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Why Jamaica has imposed controversial state of emergency

Members of security forces guard the streets as Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness on Tuesday declared a state of public emergency in parts of the capital Kingston, and in some parishes in the central and western parts of the country, in a bid to control rising crime linked to gang violence, in Kingston, Jamaica November 15, 2022. REUTERS/Gilbert Bellamy
Security forces guard the streets as another state of emergency was declared on Tuesday. (Reuters)

Jamaica's government has declared a state of emergency covering much of the country in a bid to tackle a surge in gang violence and a rampant murder rate.

The move, announced on Tuesday, gives police sweeping powers to arrest people and search buildings without a warrant, drawing criticism from political activists wary of potential abuses of power.

Yahoo News UK looks at why the state of emergency was called.

'My job is to keep you safe'

Prime minister Andrew Holness initially declared state of emergencies in several parishes on 15 November, but, two weeks later, failed in an attempt to secure an extension until 13 January after opposition parties in the senate refused to lend support.

Opposition leader Mark Golding said the repeated use of state of emergencies since Holness stepped into office in 2017 was "a subversion of our constitutional order" and that he would not back an extension because Jamaica "has grown tired of the SOEs".

According the Jamaica Gleaner, he said supporting it would be "inconsistent with my parliamentary oath", and accused the government of ignoring a “cardinal constitutional principle of respecting the separation of powers among the three branches of the state”.

Read more: Jamaica imposes widespread state of emergency to fight surge in gang violence

Prime Minister of Jamaica Andrew Holness addresses the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. Headquarters in New York City, U.S., September 22, 2022.  REUTERS/David 'Dee' Delgado
Jamaican prime minister Andrew Holness says he 'will not stop' until the people of Jamaica are safe. (Reuters)

Batting away criticism at a press briefing on Tuesday over his decision to bring it back, Holness said: "My job as your prime minister is to ensure that my people are safe, and I will not stop until that is achieved."

He added, according to the Jamaica Observer: “Since the end of the last state of emergency, we have seen, unfortunately, an increase in criminal activities in these areas and indeed a threat to property and in some instances, public disorder.”

Police commissioner Major General Anthony Anderson also said the measures had been effective. He pointed out that at the end of the previous 14-day state of emergency, there had been a 64% decline in murders in the areas placed under the measures.

"That is 17 murders compared to 47 that were recorded in the 14 days prior," he said.

Seven days after the powers were taken away, he said there had already been 22 murders recorded, 17 of which were in affected areas.

He added: “Secondly, we saw three consecutive days, November 22 to 24, where no murders were recorded. The last time such a trend was recorded was in 2012."

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Members of security forces guard the streets as Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness on Tuesday declared a state of public emergency in parts of the capital Kingston, and in some parishes in the central and western parts of the country, in a bid to control rising crime linked to gang violence, in Kingston, Jamaica November 15, 2022. REUTERS/Gilbert Bellamy
Supporters of the state of emergency say they rapidly reduce the murder rate. (Reuters)

High homicide rate

The country's murder rate has steadily risen since gaining independence in 1962 and it has one of the highest homicide rates in the world – 46 per 100,000 people, according to World Population Review).

Since 1962 there have been only three times since Jamaica's murder rates have fallen - the aftermath of a wave of political violence over the 1980 election, and the state of emergencies of 2010-2011 and 2017-2018.

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So far this year, the island of 2.8 million people has reported 1,421 killings, surpassing the 1,374 killings for the same period last year.

Gangs known as "posses" that have been linked to major political parties have been blamed for the vast majority of killings on the island, who rely on extortion, drug trafficking and lottery scams to fund their crimes.

Following the announcement of the latest measures, Jamaica's opposition leader said repeatedly re-imposing state of emergencies is not sustainable in the long-run.

A women yells at a passing convoy near the Tivoli Gardens neighborhood of Kingston May 27, 2010. Soldiers and police were still searching for Christopher
A woman yells at a passing convoy in Tivoli Gardens area of Kingston during the 2010 state of emergency, which saw several civilians killed by authorities. (Reuters)

“The People's National Party is of the view that a strong security presence should be maintained in communities that are facing high levels of violence," said Golding, according to Caribbean National Weekly.

"The use of the soldiers and police in this way is permitted by our normal laws, and does not require a state of emergency."

Human rights campaigners also argue that giving so much power to the authorities comes at a cost.

Following the 2010 state of emergency, allegations emerged of unlawful killings carried out by police, enforced disappearances and arbitrary arrests, according to Amnesty International.

The state of emergency was declared when the Jamaican government sought to find and extradite drug-don, Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, who was hiding in the Kingston neighbourhood of Tivoli Gardens.

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This resulted in fierce gun fighting between gangsters and security forces, with at least 75 civilians and one soldier killed by military and police.

However, locals believed the death toll to be higher and accused the military of indiscriminate attacks and summarily executing unarmed men after the majority of gunmen had retreated on the second day of the siege.

An inquiry into the incident found 4,372 people – mostly young men – were arbitrarily detained and "subjected to indignities", yet out of those only 148 were not released.

It also found many instances of theft by security forces, who caused most of the damage to 2520 properties, 94 of which were "completely destroyed".