United States imposes visa sanctions on former CMU cops, relatives

Damion Mitchell/Integration Editor

The United States Department of State has imposed visa sanctions on six former members of the disbanded Crime Management Unit (CMU) of the Jamaica police force.

The sanctions have also extended to the immediate family members of the six former cops.

“These actions reflect our ongoing commitment to disrupt, deter, and promote accountability of perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses wherever and whenever they occur,” said an official in a statement on the website of the US State Department.

The State Department made the announcement on Thursday to coincide with International Anti-Corruption Day and International Human Rights Day.

According to the State Department, the six former CMU members were involved in extrajudicial killings.

One US official has reported that the sanctions are usually tied to new evidence or as a result of new visa applications.

In 2003 the Reneto Adams-led CMU was disbanded following allegations that the squad was involved in extrajudicial executions.

A year later, Adams was taken off active duty pending the outcome of the trial for him and five other CMU cops for the murder of four people in Kraal, Clarendon.

In December 2005, the cops were all acquitted in the Home Circuit Court in what Adams had described as the mother of all trials.

Months later, the cops learned that their visas had been cancelled and they turned up at the US Embassy in Kingston to enquire.

At the time, the cops were told that their visas had been revoked because they had been determined to be ineligible to travel.

However, they were told that they could reapply.

But Adams was reported as saying it was not that important to him as he had only once travelled to the US.

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