JAMAICA: ANTI-CRIME PROTEST RECEIVES MIXED REACTION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINGSTON 001349

SIPDIS

WHA/CAR FOR W. BENT, INL/LP FOR K. BROWN AND N. BOZZOLO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/26/2014
TAGS: PREL PGOV KCRM SNAR JM
SUBJECT: JAMAICA: ANTI-CRIME PROTEST RECEIVES MIXED REACTION

REF: KINGSTON 01337

Classified By: CDA RONALD S. ROBINSON FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D).


1. (U) Summary: Across the island, there was mixed reaction
as well as turnout to the Private Sector Organization of
Jamaica's (PSOJ) May 25 call for businesses to close down in
a show of solidarity against the escalating crime rate. Most
private sector businesses supported the idea of reduction in
crime but many doubted that this public rally would secure
any real progress towards that goal. Some members of society
commented in frustration that it is unfortunate that this
rally was called only after a prominent member of society was
killed, referring to the murders of businessmen Maurice Azan
and Lloyd Phang. (Ref A) End Summary.


2. (U) In Kingston, there was a turnout of perhaps a thousand
people at the May 25, Emancipation Park rally, where
President of the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica
(PSOJ),Beverly Lopez presented the 12-point 2005 Declaration
of Emancipation Park which stated in part: "All 60 members
of the House of Representatives and officers of all the
political parties, must sever and publicly declare in writing
by June 15, 2005, a commitment to disassociate themselves and
their constituency organizations from gunmen, dismantle
garrisons and disassociate themselves from any association
with criminals or the acceptance of any financial or other
support from criminal elements." Lopez did not elaborate on
what actions would be taken if the demands were not met. The
crowd composed largely of what appeared to be white-collar
workers and merchants, as well as a smaller - but not
insignificant number of working class and poor Jamaicans.


3. (U) In a May 25 statement in support of the PSOJ protest,
the Prime Minister stated in part, "Today must mark the end
of the blame game. People may have different opinions about
how we have come to this and how we can improve the
effectiveness of our security forces and policing
capabilities. However, there can be no disagreement that the
level of brutality and savagery that we see in the murders
that are committed is frightening." Opposition Spokesman on
National Security Derrick Smith also welcomed the
demonstration, stating in Parliament on May 25 that "The
organization (PSOJ) has the full support of the Opposition in
their protest for bringing forcefully to government the
problems of the day," and that this would show the government
"that they have failed miserably in bringing crime and
violence down to tolerable levels."


4. (U) Although there were hundreds that turned out to
support this initiative in Kingston, the protest received
mixed reactions across the island. In Negril, fewer than 50
people turned up for the planned two-hour prayer and
fellowship event. In other parishes, there was no planned
gathering but some key merchants reacted positively to the
lockdown. There were a number of statements made to the
media that this event, while encouraging, should not have
taken the death of a prominent businessman to come about.
There were some merchants that did not fully support the
event, commenting that "nothing will come of it", but stated
they felt it was their duty to close their doors for at least
a few hours.


5. (SBU) Following a morning seminar on e-commerce on May 25,
Econoff discussed the PSOJ initiative with several attendees
of the seminar. Nadine Schroeter, Customer Relations Manager
for DHL supported the initiative in general, but didn't
expect any real results to come from it. She opined that the
call for the politicians to cut their ties to the criminals
has come too late, as the gangs have grown beyond their
political connections and are self-supporting within their
geographic strongholds. Stating she would support a GOJ
effort to "get rid of the problem people", Schroeter lamented
that, "there's no legal way to do that." Keith Collister,
former President of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce and
prominent financier, stated he did not expect any concrete
results from the PSOJ initiative, which he characterized as
being driven more by an emotional reaction to several recent
high-profile killings, rather than by strategic
considerations.


6. (SBU) Offering a more positive outlook on the initiative,
Anthony Chang, Managing Director of the Falcon Corporation,
spoke strongly in support of the initiative. He said that
there are presently many small groups in Jamaica advocating
for change, but that their efforts are individually weak and
uncoordinated. He stated that he hopes the rally and
subsequent activities organized by the PSOJ will lead to
these groups coalescing into a centralized anti-crime
advocacy group. In his opinion, the whole of Jamaican
society and culture need to change before the crime problem
can be properly or successfully addressed.

7. (SBU) Milton Samuda, a partner at the law firm of Myers,
Fletcher and Gordon, was also strongly supportive of the PSOJ
initiative, stating that the protest might serve as a wake-up
call for Jamaican society, which has become inured to the
pervasive crime and violence across the island. He opined
that efforts like Operation Kingfish (Note: Operation
Kingfish is the GOJ's anti-crime initiative that is based on
intelligence gathering to apprehend criminals. End Note.)
will not have the desired effects of reducing crime, because
any leading figures that are arrested or killed will be
replaced by others so long as the country's society and
infrastructure support criminal enterprises. Samuda stated
that extortionists have become role-models for the youth, and
that the country is developing a worrisome gun culture. He
would like to see the PSOJ initiative urge people into action
behind the "enough is enough" bandwagon, and thereby push the
GOJ to take decisive action towards reform.


8. (SBU) At the rally itself, Econoff spoke with a
representative of Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ),who explained
that their organization hopes to use the PSOJ initiative to
publicize their own agenda. JFJ literature being distributed
at the event called for the GOJ to be held accountable for
its inactivity on the recommendations made in 2001 by the
bipartisan National Committee on Crime and Violence. These
recommendations generally cover rebuilding the moral
authority of elected officials; providing more investment for
community development; and enacting new legislation to deal
more effectively with hardened criminals. Further
discussions with the JFJ representative (who declined to give
his name),revealed a general sense of dissatisfaction with
the whole structure of government - a feeling that the
Westminster model of government leads to a lack of
accountability and an absence of real choices at election
time. He also expressed frustration with the inefficient
procedures and antiquated methods and technologies used by
the law enforcement system - including both the Jamaica
Constabulary Force (JCF) and the backlogged court system.


9. (C) Comment: Despite the exhortatory remarks expressed at
the rally, the business community in Jamaica seems to have
little hope that the GOJ will be spurred to any significant
action by the PSOJ initiative. The tangible accomplishments
they hope for center around the creation of a strong private
advocacy group that can use its resources to energize a
grassroots movement among the electorate. The general
consensus is that the crime problem is inextricably
intertwined with the current standards and attitudes of
Jamaican society, and that the problem can not be dealt with
except by changing social mores. End Comment.

ROBINSON