Jamaica Human Rights
Human Rights Concerns
With poverty and public security being key human rights concerns, Jamaicans face challenges that are replicated among many of the world's nations, especially in the developing world. In 2007, the Human Development Index published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) ranked Jamaica 101 out of 177 countries, situating the country in the medium Human Development category and on the lower end (second to Haiti) in the Caribbean. Crime and violence occur there at perennially alarming levels. Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the right to life, warrants special mention. The year 2005 was particularly deadly with 1650 homicides (a rate of 63 per 100,000), and was followed by 1300 in 2006 and over 1500 in 2007.
Discussions in print or broadcast media in Jamaica, or in academic discourse, about what ails the nation frequently come down in some way to how poverty is related to and exacerbated by the failure of institutions. Inner-city communities are invariably the most troubled by the presence of well-armed gangs. At the same time, citizens in these same communities have frequently made credible charges of unlawful lethal force by members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force and Jamaica Defense Force, and they point to a record of police impunity.
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Let Them Kill Each Other
Latest News
Jamaican Government projects welcome but there is a vital need for real changeJuly 21, 2009
China, Iran, Jamaica: China, Iran and Jamaica go against trend on executions
November 28, 2008
Jamaica: More executions will not reduce crime
November 26, 2008
Gangs and police cripple Jamaica's inner cities
April 02, 2008
Jamiaca: Amnesty International Condemns New Reports of Violence Against Gays in Jamaica
April 17, 2007
Jamaica: Government Failing to Tackle Widespread Violence Against Women and Girls, Amnesty International Report Finds
June 22, 2006
Latest Reports
Vital UN human rights work under threatMay 09, 2007
Jamaica: Open letter to the Prime Minister of Jamaica, Mrs Portia Simpson Miller, welcoming improvements to stop violence against women and encouraging new steps forward
March 08, 2007
Jamaica: Opportunity to include the highest standards of international criminal law into national legislation to stop violence against women
March 01, 2007
Jamaica: Sexual violence against women and girls in Jamaica: "just a little sex"
June 22, 2006
