Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter
Left: Kent Pantry, Director of Public Prosecution, guest speaker at the Rotary Club of Kingston's weekly meeting at Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston yesterday. Right: Dr. Carolyn Gomes, head of Jamaicans
For Justice. - RUDOLPH BROWN/CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
"Persons who were informed, and who in fact read that article, said it reminded them of a lady's bikini, in that it exposed what was suggestive and concealed what was vital."
A NASTY row has developed between the country's chief prosecutor and human rights activist Dr. Carolyn Gomes over comments she made about the prosecution of the controversial Michael Gayle case.
Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Kent Pantry yesterday accused Dr. Gomes, the executive director of Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ), of misleading the public on the Michael Gayle ruling and asked for a public apology for maligning his name.
Gayle, a mentally-challenged man, was killed on August 23, 1999, by the security forces, under questionable circumstances. The DPP subsequently ruled that no one should be charged for his death.
Yesterday, Mr. Pantry, in an address to the Rotary Club of Kingston, described Dr. Gomes' article, headlined 'You are wrong, Mr. DPP' and published in The Gleaner on December 29, 2005, as an attempt to mislead the public.
"Persons who were informed, and who in fact read that article, said it reminded them of a lady's bikini, in that it exposed what was suggestive and concealed what was vital," Mr. Pantry told the gathering at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston.
INACCURACIES
In a speech that was devoted mostly to responding to Dr. Gomes' article, the DPP outlined what he claimed were inaccuracies in Dr. Gomes' article.
Mr. Pantry said the most "disgraceful falsehood" which Dr. Gomes made against him was the claim that he gave the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) access to his files.
"Let me categorically state that at no time did I say that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights was ever given access to my files. It would not have been proper for me to give them my files," he said.
Another inaccuracy, he pointed out, was the assertion that more than one member of the security forces who testified at the Coroner's Inquest identified specific soldiers or policemen as having participated in the beating.
If this were so, he said, the Coroner's Jury and the coroner would have named the persons identified and that Jamaicans For Justice would have told the human rights commission the names of the perpetrators.
"Oh what a tangled web we weave, when we practice to deceive. Where was I wrong?" the DPP asked.
He said that the most telling of the findings of the IACHR was in the recommendation that Jamaica should adopt measures to identify and prosecute persons responsible for those violations.
He also questioned Dr. Gomes' statements where she said that the Coroner told the jurors that they did not need to give all the names as it would be clear from the deposition.
"The Corner told the jurors no such thing and I challenge her to produce any transcript or anything from the court stating that," argued the DPP.
In response, Dr. Gomes told The Gleaner yesterday that she was willing to release tapes and transcripts to substantiate her claims. "I stand behind the comments in my article, I am quite prepared to make public the files and the tapes ... I don't think an apology is necessary, I would charge the DPP to put the facts on the table," she said.
