The vile murders of seven persons in Kingston, including that of a four-month-old baby girl, have left the entire society in a state of numbness. Our hearts go out in deepest sympathy to the families whose lives have been so cruelly decimated. The entire Jamaican society is filled with rage and shame at these acts of wanton bloodlust. We call upon any person who has information about these murders to come forward immediately to the police.

No one can be in doubt any more that there is a significant stratum in Jamaican society devoid of all morality and respect for life. These are ruthless and trigger-happy groups who do not hesitate to kill and intimidate for even the smallest slight, real or imagined. We cannot continue to bury our heads in the sand and blind ourselves to this chilling reality. Force must be met with force.

However, the force of the state cannot be the untrammelled violence of the street gunman. On the contrary, in developing a robust response, the Government has to take special steps to ensure that the forces of the state operate strictly within a legal framework at all times. We are and must remain a law-governed state, no matter how high passions may run. Panic is not a solution.

And therein lies the rub. For we find ourselves besieged on both sides by the 'dog-hearted' gunman on the one hand and the minority of murderous policemen on the other. How to find a way out of this conundrum is the crux of the challenge we face.

We believe that with careful thought a solution to this dilemma can be found. There are sufficient numbers of honest policemen who can be relied on to uphold the rights of citizens in spite of the strains of combating ruthless criminality. The role of these policemen must be enhanced at every level. At the same time, concrete steps to strengthen meaningful judicial oversight over police operations can be found, without hamstringing police effectiveness. We call upon the Minister of National Security, the Minister of Justice and the Prime Minister himself to act with dispatch to bring about these new configurations in our security and justice operations.

Rearranging our security and judicial apparatus and resolving these particular murderous acts addresses the immediate issue at hand. It does not address the longer-term, deeper challenges. As everyone in Jamaica knows, this had to do with the organic connection between gun violence and our political parties. Unless we cut that Gordian knot, we will never be able permanently to subdue persons like these east Kingston murderers. It will not do for politicians to issue pious statements denouncing the murders when only yesterday, in the recently concluded general election, the political parties to which they belong were mobilising gunmen to bring home the political bacon in hotly contested constituencies. This deeply corrupt double game must stop; the issue of dismantling the garrisons must be put squarely on the table. Taking the first concrete steps along that difficult road will be a sign that our political leadership is serious. Empty moralising cannot help us.

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