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SAN JUAN, Dec. 6 (AP) — Jamaica’s prime minister declared a broad state of emergency on Tuesday to combat a surge in gang violence on one of the islands with the highest murder rates in the region.
The measure applies to certain communities in the capital, Kingston, and six of Jamaica’s 14 parishes, including communities home to popular tourist spots such as Montego Bay.
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The state of emergency, which allows authorities to arrest people and search buildings without a warrant, has drawn sharp criticism from political opponents and activists who have warned of a repeat of police abuse and mass detentions that have occurred under previous states of emergency. mistakes.
More recently, El Salvador and Honduras have taken similar steps.
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Prime Minister Andrew Holness dismissed critics, saying in a televised address his priority was saving lives.
“That’s all the government is trying to do,” he said, adding that Jamaicans “have to hide under their beds, hide their daughters, they can’t go to church, they see their sons, their boyfriends and their husbands killed. It’s reality.”
The island of 2.8 million people has reported 1,421 homicides so far this year, more than the 1,375 homicides recorded during the same period last year, a Jamaica police force spokesman told The Associated Press.
Jamaica, which has a similar population to the U.S. city of Chicago, has reported 643 homicides so far this year.
“We have some very serious criminal threats and we have to use all the power at our disposal,” Holness said.
The vast majority of killings in Jamaica have been blamed on gangs known as “gangsters” who have ties to major political parties and rely on extortion, drug trafficking and lottery scams to fund their operations.
In response, Jamaica has imposed several states of emergency in recent years, which have drawn scrutiny from human rights activists. The country’s highest court has repeatedly ruled — most recently in June — that it is unconstitutional to detain Jamaicans without trial for months, let alone more than a year.
Jermaine Young, an emergency expert and former Howard University professor, said that the state of emergency can only bring meager results and has worrying consequences.
“Jamaica is notorious for abusing emergency powers,” Young wrote in an essay this month. The police and military “engaged in practices that included arbitrary and unlawful mass long-term detention, extrajudicial killings, and internal renditions.”
Jamaican authorities are defending the measure. Police Chief Maj. Gen. Anthony Johnson noted a 64 percent drop in homicides during the two-week public emergency last month.
The prime minister said he was aware of the concerns.
“The government has no intention of abusing these powers,” Holness said. “This government will use public emergencies for as long as the need arises.”
Holness left the news conference early, saying he was traveling to the United States to meet with top security officials and discuss new ways to reduce violent crime. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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