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Jamaica: Treatment of JLP party members and supporters of Edward Seaga after re-election of Prime Minister Manley in Jamaica, 1976-1980 and present

Information on the treatment of supporters of Edward Seaga and his JLP party between 1976 and 1980 could not be found among the sources currently available to the IRBDC. However, the 1980 elections and its preceding campaign were reported to be unusually violent, with approximately 800 people being killed in politically related incidents. [ "Jamaica's Choice", in The Globe and Mail, 11 February 1989, p. D6; Judy Steed, "Jamaica", in The Globe and Mail, 9 July 1988.] Thereafter, armed gangs of supporters of the island's two main political parties (JLP and PNP) are reported to have caused occasional unspecified violent incidents, particularly during electoral campaigns. [ "Jamaica" and "Jamaica's Choice".] News articles state that the electoral campaign for the February 1989 elections left 11 people dead, including two bystanders who were shot by policemen who fired on Seaga supporters who tried to stop a march of Michael Manley supporters. [ "Jamaica's Choice"; "Jamaica's new moderate Manley: long on promises, short on details", in The Globe and Mail, 11 February 1989, p. A1; "Two Jamaican's shot dead as police fire on crowd", in The Globe and Mail, 8 February 1989; "Mellow Manley wins by landslide", in Caribbean Report, February 1989.] One incident reported during the campaign stated that rocks and bottles were hurled at a demonstration of JLP supporters led by Edward Seaga, with police shooting back at the attackers. [ "Rocks thrown at Seaga crowd", in The Globe and Mail, 8 February 1989, p. A12.]

According to the Jamaica Council for Human Rights and Americas Watch, [ As reported in "Jamaica" (quoted above) and in Human Rights in Jamaica, (Washington, D.C.: Americas Watch, 1986).] the main concern regarding violence in Jamaica is the use of deadly force by policemen, mainly against poor people who are suspected of being criminals.

The only report found among the sources currently available to the IRBDC which deals with the treatment of Seaga supporters is attached to this response ("Seaga officials face corruption charges", in Caribbean Report, August 1989, p. 6). This report deals with the investigation and prosecution of former members of the Seaga government.