Tivoli report didn't hold citizens culpable - Lawyer

An attorney who participated in the West Kingston Commission of Enquiry has criticised the commissioners for not holding residents of Tivoli Gardens responsible for playing any role in the 2010 police-military operation.

The West Kingston Commission of Enquiry Report was released on Tuesday and examines the circumstances under which over 70 Jamaicans were killed in 2010 as security forces tried to capture then fugitive Christopher 'Dudus' Coke.

The report found among other things that there was excessive use of force by the Jamaica Constabulary Force and the Jamaica Defence Force.

Attorney Peter Champagnie who represented the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) during the enquiry, says he appreciates the recommendations the report makes to the state and security forces.

READ: Full report - The West Kingston Commission of Enquiry 

But Champagnie says he is saddened the report didn't find Tivoli residents culpable in any way.

Champagnie says the report should have highlighted the culture of  silence among Tivoli residents which allowed criminality to thrive and which he says also contributed to the 2010 operation.

Champagnie says the West Kingston Commission of Enquiry was to examine the full circumstances that led to the 2010 operation.

However, he says the report gives the impression that the enquiry was solely to appease residents of Tivoli Gardens.

An examination of the recommendations in The West Kingston Commission of Enquiry shows that most of them are directed at the state and interventions it can use to prevent a reoccurrence of the  May 2010 Tivoli incursion.

Among them is a recommendation for an apology from the state as well as compensation.