Hay-Webster sides with JLP on 'detention law'
Published:Wednesday | July 20, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter
Independent Member of Parliament (MP) Sharon Hay-Webster yesterday voted with Government members to secure the extension of a piece of legislation which gives the police power to arrest suspected criminals without charge for up to 72 hours.
Hay-Webster, who recently resigned from the Opposition People's National Party (PNP), said siding with her former party would amount to gross dereliction of duty.
"I speak in defence of the many citizens' lives that have been protected because of these interim acts that we have done," said Hay-Webster, who represents the volatile south central St Catherine said.
"I could not vote against this interim act extension because I believe it is for the protection of life and property, and I vote for that for my people," she added.
Justice Minister Delroy Chuck, in moving the resolution, said the police needed the measure to help keep a lid on dangerous crimes.
He said the act has been "a critical tool employed by the Jamaica Constabulary Force in reducing serious crimes and it is, therefore, expected that an extension of the duration of the act will contribute further to the reduction of serious crimes".
Law offends Constitution
But in protest, Opposition members, led by National Security Spokesman Peter Bunting, said the law offends the Constitution.
According to Bunting, the law which the Government was seeking to extend, breached the constitutional rights of citizens who are protected from arbitrary arrest.
He said statistics provided by the police suggested that persons were being kept longer than 72 hours before being charged and that, in one case, an individual was detained for 42 days before charge.
"What this confirms is that the extension of the period of detention without charge, from 24 to 72 hours, was really an attempt to legitimise arbitrariness in the whole process of arrest and detention," Bunting said.
He argued that young men of poor backgrounds were being subjected to unfair treatment by the police because they are clothed with the legislation and presented statistics which showed that convictions in the courts last year did not increase.
"Arbitrary arrest and detention are being used to harass the citizens of this country and doubling arrests has not resulted in any more convictions in the country," Bunting said.
Similarly, Central Kingston MP Ronald Thwaites, in opposing the measure said "fighting crime does not require the breach of constitutional rights".
He was supported by East Hanover Opposition MP DK Duncan who Central St Catherine Government member Olivia Grange would accuse of hypocrisy, saying he was a key member of the PNP when she was arrested for seven months under a 1976 state of emergency.
A betrayal of the police
Grange's government colleague, Dr Horace Chang, said it would be a betrayal of the police if Parliament removes the legislation.
Human-rights lobby Jamaicans For Justice had opposed the extension of the interim measure, saying the statistics do not support the need for such draconian laws.
With the extension, the police will be able to continue taking people into custody while refusing to charge them up to 72 hours. The legislation is to expire on July 22 next year.
Chuck has promised to be a vigilant minister in ensuring the rights of Jamaicans are not abused under the law.
"We must encourage and assure the police that they must go out there and when they have reasonable grounds for detaining persons, detain them and charge them within a reasonable time," Chuck said.
Twenty MPs voted 'yes' to the extension, while 14 said no. Twenty-five MPs were absent.