Jamaica Violence

[American Patriot]

OAS body raises concerns over Jamaica as death toll rises

By the CNN Wire Staff
May 27, 2010 -- Updated 1825 GMT (0225 HKT)


A body lies in the streets in the Trench Town neighborhood of Kingston, Jamaica, this week.


STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Death count at least 67
• OAS body wants Jamaica to conduct diligent inquiry into situation
• Use of force, emergency powers must be reasonable, commission says

Kingston, Jamaica (CNN) -- An Organization for American States body expressed "deep concern" Thursday over the violence engulfing the Caribbean nation of Jamaica and wants an inquiry into the unrest that has left at least 67 dead.


The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said it "deeply regrets the deaths that have occurred in this context, and urgently calls on the State of Jamaica to conduct a diligent, effective, and impartial investigation of these events."


The attempt to arrest Christopher "Dudus" Coke, a suspected drug kingpin in the Jamaican capital of Kingston, has resulted in the arrests of more than 500 people and the confiscation of firearms and ammunition.


In the Kingston neighborhoods of Tivoli Gardens and Denham Town, street battles raged between security forces and Coke's supporters, and the violence has unnerved the area.


Deputy Police Commissioner Glenmore Hinds said 73 bodies have been recovered, but six of them might have died in unrelated incidents. He said Coke has not been arrested.


The government said it is making arrangements for news reporters to enter the conflict zone, and it issued comments from business leaders backing the security operation because it could bring down crime.


The OAS commission, meanwhile, has "requested urgent information" from Jamaica on the deaths and measures it is taking to "minimize the loss of life" and investigate the situation.





Video: Jamaica violence



Video: Jamaica violence continues
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• Jamaica

It has raised concerns about "the legitimate use of force" used by security forces.


"Case law of the Inter-American System of Human Rights has made it clear that agents of the State have the obligation to enforce the law and maintain order even when the process involves, in some cases, death or bodily injury as a result of the proportional use of force.


"Furthermore, the force used must not be excessive. When excessive force is used, personal integrity is not respected, and all loss of life that results is arbitrary. The IACHR urges the State of Jamaica to adopt all necessary measures to guarantee the right to life, integrity, and security of all persons."


It also said that the state of emergency declared in Kingston should be "commensurate to the situation and should not involve any type of discrimination" and "conducted in a manner that conforms to Jamaica's obligations under the American Convention on Human Rights."


Coke -- who has a heroic reputation in Kingston's slums -- has been likened to Robin Hood and Jesus because he has helped the community by handing out food, sending children to school and building medical centers. But drug enforcement officials say he deserves to be classified as one of the world's most dangerous drug lords.


He was charged last year in U.S. federal court with conspiracy to distribute marijuana and cocaine and with conspiracy to illegally traffic in firearms. The U.S. attorney's office in New York, which accused him of leading an international criminal syndicate known as the "Shower Posse," has asked for his extradition.

[American Patriot]

Jamaica: 73 killed in hunt for alleged drug lord


(AP) – 1 hour ago


KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaican police say at least 73 people have died as security force hunt for a reputed drug lord wanted by the United States.


Deputy Police Chief Glenmore Hinds says all the deaths have occurred as police raided the Tivoli Gardens stronghold of Christopher Coke. Officials previously said that 44 civilians had died.


Information Minister Daryl Vaz said Thursday that officials are trying to identify the victims and that the government will launch independent investigations into all police actions.


Vas has said it is unclear whether Coke is still in Jamaica.


The U.S. is seeking his extradition and called him one of the world's most dangerous drug traffickers.

[American Patriot]

The Americas

Jamaican Drug Lord Seeks Extradition Deal With U.S. After Bloody Battles, 73 Dead


Published May 27, 2010
| NewsCore



AP


May 26: Police officers stand guard near the emergency room entrance of the national hospital in Kingston, Jamaica.



Desperate to end the bloodbath on the streets of Kingston from four days of shootouts between Jamaican security forces and supporters of a fugitive drug lord, U.S. officials are negotiating his surrender to face federal cocaine trafficking and gun-running charges, the New York Post reported Thursday.



The lawyer of accused drug kingpin Christopher "Dudus" Coke was in contact with U.S. authorities about a voluntary extradition, a source said.


The source speculated that Coke wanted to avoid being killed by Jamaican police and troops who were attacking his stronghold in the capital city.

At least 73 people were killed in Kingston since Monday, Jamaican police said, as authorities stormed a slum where Coke resides after Prime Minister Bruce Golding decided to extradite him to face trial in New York after months of opposing such a move.


Most of the dead were young men, gang supporters of Coke, who were killed when heavily armed security forces stormed the Tivoli Gardens slum that U.S. prosecutors said served as a "garrison" for his supporters.


Up to 500 people were detained in connection with the search for Coke, reputed head of a criminal organization known as the Shower Posse, which murdered hundreds of people by "showering" them with bullets during the 1980s cocaine wars.


"Security forces are under extreme pressure now," said Mark Shields, Jamaica's former deputy police commissioner, who now runs a private security firm. "We have urban war going on."


Click here to read more on this story from the New York Post.

[American Patriot]

Target of bloody raid may have left Jamaica: gov't

By DAVID McFADDEN (AP) – 21 hours ago

KINGSTON, Jamaica — After a slum raid that left nearly 50 people dead in four days of gunbattles, the reputed drug kingpin who was the target may have fled the country, the government said Wednesday.

Strongman Christopher Coke, who helped the prime minister win elected office, had months to stockpile weapons in his slum stronghold while the premier wavered over U.S. demands for his extradition.

