Amnesty International Report 1997 - Jamaica

At least two people were sentenced to death and at least 61 others remained under sentence of death. There were no executions. One person was killed by police in disputed circumstances. In July, the UN Human Rights Committee found that Jamaica had violated the rights of Rickly Burrell under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Rickly Burrell had been killed by prison guards in 1993 while under sentence of death (see Amnesty International Report 1994). The Committee found that the killing was in violation of Article 6 of the ICCPR, which states: "No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life". The Committee also found that Rickly Burrell's rights under Article 14 of the ICCPR had been violated, in that he was "not effectively represented on appeal" by legal counsel; his appeal lawyer had stated in court that the grounds for the appeal against his conviction and death sentence were without merit. In August, in a ruling on the case of death-row inmate Errol Johnson, the chairperson of the UN Human Rights Committee criticized Jamaica for having refused for the previous 10 years to comply with its obligations to report under article 40 of the ICCPR. This had prevented the Committee from considering whether the death penalty was being applied in accordance with the strict limits imposed by the ICCPR. At least two new death sentences were imposed, of which one was later rescinded. Elvis Martin was sentenced to death in January, and Kevin Mykoo in February, both for murders committed in 1995. In October, the Court of Appeal overturned Elvis Martin's conviction, finding that the judge had failed to adequately direct the jury. At least 61 prisoners remained under sentence of death but no executions were carried out. In October, Keith Francis was killed by police officers in disputed circumstances. Police claimed that Keith Francis had been shot dead in an exchange of gunfire with the police; according to several eyewitnesses, police officers shot him after he had been captured and disarmed. In November, Amnesty International wrote to the Minister of National Security and Justice asking for information on the shooting of Keith Francis and to be informed of the outcome of any official investigations. No reply had been received by the end of the year. In December, Amnesty International wrote to the authorities asking that no executions be carried out.