KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) Chief of Defence Staff, Major General Antony Anderson, was severely criticised, yesterday, by members of a joint select committee of Parliament reviewing the INDECOM Act, for the suggestion that the army should not be subjected to the Act.
Major General Anderson earned the wrath of the members after indicating that Jamaica should follow the cue of countries like Northern Ireland and South Africa, which subject their armies to investigations by the police, instead of an “ombudsman”.But, Opposition MP Delroy Chuck pointed out that Jamaica’s situation was different from that which obtains in Northern Ireland and South Africa. He noted that while the practice in Jamaica is for the army to support the police in anti-crime operations, the army and the police are combined in those countries.“The JDF is frequently called on, especially in volatile communities and regrettably things happen and human rights are abused. I can’t see it (the Act) not including the JDF,” the opposition’s spokesman on national security said.He was supported by Opposition Senator, Tom Tavares Finson, who said that the British army would not subject itself to oversight in Northern Ireland, while the South African army has not subjected itself to oversight since the days of apartheid.“You must recognise that people are not going to sit by and allow you to continue to operate in the way that you did in the past. It is not going to happen,” Tavares Finson said.Government Senator Lambert Brown pointed to the JDF’s history of conflict with the public, in terms of operations like Green Bay in the 1970s, which led to the need for oversight.He also noted that the Prime Minister heads the Defence Board, to which the JDF can make their complaints, if they felt their activities were being affected. Government Senator Wensworth Skeffery asked the Chief of Staff, how the JDF expected to deal with the perception that it does not wish to be subjected to any investigations outside its ranks, and wanted to perpetuate a culture of being above any such intervention.Anderson claimed that the JDF was only asking that the committee look at the discrepancies between the Defence Act and the INDECOM Act and give consideration to its positions on the issues.“The fact is that we have never been concerned about being investigated independently, or holding our people accountable for what they do or being held accountable,” the chief of staff said.He said that, while the JDF had highlighted the issue of exclusion in its written submission to the committee, he had deliberately not highlighted it in his oral presentation, Thursday. However, he insisted that there was a problem in terms of how INDECOM handles its reports.But, INDECOM Commissioner, Terrence Williams, insisted that there was no need for the JDF to have concerns about the report. He said that INDECOM’s practice has always been to send an advanced copy to both the JDF and the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), seeking their response.He said that this gives both arms of the security forces an opportunity to comment and suggest changes prior to their release.“If it is that they were to say, change a paragraph, and we say, no, they could take it to the court or seek a judicial review of our decision,” Williams said.
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JDF softens stand on INDECOM oversight
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Former Jamaica tourism minister Daryl Vaz (Image credit: Flickr)