"I could not say if he is in Jamaica," Information Minister Daryl Vaz said of Coke, who is known as "Dudus." "It's very difficult to tell."

Police and soldiers who fought their way into the barricaded Tivoli Gardens slum in gritty West Kingston were conducting a door-to-door search, and the government reported calm Wednesday. Coke's lawyer has declined to confirm his whereabouts.

Gray smoke was rising from recently extinguished fires inside Tivoli Gardens. Sporadic gunfire rang out elsewhere in West Kingston and security forces barred journalists from entering the battle zones around the capital on Jamaica's south coast, far from the tourist resorts on the north shore of the Caribbean island.

The violence did not surprise island police and community groups who warned that Coke had been stockpiling weapons and preparing to defend himself since the U.S. demanded his extradition last August. According to the U.S. indictment, he has built a private arsenal of firearms smuggled in by gang members in the United States, sharing guns with other criminals to solidify his power as a major underworld boss.

"The situation at Tivoli is dreadful, but it's been something that's been simmering for a long, long time. And everybody knew that if they made the move for Coke that there would be trouble," said Susan Goffe, spokeswoman for local human rights group Jamaicans for Justice.

At least 44 civilians have been killed, said Bishop Herro Blair, Jamaica's most prominent evangelical pastor, who was escorted into the slum by security forces. At least four soldiers and police officers also have died in the fighting.

Jamaican politicians and gang leaders who control ghetto fiefdoms have had cozy ties for decades. Political parties created Jamaica's street gangs in the 1970s to rustle up votes. Since then, the gangs have turned to drug trafficking, but they remain staunchly and often violently loyal to their parties and live in poor neighborhoods called "garrisons."

The slum presided over by Coke, the alleged leader of the "Shower Posse" gang, has long been a bastion of support for the governing Jamaica Labor Party. It is part of the district represented in parliament by Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who stonewalled the U.S. extradition request for months before reversing himself under pressure from Washington and the local political opposition.

Golding disputes the allegation that his party is close to Coke, and he is not known to have a personal relationship with Coke. But political observers say he could not have been elected to his parliament seat without the gang leader's support. A former prime minister from the same party, Edward Seaga, marched at the funeral of Coke's father, the gang leader known as Jim Brown, who died in a prison fire in 1992 while awaiting extradition to the U.S. on drug charges.

"There is a widespread perception that Coke is closely linked to the dominant JLP as evident in Golding's prevarication, maneuvering and ultimately dissembling on the matter of the extradition and on the related sideshow," said Brian Meeks, a professor at Jamaica's University of the West Indies.

Police rarely, if ever, patrol inside Coke's slum. The last time they attempted to assert control inside Tivoli Gardens, in 2001, clashes between gunmen and security forces killed 25 civilians, a soldier and a constable. Former police officials have said officers receive subtle messages to stay out of certain areas controlled by politically connected gang leaders.

Washington supports Jamaica's efforts to capture Coke. A federal indictment in New York accuses Coke of trafficking marijuana and cocaine to the U.S., and the U.S. Justice Department has named Coke one of the world's most dangerous drug kingpins.

"We support the bold steps taken by the government of Jamaica to enforce rule of law, protect its democracy, and combat the destabilizing effects of drug trafficking and related criminal activity," said Virginia Staab, a State Department spokeswoman.

The 41-year-old Coke, also known as "general" and "president," allegedly relied on a band of gunmen to keep control of Tivoli Gardens. He solidified his authority by dispensing charity and street justice in an area with little government presence.

Vaz, the information minister, said bosses like Coke have been able to thrive in part because Jamaica has failed the desperately poor slums.

"The necessary financial commitments have never been provided in these neighborhoods. That vacuum has been filled by these criminal elements," he said.

The 44 civilians killed inside the bullet-scarred slum were mostly males under age 30, said public defender Earl Witter, who toured the slum with Bishop Blair to probe for any human rights violations. In comments to the Jamaica Observer, he said they did not see any signs of abuses.

Since security forces occupied Tivoli Gardens, Vaz said the government has been delivering food and medicine to hundreds of needy residents.

But some slum residents complained that outsiders are not getting the full picture and victims are not receiving medical treatment in time.

One woman in Hannah Town, where fighting has been intense, told Radio Jamaica that a body of a local man known as "Prince" was just outside her home.

"He's lying in the gutter on our street," she said, her voice heavy with emotion.

Some observers say Coke could end up helping Jamaicans root out government corruption — if he's captured alive.

"If Coke is killed, the chances are very slim. If he sings and implicates members of both parties the hand of civil society will be strengthened to raise calls for a complete overhaul, including constitutional reform," said Barry Chevannes, a professor of social anthropology at the University of the West Indies.

Associated Press Writer Mike Melia in San Juan, Puerto Rico, contributed to this report.

[American Patriot]

Last updated: 27 may, 2010 - 09:58 GMT

Christopher 'Dudus' Coke: A profile



A stand-off is continuing in the Jamaican capital Kingston, between the security forces who are searching for an alleged drug lord wanted in the United States, and armed members of his gang.



The authorities say they have detained more than 500 people, but there is still no sign of Mr Coke




Forty-four people have been killed in clashes between the two sides since soldiers and police moved in on Monday to the deprived neighbourhood where Christopher "Dudus" Coke was said to be hiding.


Mr Coke is wanted for extradition by the US on drug and gun-running charges. His supporters have said they will protect him at any cost.


The BBC's Nina Robinson has just returned from Kingston and looks at the man central to the current unrest in the country.