April 17, 2008
The Most Honorable Bruce Golding
Prime Minister
Jamaica House
Kingston 6, Jamaica
Sent by facsimile
Dear Prime Minister Golding:
We are grateful that you acknowledge the seriousness of homophobic violence and that you acknowledge the need for a prompt, thorough investigation of the January attack in Mandeville, with a view to prosecution of the perpetrators of this attack.
We hope that you will express your condemnation of homophobic violence publicly. We also hope that your response to such violence will begin a dialogue with human rights groups working to end homophobic violence and abuse in Jamaica and strengthen efforts to protect all lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Jamaicans against further such violence and abuse.
Sincerely,
Rebecca Schleifer
Advocate
HIV/AIDS & Human Rights Program
Scott Long
Director
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Rights Program
Cc: Hon. Dorothy Lightbourne, Minister of Justice
R. Admiral Hardley Lewin, Commissioner of Police
Mark Shields, Deputy Commissioner of Police
Raymond Wolfe, Permanent Representative to the United Nations
Related Material
Hated to Death: Homophobia, Violence, and Jamaica’s HIV/AIDS Epidemic
Report, November 16, 2004
Jamaica: Shield Gays from Mob Attacks
Press Release, February 1, 2008
Letter to Bruce Golding, Prime Minister of Jamaica
Letter, February 27, 2008
Letter from Bruce Golding, Prime Minister of Jamaica
Letter, February 28, 2008
More on Human Rights Watch's Work on Jamaica
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