened his right to protection under the law and to a fair hearing. He said he had not been given the opportunity to be heard or to have legal representation of his choice during the classification review proceedings. The Court of Appeal agreed in February to stay the review of all cases classified as capital, pending a final decision on the motion. In April the Supreme Court ruled against Albert Huntley and in November the Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal. In late June the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) in London, the final court of appeal for Jamaica, started hearing an appeal from Earl Pratt and Ivan Morgan, two death-row prisoners, after the Court of Appeal dismissed their constitutional motion that delay in execution is inhuman and degrading punishment (see Amnesty International Report 1993). The two men had both been under sentence of death since 1979. On 2 November the JCPC issued a landmark decision: it granted their appeal, finding that for them to be executed more than five years after they were sentenced would constitute "inhuman or degrading punishment or other treatment". It said that "the delay in this case is wholly unacceptable and this appeal must be allowed", and ordered that the death sentences be commuted to life imprisonment. The JCPC also stated that "petitions to the two human rights bodies [the UN Human Rights Committee and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights] do not fall within the category of frivolous procedures". This decision should affect cases in all Commonwealth countries which retain both the death penalty and the JCPC as their final court of appeal. As a result of the decision, 110 Jamaican prisoners became eligible for commutation of their death sentences. At the end of the year the number of prisoners on death row had decreased to around 160, from a high of over 270, as a result of the reclassification process. However, the JCPC decision had not been implemented by the end of the year, except in the cases of Earl Pratt and Ivan Morgan. There have been no executions since 1988. On 31 October, four death-row prisoners were killed at St Catherine's District Prison in Spanish Town. They were allegedly shot dead after they tried to take prison guards hostage, but this was contradicted by reports that two of those killed had received death threats from warders and by other circumstances suggesting that the shootings may have been summary executions. Another three prisoners were injured as well as three prison warders. Amnesty International received allegations of ill-treatment from several prisoners, who complained about beatings, destruction of property and death threats. There were further cases in which people were killed by police officers in circumstances suggesting that they had been shot dead when they could have been apprehended. In one such case, two suspected robbers were shot in July by members of the Anti-Crime Investigation Detachment (ACID). According to police reports, Leroy Chin and Alfredo Bell had been killed in a shoot-out with the police at the Nuttall Hospital grounds. However, this was disputed by eye-witnesses who reportedly stated that one of the men (who was unarmed) had been shot in the head by police while face down on the ground. The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) ruled that a police officer should be charged with murder but the case was still pending at the end of the year. Several policemen were charged in connection with killings of civilians in previous years. A police constable was charged with capital murder for the death of Fitzgerald Polson who was shot in a New Kingston street in September 1992 (see Amnesty International Report 1993). The trial was still pending at the end of the year. In March the DPP ruled that five senior police officers should be charged with manslaughter following the deaths of three suspects in the Constant Spring Police Station in October 1992. The three men had suffocated after being placed in a small, overcrowded cell (see Amnesty International Report 1993). The officers appeared in court but were released on bail. In June the DPP also decided that two policemen should be charged with manslaughter in connection with the death of John Headley in November 1992, allegedly as a result of beatings while in police custody (see Amnesty International Report 1993). The trial was delayed by the unavailability of witnesses and it had not taken place by the end of the year. In January Amnesty International wrote to the Minister of Justice and National Security and the Attorney General regarding the reclassification of death sentences. The organization expressed concern that the classification appeal process did not appear to be working. For example, prisoners were not in practice enabled to appear or be represented by counsel before the review panel, and many prisoners were unable to comply with the 21-day deadline to submit an appeal. The organization said that the quality of the evidence and the adequacy of legal representation at the time of a trial should also be taken into account in the review process. Amnesty International also expressed concern that six prisoners' offences had been reclassified as "capital murder" despite a recommendation by the UN Human Rights Committee that their sentences be commuted or that they be released on the grounds that their rights under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights had been violated. Amnesty International reiterated its appeal for clemency for all those on death row. In late January Amnesty International wrote to the Minister of Justice and National Security to express concern about reports of torture or other ill-treatment of suspects in custody, and the apparently high incidence of killings resulting from the alleged unjustified use of lethal force by the police, including four deaths in two police stations in late 1992. Amnesty International listed 13 victims, including a 10-month-old baby girl who had been shot by police in highly questionable circumstances, and requested information on the procedures for investigating police shootings. It urged that the international standards on the use of force by police be fully incorporated into police codes of practice and training programs, and that appropriate disciplinary proceedings be instituted whenever such standards are violated. In November Amnesty International wrote to the Minister of National Security and Justice about the killing of four prisoners in October, and in December published a report, Jamaica: Proposal for inquiry into deaths and ill-treatment of prisoners in St Catherine's District Prison. Amnesty International called for a full, impartial inquiry into the four deaths and other reports of ill-treatment of prisoners at St Catherine's District Prison, and for proper safeguards against torture and ill-treatment to be introduced urgently. There was no response from the authorities by the end of the year.