Jamaican Police Brutality Film Sparks Backlash

<strong>Jamaica: Film on police killings sparks backlash from officials</strong>
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Millions of tourists flock to the serene, white sandy beaches of the tropical paradise of Jamaica. But in the brutal economic duality of the nation, where bleak ghettos are hidden just beyond lavish tourist resorts, there is a violent trend brewing.
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140 people died at the hands of police officers in Jamaica last year. That is one of the highest rates of police killings in the world, according to Amnesty International, and is the subject of a British Broadcasting Corporation film, "Dead Men Tell No Tales." The documentary aired in September and is facing stiff opposition from Jamaican authorities.
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The one-hour documentary examines, among others, the March 14 police killings of seven males aged 15 to 22 in the town of Braeton. The victims died in questionable circumstances, according to the report. Local officials, however, say the film is one-sided and based on the accounts given by friends and family members of the victims and witnesses to the incidents, and has unfavorable portrayals of crime investigators.
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Three of the highlighted cases are now before the courts. A fourth was dismissed for lack of evidence. Human rights campaigners champion the film as highlighting the problem of police brutality.
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But Maurice Goodgame, head of the Police Bureau of Special Investigations, said "Several things were said that are totally false." The BSI handles all shootings, deaths and corruption allegations involving members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force. Goodgame says jurors could be unduly influenced by the film's speculation and repetition of what he maintains were inaccuracies first aired by local media.
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"The rates [of police killings] are too high and there is no excuse for this," says police chief Francis Forbes. He insists, however, that the figures need to be weighed against the level of criminal killings. More than 800 people have been killed so far this year, many of them during bouts of political and gang violence.
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Yvonne McCalla-Sobers, of the non-governmental Families Against State Terrorism, defends the BBC program. "If it makes one person aware that not all the boys were criminals, it would have been good," she says.-- (c)2001 Global Information Network, http://www.globalinfo.org
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<strong>Reposted from http://www.afrikan.net/hype</strong>