- File
Undertakers removing a body from a crime scene.
Glenroy Sinclair and Omar Anderson, Staff Reporters
FORTY-TWO PERSONS died violently in Jamaica over the past nine days, according to the police.
The nation was yesterday rocked with it's 34th case of double murder since the start of the year, even as the Government prepares the army to dismantle criminal networks in the country. The scene of the crime was along the Bernard Lodge main road in St. Catherine, at Feanny Hampstead Farm, which is a stud farm part-owned by a veteran race horse trainer.
There, the mutilated bodies of a Cuban couple were discovered in a pool of blood. They have been identified as 30-year-old Alberez Fernando Dwiensky and his girlfriend, Miesha Montique, 26.
Police investigators who visited the scene said the television was still on when the lawmen went there yesterday. Mr. Dwiensky was found slumped in a chair around the dining table, with stab wounds to the chest, face and abdomen.
"His throat was slashed from one corner to the other, while a knife was found stuck in his chest," Superintendent Calvin Benjamin told The Sunday Gleaner yesterday.
About three and a half chains from the farm house, the body of Miss Montique was found. Police said she was stabbed at least 13 times. Preliminary investigations have revealed that the couple might have been killed Friday night, while they were having dinner.
According to Mr. Benjamin, the meal they had prepared was still on the dining table.
"We have not established a motive for the killing," said Supt. Benjamin, the Crime Officer for Area 5.
The Sunday Gleaner understands that among the evidence found at the scene were a broken blood-stained knife blade and a garden fork which also had blood stains. The police were unable to say how many person(s) attacked them and how they gained entry to the premises.
There are reports the couple lived on the farm and were employed as racehorse grooms. Police also suspect that Miss Montique was here working without a legitimate work permit.
The Government's latest plan to reduce crime, sketches of which were revealed last week, followed last weekend's meeting with members of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ). The plan also appears to be a clear follow-up on the ruling party's election manifesto to address crime with more seriousness in its new term.
Of the 887 murders committed since the start of the year, 106 of the victims were women and 15 were children. Reprisal killings which accounted for 276 murders, 249 domestic disputes, 136 gang related and 105 robberies were the main motives behind the killings this year.
As many as 39 inner-city communities are expected to be targeted by the army in the coming weeks, as part of the plan. However, last Friday, National Security Minister, Dr. Peter Phillips, refused to name which inner-city communities the army will be targeting.
"I really don't have anything to add to what was said because of operational reasons," said the National Security Minister.
However, The Sunday Gleaner research has shown that nearly 40 inner-city communities are set to be in the spotlight based on their crime history over the past two years.
The proposed communities fall within the eight police divisions in Kingston and St. Catherine which account for a significant proportion of the country's crime rate.
But while the Government remains tight-lipped about details of its proposed mass deployment of the army into inner-city communities, human rights advocate Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ), and the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) are questioning the military's suitability to police these communities.
Susan Goffe, the new chairperson of JFJ, told The Sunday Gleaner last week that her organisation doesn't favour soldiers performing police duties, especially over an extended period.
"In the past, it has traditionally been found that communities have encountered less abuse from soldiers than the police," she said. "But where you are using soldiers for extended periods in policing duties, you increase the risk for problems to arise."
She added that the army's deployment into these communities should not be seen as an end in itself.
"This can only be part of a holistic approach to crime-fighting. This cannot be the sole or main thrust at crime-fighting," she said. "There is always a difference when the military is used for policing because this is not what they are trained for."
According to Mrs. Goffe, Government must educate citizens on the exact role of the army in this latest mission. People need to know the length of occupation, avenues for reporting abuses, and standards by which citizens can measure the success or failure of the proposed operation.
"We are interested in the action of the security forces and the need for them to act professionally," she said. "We will be monitoring their activities and will continue to be ready to report cases of misconduct if they happen."
Derrick Smith, Opposition spokesman on National Security, said last week that his party was not decrying the Government's latest thrust to combat crime, but that similar efforts were ineffective.
"What you are telling the public is that you are playing your ace [card]," he said. "Using soldiers to fight crime has been in vogue for years and has not proven successful in the long-term, and there's no indication there's going to be anything different," he said.
