North America & Oceania

Jamaican Leaders in Support of Colonial Anti-Sodomy Law

05 March 2009

Jamaican Leaders in Support of Colonial Anti-Sodomy Law

By Karla E General
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding has announced his support for the anti-sodomy law that has been on the books since British colonial rule, over 145 years. Golding’s decision flies in the face of international pressures from human rights organizations calling for the repeal of the sodomy act. He stated to Parliament: “We are not going to yield to the pressure, whether that pressure comes from individual organizations, individuals, whether that pressure comes from foreign governments or groups of countries, to liberalize the law as it relates to buggery.” Fellow member of Parliament Ernest Smith took the anti-gay sentiment one step further, suggesting life sentences for homosexuality and the prosecution of LGBT rights groups in Jamaica under the country’s law “against conspiring to corrupt public morals.”

The law banning gay sex dates back to British colonial rule, a colonizing country that has since abolished the law and urged former colonies to do the same. Under the current law, gay sex is punishable by up to seven years in prison. The law itself is buttressed by government inaction and refusal to prosecute for hate crimes and violence directed at the gay community in Jamaica. More than thirty gay men have been murdered since 1997, with only a select few cases being brought to trial. Human Rights Watch has cited Jamaica as having the worst record of any country in the Western hemisphere in its treatment of gays and lesbians. HRW has noted that victims of violence are reluctant to appeal to police for protection because the police themselves have been known to harass and attack men perceived to be homosexual. The police are also known to actively support violence and fail to investigate complaints of abuse.

Golding has also been criticized for his refusal to allow gays in his Cabinet.

For more information, please see:

Miami Herald – Jamaica Leader Vows to Keep Anti-Sodomy Law – 4 March 2009

MSN News – Jamaica PM Vows to Maintain Anti-Sodomy Law Regardless of Criticism from International Groups – 4 March 2009

365 Gay – Jamaica PM Stands Firm on Sodomy Law – 4 March 2009

Human Rights Watch – Hated to Death – 15 November 2004

Prison Deaths Result from Inadequate Treatment of Mentally Ill Inmates

04 March 2009

Prison Deaths Result from Inadequate Treatment of Mentally Ill Inmates

By Maria E. Molina
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

OTTAWA, Canada – The Correctional Service of Canada broke its own regulations by holding a troubled inmate in solitary confinement for most of the year she spent in federal prisons before she killed herself.

In a critical report, Correctional Investigator Howard Sapers detailed how repeated bureaucratic failures contributed to the death of a teen who choked herself in her cell in 2007. Guards confused about response policy waited about 25 minutes to call for medical help after they noticed she was choking. They did not immediately check the teen’s vital signs or offer first aid after finally cutting the material from her neck.

The story is one that continues a disturbing and a well-documented pattern of deaths in custody which are the result of under-resources and disjointed correctional and mental-health-care system. The torment of mentally ill inmates who only get sicker behind bars is a growing problem that a buckling corrections system can’t handle.

The correctional service is assessing patients earlier, directing more resources to treatment and training staff better, but many of those changes are new, and it is unclear how well they’re working.  Prisons need to work federal and provincial health and justice and corrections officials to come up with a national strategy.

The health system’s failure to cope with the mentally ill has led to many ending up in jail.
Activists have argued that it is harder for mentally ill individuals who are sent to jails to get into the treatment facilities they really need, and that what is really needed are programs to ensure mentally ill people who break the law are diverted to treatment, rather than prisons.  Correctional facilities are not the facilities to deliver mental-health care. The government needs to ensure the mentally ill don’t get into those facilities in the first place.

For more information, please see:

National Post – System-wide failures led to Ontario teen’s prison suicide: report – 3 March 2009

The Canadian Press – Teen’s prison death ‘entirely preventable’: watchdog – 3 March 2009

The Globe and Mail – Instructed to curtail crushing red tape, guards watched girl die in her cell – 3 March 2009

The Globe and Mail – Systemic failures led to teen’s prison death: report – 3 March 2009

Freed Detainee Tells About Torture by U.S.

