Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08KINGSTON538
2008-06-11 16:58:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Kingston
Cable title:  

JAMAICA: HEADS OF KEY DONOR COUNTRY MISSIONS DISCUSS

Tags:  ASEC JM KCRM PGOV PHUM PREL SNAR SOCI UNDP XL 
pdf how-to read a cable
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TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6455
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RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0477
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RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0133
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KINGSTON 000538 

SIPDIS, SENSITIVE

STATE FOR WHA/CAR - JOE TILGHMAN
INL/LP - NATALIA BOZZOLO
TREASURY FOR ERIN NEPHEW

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNARPGOVPRELPHUMSOCIASECKCRMUNDPJMXL
SUBJECT: JAMAICA: HEADS OF KEY DONOR COUNTRY MISSIONS DISCUSS
DETERIORATING CRIME AND VIOLENCE SITUATION

REF: (A) KINGSTON 513 (061451Z JUN 08)(NOTAL)

(B) KINGSTON 421 (131527Z MAY 08)(NOTAL)
(C) KINGSTON 228 (141150Z MAR 08)(NOTAL
(D) KINGSTON 457 (212044Z MAY 08)(NOTAL)
(E) KINGSTON 417 (NOTAL)

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KINGSTON 000538

SIPDIS, SENSITIVE

STATE FOR WHA/CAR - JOE TILGHMAN
INL/LP - NATALIA BOZZOLO
TREASURY FOR ERIN NEPHEW

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNARPGOVPRELPHUMSOCIASECKCRMUNDPJMXL
SUBJECT: JAMAICA: HEADS OF KEY DONOR COUNTRY MISSIONS DISCUSS
DETERIORATING CRIME AND VIOLENCE SITUATION

REF: (A) KINGSTON 513 (061451Z JUN 08)(NOTAL)

(B) KINGSTON 421 (131527Z MAY 08)(NOTAL)
(C) KINGSTON 228 (141150Z MAR 08)(NOTAL
(D) KINGSTON 457 (212044Z MAY 08)(NOTAL)
(E) KINGSTON 417 (NOTAL)


1. (SBU): Summary: At a June 10 breakfast hosted by UNDP
representative Minh Pham to discuss the deteriorating crime and
violence situation in Jamaica, heads of key donor country missions
and UN agencies agreed that the international community in Jamaica
should support Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) Commissioner Lewin,
the Police Strategic Review (PSR),and a bipartisan approach to
fighting crime. As a next step, the key partners intend jointly to
approach new cabinet secretary Douglas Saunders in the near future
to discuss how the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) might better plan and
coordinate its efforts in the areas of crime and justice. The UK
High Commissioner said Jamaica is at a "tipping point," where the
window of opportunity for meaningful reforms created when the new
government was elected last year may begin to close if progress is
not forthcoming soon on key crime and justice matters. The Canadian
High Commissioner cited GOJ capacity deficiencies, and joined the
UNICEF Representative in expressing alarm that participation by
under-aged youth in criminal gangs in Jamaica's "garrison"
communities amounts to virtual "child soldiery." UNICEF urged more
attention to keeping guns out of the hands of children. The
European Commission acting representative noted that the GoJ will
likely allocate most of the 33 million Euro package of budget
support for crime and justice to crime fighting, because justice
reform efforts are lagging under the new government. The Canadian
development cooperation counselor complained that the GOJ lacked "a
vision for justice reform." The UNDP representative said
Commissioner Lewin's recent decision to resign (subsequently
withdrawn) arose because of lack of support from a significant
faction within the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). The U.S.
offered to host an informal coordination meeting for countries and
organizations providing crime and justice assistance to Jamaica on
June 25. End Summary.


2. (SBU) Alarmed at the spiraling rates of murder and violence in
Jamaica (Ref A),and the political crisis occasioned by the recent
tendering and withdrawal of JCF Commissioner Hardley Lewin, United

Nations Development Program (UNDP) Representative Minh Pham
organized an informal breakfast June 10 for key heads of Mission and
delegation in Kingston to assess the situation and possible joint
steps. Attending the breakfast were UK High Commissioner Jeremy
Cresswell, U.S. CDA James Heg, Canadian High Commissioner Denis
Kingsley, UNICEF Representative Bertrand Bainvel, European
Commission acting Representative Helen Jenkinson, and Canadian
Development Cooperation Counselor Lorraine Blisle. Pham began
with reference to the high murder rate in Jamaica, currently running
at about 7 victims per day, or about 1400 per year. He called the
situation "conflict without war" and said the rate of fatality on a
per capita basis exceeds that in some international conflict
countries that receive much greater attention from the international
community. Pham referred to the recent crisis over the police
commissioner's resignation, and expressed concern that the newly
released report on the Police Strategic Review (PSR) would be
"politicized." He then requested brief presentations by the
attendees.


3. (SBU) Creswell (UK) said Jamaica was at a crucial juncture now, a
"tipping point." The JLP assumption of power last September after
18 years of increasingly "tired" rule by the People's National Party
(PNP) was seen as a big opportunity to turn things around in
Jamaica. Now the question was "whether the window of opportunity is
closing." Lewin's withdrawal of his resignation was met with
relief. The PSR represented a "real opportunity for change," and
was not just another bureaucratic study. Cresswell said the private
sector will have to play a key role in overcoming Jamaica's current
crisis and in reforming the police force. CDA Heg (U.S.) echoed
Cresswell's overall assessment. He cited the JLP's difficulty in
managing a GOJ bureaucracy shaped by 18 years of PNP rule, and the
pervasiveness of corruption, as well as some unfortunate personnel
choices, particularly the initial JLP selection for Minister of
National Security (Ref B). The CDA also called for support for
Lewin and the PSR, and offered to have the U.S. Embassy host a June
25 meeting to coordinate and share information about assistance
programs in crime and security, similar to our February meeting of
the Counter-terrorism Working Group (CWIG) (Ref C).


