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By Oswald Dawkins |
February 2003: There are thousands of Jamaican nationals languishing in foreign prisons, primarily the US, Canada and England. In the state of New York alone, as far back as December of 1993, the number stood at 1,356. This figure did not include New York Federal prisons. These forgotten nationals include several hundred females.
Genesis
The question is often asked, from whence these individuals sprang? According to Prof. Bernard Headley, writing in Social Justice Journal (ol. 15, Nos. 3-4, p. 67, 1998): "An analysis of Jamaican street gangs in the US cannot be separated from an analysis of the political-economic forces inside Jamaica that have produced rising levels of street crime and violence within that society. The gang and drug-related crimes associated with Jamaicans in the US and other countries are mere spillovers of larger systemic processes in the home country..."
At various times beginning in the early 1970s, peaking in 1980, and continuing on into the mid-1980s, hundreds of youths, former political activists - on various levels of the political totem pole (dons and fryers) left Jamaica for foreign countries, mainly US, Canada and England. Some fled because individuals from one party or the other were hunting them; one party or the other turned the police on them; others because individuals from their own party sought to harm them. In other cases, flight was induced, sanctioned and facilitated by politicians, who provided financial help and or exit documents, as a way of getting rid of unwanted political dons.
Those with extreme sympathies continued to fight their battles in the three countries to which they had been exiled. These political activities, later meshed with other criminal activities and led to the rise of the so-called "Jamaican Posses." Inter-related on the home-front, with ever present financial need, no skills to enter the legitimate job market, and politics "free" money on the decline, many young people of the latter years turned to the "hard" drug trade.
Should Jamaica Be Concerned?
The New York Daily News of Saturday July 20, 2002, carried an article titled, "France to help Moussaoui." The article stated that since Moussaoui is a French citizen, the French government was sending a consular representative to the US "to ensure" that he is legally represented. This notwithstanding that Moussaoui stands vilified by the U.S. as a terrorist of the first order.
In like manner Jamaican politicians should care about thousands of Jamaican nationals in similar situations. To begin, these thousands of individuals are Jamaican citizens. Secondly, if the words of Professor Headley ring true and "gang and drug-related crimes associated with Jamaicans in the US and other countries are mere spillovers of larger systemic process (in Jamaica) (and) cannot be separate from... the political-economic forces inside Jamaica," then yes, responsible government should examine the issue of Jamaicans in foreign prisons and Jamaican citizens should lobby politicians to do so. A third factor is the need for Jamaican society to begin to take into account the discrimination that is practised against Jamaican nationals.
VCCR
The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, (VCCR) an international treaty/convention which mandates that when a national of a country is arrested in another country, the latter country must inform the person's consul representative(s) of the person's arrest, of which the government of Jamaica and United States are signatories, is violated by US government - on an ongoing basis with no outcry from our political representatives, whispers by our legal and social academicians and unspoken of by religious fraternities; in the middle of all this are handicapped families.
Discrimination
Because as foreign nationals Jamaican citizens are far removed from the US criminal justice system, for the most part any 'ole' lawyer will do for their defence; lawyers who do not bother to engage the services of pre-trial investigators to gather information that may prove innocence, lesser crime(s) or mitigating circumstances.
In numerous cases also nationality is blatantly employed to inflame juries against Jamaicans.
There is the added discriminatory practice of attaching the Jamaican posse label to every Jamaican regardless of evidence of affiliation or non-affiliation to any organised gang, group or organisation. Attachment of this label is employed to stigmatise and engender prejudice of judges and jurors, culminating in fundamentally unfair treatment in courts and many a tainted verdict.
There is also religious discrimination where Jamaicans of Rastafari faith are penalised upon entry into the system if they refuse to cut their hair/locks. This practice continues, even though after enduring many years of mental and physical brutality, Jamaicans of the Rastafari faith took their case to court and won the right to be free of such discrimination and brutality.
No Family Ties
Many Jamaican nationals have no family in the US so there is no contact with family members -- save at long intervals by mail --because few if any can afford to travel all the way from Jamaica for a few hours visit and phone calls. Those with family members, as opposed to native-born and derivative citizens prisoners, who look forward to release dates, face the additional sanction of deportation. It is hard to maintain sanity under such additional strain.
Prison Transfer Treaty
Around 1986, Jamaicans imprisoned in several US state and federal prisons began bringing to the attention of the Government of Jamaica their plight as outlined above. To alleviate some of the discrimination and brutality, the government has been asked to become a signatory of a prison transfer treaty, an international convention that could allow those who wanted, to apply to be transferred home to finish serving their sentences. Since then several Caribbean Islands (Trinidad & Tobago 1993; Barbados recently) have seen fit to sign some form of transfer treaty. No so Jamaica.
Jamaica is a signatory to a number of different treaties with foreign countries in the area of criminal justice: "Shiprider," Extradition and Forfeiture being three such, yet a transfer treaty has not even been considered. This is indication that there are forces - in Jamaica - lobbying (behind the scenes) to prevent Jamaicans in foreign prisons from returning home by way of a prisoner transfer treaty.
Deportee Problem
The politics of violence has left almost an entire generation homeless in foreign prisons; a generation, who were for the most part ignorant, and therefore susceptible to use by politicians. Still there are those of us who refuse to acknowledge the connection between the politics of violence and the rise of the so-called "Jamaican Posses" in foreign countries, leading to the large number of Jamaican citizens languishing in foreign prisons.
Treating Jamaicans in foreign prisons as outcasts from/of society is not in the best interest of Jamaican society. It is such treatment that metamorphoses into deportees. Today's Jamaican cubs in foreign prisons are tomorrow's Jamaican wolves.
Oswald Dawkins is a member of the Marcus Garvey Nationalist Congress writing from Staten Island, New York.