BY HORACE HINES Observer staff reporter hinesh@jamaicaobserver.com Tuesday, August 12, 2014
MONTEGO BAY, St James — Opposition Leader Andrew Holness is calling for the establishment of a Human Rights Commission to safeguard the fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled.
He suggested that the Office of the Public Defender be promoted to such a commission.
 |
| Leader of the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Andrew Holness (second right) and JLP spokesman for national security, Derrick Smith (right), engage senior members of the St James police during a tour of the Barnett Street Police Station, yesterday. (PHOTO: PHILLIP LEMONTE) |
"We now believe it is time that the Jamaican State establish a commission on human rights. We already have the public defender [who does] some amount of work in protecting human rights, but we need to elevate that office now into a human rights commission," Holness argued.
He, however, noted that the commission should not be founded merely to react to human rights violations, but to detect emerging tendencies early on.
"A commission that will not just respond when there is an issue, but a commission that could look at trends and see where the trends are pointing to human rights abuses and intervene through the courts or by making proposals for changes in policies or laws," Holness argued.
The Opposition leader was speaking yesterday at a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) press conference held at the Wexford Court Hotel in Montego Bay to look into the controversial death of 31-year-old construction worker Mario Deane of Rosemount, St James.
Deane died last week Wednesday at the Cornwall Regional Hospital after he was allegedly beaten by other inmates while being detained at the Barnett Street Police station for possession of a ganja spliff. more
No comments:
Post a Comment