Coward time done now

Dawn Ritch, Contributor

This Commission of Enquiry into the July violence in West Kingston is more than passing strange.

Chairman Justice Isaac has ruled that policemen giving evidence before the Commission do not have to do so in camera.

One local television station, quite reasonably to my mind, therefore blurred the face of the policeman on camera, and was subsequently chastised by Justice Isaac for filming the witness at all.

I'm not sure what kind of example this sets for the rest of the country who are not members of the police and military.

If members of the security forces are unwilling to be publicly seen giving evidence, how can private citizens themselves find the courage to testify?

Already the Commission has pleaded with the Public Defender to try to find some civilian witnesses prepared to testify before the Commission, because so far none have come forward.

Perhaps Justice Isaac might be moved to give not only the police, but also civilians, anonymity as well, and regulate it as vigorously as he has that of the police.

This would then leave us with a Commission of Enquiry where most of the witnesses are unwilling to say what they have to say in the full light of the day. Doesn't do much for the transparency of the proceedings, does it?

Indeed the whole thing reminds me of much of the mail I get. It comes hand-written most of the time but nary a signature in sight.

Over the years I've learnt to open it and look for a signature first of all, and if there is none it goes straight into the waste paper basket.

Same thing with phone calls. I'll speak to anybody on the telephone as long as I'm given a name, even a made-up name, even an obviously made-up name.

The caller could have the most earth-shattering news on the planet, but if he or she isn't prepared to give a name, that person can go and shop around the information elsewhere.

Here we have a Commission of Enquiry where the police giving evidence don't want to be photographed doing so, and no civilians have so far had the nerve to appear before it.

When not only civilians, but the police themselves want anonymity when they give information, the Commission should follow my example and put the whole lot in a waste paper basket.

Daunting spectacle

I can understand the civilians, but I can't understand the police when they're the ones constantly asking citizens to come forward with information.

The convention is that citizens who give evidence, will be protected by the police, and put into a witness protection programme if necessary.

Here in this Commission we have the daunting spectacle of policemen who don't think they can protect themselves, and effectively would therefore prefer to give evidence in secret.

It does not send a good signal to citizens, who under these circumstances might prefer not to appear at all. Certainly Justice Isaac has called for civilians, but he has not granted them the privilege of not having to face the public music for doing so.

The nervousness of some policemen suggests that the tune will not be sweet. It might even be life-threatening.

In the meantime there has been a great deal more gunfire in West Kingston, and all kinds of vehicles tearing in and out shooting up both the police station and the local residences.

If this continues, by the time the Commission concludes the hearing of testimony and is finally ready to visit the afflicted area, it might well have been levelled to the ground.

I'm not at all sure that fences allegedly used by gunmen for cover will be standing any longer. How then will the public know whether or not the truth was being told? It might be the truth, but the physical spaces where 27 Jamaicans were killed over one weekend might soon change beyond all recognition if this barrage from high-powered weaponry keeps up.

In that case the evidence would not have been merely contaminated, but obliterated wittingly or unwittingly. It's a pity therefore that the Commissioners didn't hurry and take one quick look at Tivoli before it all disappears.

This is a hell of a note for a song. Witnesses who don't want to give evidence, and others who do, but don't want the public to know that they've done so.

It doesn't fill me with confidence. I would no more place any weight on these proceedings than the contents of the junk mail I receive. It always amazes me when people are not prepared to own their own information, and become disappointed when someone else refuses to wear it.

Readers will know that I can't help being a bit of an activist sometimes.

I have therefore decided to establish my own political party the name of which still escapes me. I'm happy to say however, that I do have a slogan - COWARD TIME DONE NOW!

I've done a little market testing, and most people like it initially, but only initially.

I doubt with a slogan like that I'll get very many recruits.

People will tell me they have young children, too big an overdraft and the income tax people are already on their cases and that they can't take any more trouble. Anything to avoid having to take a stand on anything.

It makes me sympathetic, therefore, to the members of our two main political parties. Love them or hate them, it seems they are still the only people in Jamaica prepared to have their names called.

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