4. (SBU) Kingsley (Canada) supported the points made by the U.S.

KINGSTON 00000538 002 OF 003


and UK. He underlined that Jamaica lacked the resources and
capacity to come to grips with the many challenges it faced in crime
and justice. Kingsley noted that 60 percent of the crime in Toronto
can be traced to ethnic Jamaicans, only 5 percent of the city's
population, and for that reason Canada's police were very interested
in Jamaica. Canadian assistance rules made it difficult to provide
direct aid to policing, but assistance was possible if there were a
clear governance angle. Kingsley opined that Jamaica's "garrison
situation was a war and children were being used as soldiers."
Bainvel (UNICEF) continued that Jamaica's situation was "the most
critical of the past five years" due not only to soaring crime but
also rapid price increases and the real possibility of another
general election. He called the situation of children subject to
violence "critical" and called for action to pass legislation to
restrict access to weapons by children. "Social interventions" were
needed to accompany measures to strengthen the police.


5. (SBU) Jenkinson (EC) described how her organization intended to
provide 33 million euros in budget support to the GOJ to be used in
the areas of security and justice. In practice, this would mostly
go to security because, while there was a plan on paper (the PSR) to
reform the police, the JLP government had done little on justice
reform since taking office last year. The pace of EC disbursements
would depend first on the GOJ's stated priorities (due to be
produced by the end of this month) and on actual achievements.
Jenkinson noted continued problems in sorting out the role of the
Ministry of National Security (MNS),and the continued presence of
obstructionist holdover bureaucrats such as Ann-Marie Barnes in that
organization. She added that little could be accomplished on
security in Jamaica without programs to generate more employment on
the island. Blisle (Canada) said her government would examine the
PSR report and "perhaps could find creative ways" to support it.
Canada's main goal remained to support justice reform. In that
regard, she noted that Justice Minister Lightbourne "was still not
getting along" with her Permanent Secretary. Overall, the GOJ
"lacks a vision" for justice reform, according to Blisle.
Nevertheless, Canada had begun implementing some aspects of the
program, notably a review of the role of the Director of Public
Prosecutions (DPP). She called for closer cooperation between MNS
and Justice within the GOJ.



6. (SBU) Pham expressed agreement with what everyone had said. He
gave his own understanding of why Lewin had threatened to resign. A
"certain group" within the JLP saw the apolitical Lewin as "not
good" for "the type of gloves-off campaign" the JLP would have to
run if another general election became necessary. Prominent
hotelier Butch Stewart, a key member of this group, reportedly
overruled the editorial board of his Observer newspaper in running
the June 1 editorial calling for Lewin to be replaced. Overall,
Lewin sensed a lack of political support for his efforts at the JCF.
According to Pham, who recently dined with the Prime Minister,
Golding himself was displeased with Lewin's initial performance, due
to the lack of results in Lewin's fight against high level police
corruption, and his failure to produce a budget or set of resource
requirements for JCF reform. In the end, Lewin was "saved by
support from the public and from NGOs." Pham said the PSR report
contained a "well costed out" technical assistance component of U.S.
$ 8 million over three years. The major donors needed to
"demonstrate our joint support" for the PSR action plan, and to
ensure that it was on the agenda for the upcoming Vale Royal talks
between the JLP and the PNP. Pham worried that a new general
election would lead directly to a "greatly deteriorated" security
situation in Jamaica.


7. (SBU) Cresswell added his support to the importance of reforming
Jamaica's justice system along with the police. Lewin alone could
not carry the PSR forward. The private sector and the media and the
Prime Minister would have to get on board as well. Cresswell mused
that another problem for donors was whether to follow a broad or a
narrow approach in rendering assistance to Jamaica. He worried
that, in the past, assistance had been spread too thin across too
many areas. CDA Heg noted in this regard that Jamaica's recent
reengagement with the multilateral development banks (Ref C) was a
positive development. Now, bilateral donors need not try to do
everything here, and might concentrate more on areas such as
security where they had a comparative advantage. Kingsley urged
joint action "to help the government focus on a larger strategy."
Cresswell said the June 24-25 scheduled meeting of the members of
the PSR's panel of experts to discuss the status of implementation
of the PSR's recommendations might provide the opportunity for

KINGSTON 00000538 003 OF 003


"positive developments."


8. (SBU) Pham concluded the breakfast with a read-out of his recent
dinner discussion with Prime Minister Golding. He said the PM was
concerned about four areas: (1) On security and justice, the need
for institutional support and funding. In this regard, Pham said
Golding attached importance to an assessment of the various
community projects. How do we tease out the lessons on what works?
(2) On debt management, the PM wanted different treatment from the
international financial institutions for middle income high-debt
countries like Jamaica. (3) On food security, Golding planned to
bring together his different ministries to jointly tackle this
challenge. (4) On disaster preparedness, Golding was concerned
about a lack of rapid response capacity in Jamaica, "very low"
stocks of relief supplies, and lack of capacity to perform damage
assessments.

HEG