Parliament urged to mandate JCF to release info on SOE detainees
Published:Wednesday | April 12, 2023 | 1:33 AM
The Office of the Public Defender (OPD) wants Parliament to mandate the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) to provide information on persons held in detention by the security forces during states of emergencies (SOEs).
The recommendation comes against the background of an apparent showdown between the ODP and the Legal Affairs Division of the JCF, who traded missives on whether the former had the right to obtain information from the latter.
“Such a mandate ought to be in writing, much the same way matters like the composition of the Emergency Review Tribunal, or the secretariat thereto, are elevated to writing,” Herbert McKenzie, deputy public defender, said in a written submission to the Internal and External Affairs Committee (IEA) of Parliament.
According to McKenzie, following the ODP’s presentation to the IEA committee on the 2018 SOEs, the JCF took issue with the figures and numbers presented by the public defender.
He noted that following that presentation, the JCF stated publicly that the information supplied by the public defender “was meant to demean the police”.
“This position, articulated by the St James [Police] Division, was published in the media, and there was no distancing of the JCF High Command from that sentiment. In fact, the JCF Legal Affairs Division also took issue with the figures presented by the public defender,” he said.
McKenzie argued that in the wake of that encounter, subsequent requests by the OPD to some police divisions for data on detainees during SOEs, yielded information which, effectively, were conclusions by the police instead of the raw data as was provided in the 2018 SOEs.
“The JCF’s conclusions do not help the public defender. The public defender requires the raw data from which the OPD can do its own analyses,” McKenzie said.
The deputy public defender cited an example of when the OPD requested information on five persons who were taken into custody and being held at the Kingston Central Police Station in November 2021 during the SOE that was declared on November 14, 2021.
Kingston Central was one of seven police divisions in which SOEs were declared on that particular occasion.
REASONS FOR DETENTION
In a letter dated November 19, 2021, then Public Defender Arlene Harrison Henry wrote to Maldria Jones-Williams, superintendent of police at the Kingston Central Police Station, to ascertain the reasons for the detention of the five persons.
In a November 22, 2021, response, Williams confirmed the detention of the five, adding that they were held under Regulation 33 of the Emergency Powers Regulations, 2021.
However, Harrison Henry penned another letter, dated November 22, requesting “notice of detention” as well as the “necessary particulars of detention, along with the request made in our letter … ”.
The public defender also wrote the JCF, reminding it of her statutory remit relating to the protection of the constitutional rights of all Jamaicans, including detainees. Harrison Henry urged the police to furnish the OPD with the list of all persons taken into custody, whether released or detained. She stressed the importance of including the date each person had been taken into custody, the reason for detention, the name of the investigating officer, the date of the release, and the place of detention.
The letter was copied to Williams.
The subsequent missive came from Alethia Whyte, director of the JCF’s Legal Affairs Division, who asked the public defender to state under which section of the Public Defender (Interim) Act she was requesting notice of detention and particulars of detention for the five detainees.
Whyte told the public defender that the five detainees had retained the services of counsel and the other four had been provided with legal aid lawyers.
Responding, Harrison Henry highlighted a litany of provisions in the Public Defender (Interim) Act detailing the powers of the office to request and obtain information.
While expressing gratitude for an update that the detainees had secured legal representation, the then-public defender argued that “the relevance of that information to my request for the documents escapes me”.
Although acknowledging that the public defender is conferred with investigative powers, the JCF’s Legal Affairs Division director argued that there were exemptions to the exercise of those powers.
“The exemption to investigating a matter under Section 13(1)(a)(i) is found at Section 13(2)(a) of the act, which specifically prevents the public defender from investigating matters in respect of which the complainant has or had a remedy by way of proceedings in any court or in any tribunal constituted by or under any other act,” Whyte declared.