By Gabrielle Meury
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America
LONDON, U.K.- Binyam Mohamed, a former British resident, arrived in London on Monday after his release from Guantanamo Bay. Mohamed is the first Guantanamo detainee to be released during the Obama administration. Mohamed is a native of Ethiopia who immigrated to Britain in 1994, was arrested in Pakistan in April 2002 and turned over to U.S. authorities a few months later. American officials accused him of traveling to Afghanistan to fight with the Taliban, which he has repeatedly denied. He was initially charged with plotting to detonate a radioactive “dirty bomb” in the United States and later with conspiring with members of al-Qaeda to murder and commit terrorism. All of the charges were eventually dropped.  The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been petitioning the U.S. government for Mohamed’s return since August 2007.
Mohamed stated, “It is still difficult for me to believe that I was abducted, hauled from one country to the next, and tortured in medieval ways — all orchestrated by the United States government.” Mohamed also stated that U.S. officials flew him to Morocco and that he was tortured there for 18 months. He said he was beaten and had his penis cut with a razor. He said he was then transferred to a CIA-run site in Afghanistan and was beaten there regularly before being moved to Guantanamo in September 2004.
U.S. officials have never acknowledged taking Mohamed to Morocco; Moroccan officials deny having held him. U.S. officials have also repeatedly denied torturing terrorism suspects.
Also in contention is the Pentagon’s recent review of conditions at Guantanamo. The Pentagon found that “all detainees are well protected from violence.” Adm. Patrick M. Walsh, the vice chief of naval operations, led a 13-day investigation at the military prison, interviewing staff and detainees and conducting announced and unannounced inspections round the clock. Human rights and civil liberties groups challenged Walsh’s findings. They have said that solitary confinement has led to the deterioration of the physical and psychological health of detainees, some of whom are force-fed because they are on hunger strikes.
A spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, the only organization with unfettered access to the prisoners, said the group supports the recommendations for increased socialization for all detainees but disagreed with Walsh’s conclusion that force-feeding is in compliance with the Geneva Conventions.
For more information, please see:
Washington Post- Freed detainee in U.K. tells of abuse by U.S.- 24 February 2009
Associated Press- Former Guatanamo detainee enjoying freedom in UK- 24 February 2009
BBC News-  Release Binyam torture data– 24 February 2009

Vestiges of Slavery Alive in the Caribbean

By Karla E General
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America


POINTE-A-PITRE, Guadeloupe – The Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe have seen turmoil in the past month due to protests over extremely low wages and high living costs. The weeks long protests are in response to the pervasive level of inequality in the economy of the islands with just one percent of the population, known as the bekes (the primarily white, elite slaveholder descendants), owning most of the industries and sources of economic clout in the islands. Many demonstrators, mostly afro-Caribbeans, believe that their current dire circumstances are a manifestation of the legacy of racism and slavery on the French colony islands.

France dispatched 450 riot police to tame the protests that have been characterized by gunfire, looting, arson, and the death of longtime activist and union member Jacques Bino, who was shot and killed in a housing project in Point-a-Pitre. Three police officers were also reported injured, one of whom was shot in the eye. Protest leader Domota said the violence was prompted by the police, who have been accused of harassing protestors with racist insults.

The social and economic disparities between the two groups runs deep according to recent statistics, with an unemployment rate of 23 percent and a poverty rate of 12 percent, compared to 8 percent and 6 percent, respectively, on the overseas mainland of France.

Serge Romana, president of an association commemorating the abolition of slavery in the French territories, has said that French President Nicholas Sarkozy “must absolutely abolish all traces of neocolonialism and vestiges of slavery in the overseas regions.” This call for respect and equality has barriers in systemic processes, however, as beke Jean-Luc de Laguarigue has said: “Tensions have festered over generations because France and its islands have not explored the painful past…The protests are not a call for war, but for dignity.” He noted there was no known slavery museum in France and the subject is pretty much taboo in the educational system.

On Sarkozy’s part, he promised a $250 monthly raise for low-income workers and a lowering of prices on 100 products by 20 percent. Protest leaders and government officials are currently negotiating for lower housing, gasoline, water and electricity costs.

For more information, please see:

Houston Chronicle – Unrest in France’s Carribbean Islands Claims 1 – 18 February 2009

Associated Press – Unrest in Carribbean Has Roots in Slavery Past – 22 February 2009

Star Tribune –  On Martinique and Guadeloupe, Anger Over Soaring Living Costs Has Roots in Past Slavery – 22 February 2009

United States’ Lax Gun Laws Play Major Role in Mexico Violence

By Maria E. Molina
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

MEXICO CITY, Mexico – Guns and ammunition going to Mexico from the United States has been fueling a war between drug cartels and law enforcement — a war that left thousands dead last year.

More than 5,000 people were murdered in Mexico last year alone, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and 95 percent of the weapons recovered from those killings were traced back to the U.S. This is because it’s easier to buy guns in the U.S. and smuggle them across the border than it is to get them in Mexico.

Guns are coming to Mexico from all over the U.S. The weapons and ammunition are being bought mostly from licensed dealers. Any adult with a valid ID and no criminal record can buy as many as he or she wants.

Another part of the problem is that the United States does not enforce a ban on importing assault weapons. The ban was implemented under the administrations of President George H.W. Bush and President Bill Clinton, and the U.S. government can enforce it under provisions of the 1968 Gun Control Act.  Many such guns are later smuggled south to arm Mexico’s ruthless drug cartels. The guns come to the United States from Europe and other places, and they make their way down to Mexico.

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF, has quietly abandoned the ban in recent years. The ATF declined to comment.  Mexico has long demanded that the U.S. do more to stop the flow of weapons south.

For more information, please see:

NPR – Guns From U.S. Play Key Role In Mexican Violence – 20 February 2009

Forth Worth Star Telegram – U.S. lawmakers want ban on importing assault weapons enforced – 19 February 2009

Associated Press – Lawmakers: US must enforce assault-gun import ban – 18 February 2009