JFJ has neither been the first nor only organisation operating in Jamaica whose raison d'être is to focus attention on the defence of the basic human rights of citizens and calling attention to the abuse by agents of the state, especially the security forces. Before JFJ, there were the Jamaica Council for Human Rights, now the Independent Jamaica Council for Human Rights (IJCHR) and various individuals who offered legal aid and other services to citizens who did not have the financial means to have their cases heard and argued in the courts.
It has long been an uphill battle in the fight for public opinion in situations where civic-action groups are often pilloried as being more sympathetic towards and interested in defending the rights of accused wrongdoers as against supporting the work of law-enforcement agencies. Yet, in the context of the litany of complaints and myriad examples of abuse and corruption, they carry out a necessary job from which they should not resile.
In short, the work of groups like JFJ and the IJCHR is given greater legitimacy precisely because of the failures by those who are sworn to uphold the law as agents of the state. The concept of treating accused persons as innocent until proven guilty, or of ensuring that due process is observed in the investigation of crime scenes or police shootings will often be endorsed in principle, but ignored in practice.
high crime rates
And against the background of the country's high crime rates and murders in particular, not many Jamaicans are minded to be patient about such matters.
But JFJ and similar organisations must continue to hold up a mirror to the society to force its people to examine how we treat each other and the respect or lack thereof which each is accorded.
Our desire for a well-ordered society, for social stability and economic growth is tied to the respect shown to the ordinary citizen.
Nor should the wider society lose sight of the fact that to encourage a brutish approach to criminal investigation - even within the context of Jamaica's hardened criminals - is to dehumanise the members of the security forces in the long run. Failure on their part to distinguish between the guilty, the suspect and the innocent inevitably alienates them from the very people whose support they need to carry out their jobs effectively.
It is always a difficult task to get people to change ingrained attitudes and mindsets, yet JFJ cannot afford the luxury of navel-gazing.
The leadership of JFJ must continue its work with evangelical zeal even, but mindful that it, too, must be committed to the same principles of due process and fair play which it demands of the State and its agents.
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