(Jamaica Gleaner) More than two years after the bloody Tivoli Gardens incursion rocked the nation and attracted international media coverage, with the killing of 73 people, the Jamaica Civil Society Coalition (JCSC) is describing as a national shame the absence of even an interim report into the incident.
“It’s a shame on Jamaica. I don’t know anywhere else where something of the magnitude of Tivoli could have occurred and two, nearly three years later, you can’t have even an interim account of what took place,” declared Carol Narcisse, executive director of the JCSC.
Speaking during a Gleaner Editors’ forum on Monday at the newspaper’s North Street, central Kingston offices, Narcisse urged a “conscientious parliamentarian to please table a question in Parliament” requesting the status of the Tivoli report from Public Defender Earl Witter.
Deadlines not met
Witter had given a number of deadlines to submit an interim report to the House of Representatives. However, to date, there has been no indication from the House that the report has been received.
According to Narcisse, the request for a status report from the public defender would trigger a response from the minister whose portfolio covers the Office of the Public Defender. In that case, Justice Minister Senator Mark Golding or his colleague in the lower House, Attorney General Patrick Atkinson, would be called on to provide an update.
The JCSC executive director said her organisation was in the process of writing to Witter to enquire about his long-awaited report.
“It is intolerable that it has taken us this long to have even an interim report,” Narcisse insisted.
She noted that the coalition recognised that the public defender did not have some of the resources at his immediate disposal that would have improved the investigative process.
Ballistics challenge
Narcisse observed that the Office of the Public Defender was challenged in preparing its report due to delays in receiving the ballistics report.
The coalition contended, however, that there was a lack of political will for the matter to be fully ventilated and to determine if anyone should be held accountable.
“On a bi-partisan level, I don’t think there is a serious desire to have the answer.”
Human-rights lobby Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) is also agitating for the submission of the report to Parliament.
Susan Goffe, chairperson for JFJ said an issue of great concern to her organisation is the damage that was being done to the credibility of the Office of the Public Defender.
