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Police Conduct
Ensure that all allegations of excessive force and other human
rights abuses by law enforcement officials against HIV/AIDS workers, sexual
minorities, sex workers, and people living with HIV/AIDS are investigated
promptly and thoroughly by a body independent of those alleged to be
responsible and which has the necessary powers and resources to fully
investigate offences by state agents. Sanction officials who engage in or
condone abuse.
Cease and publicly repudiate all violence and harassment by
police and other agents of the state against men who have sex with men, women
who have sex with women, sex workers, and people living with HIV/AIDS.
Train all criminal justice officials in international human
rights standards and nondiscrimination, including issues of sexuality, sexual
orientation, and HIV/AIDS. Ensure that such training is fully integrated into
training programs provided to all ranks, and not treated as an additional class
separated from the full curriculum of training. Ensure that police at all
levels are trained on the fundamentals of HIV transmission and care for people
living with HIV/AIDS and on the importance of the lifesaving efforts of
HIV/AIDS outreach workers.
Law Reform
Repeal sections 76, 77, and 79 of the Offences against the Person
Act, which criminalize sex between consenting adult men and are used as
justification for harassment of men who have sex with men and of HIV/AIDS
educators working with them.
Adopt legislation to protect the rights of people living with
HIV/AIDS, including legislation to proscribe discrimination against them.
Repeal section 80 of the Offences against the Person Act and
section 4 of the Towns and Communities Act, which grant broad latitude for
arrest and detention without a warrant or an order from a magistrate, and
replace them with clear, strict limitations on situations in which an arrest
without warrant is permissible, such as when a crime is occurring or about to
occur.
Include “sexual orientation and gender identity” and “sex” in the
anti-discrimination clause of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms proposed as
amendments to the Jamaican Constitution.
Invite international scrutiny of protections against torture and
ill-treatment by:
Ratifying the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman
and Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Optional Protocols to the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and to the U.N. Convention
against Torture, and the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention,
Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women.
Making the necessary declaration under article 22 of the U.N.
Convention against Torture to enable the U.N. Committee against Torture to
consider complaints submitted to it.
Including information on the treatment of HIV/AIDS workers and
members of high-risk groups (men who have sex with men, sex workers) in future
periodic reports to human rights treaty bodies established for the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (overdue as of July 11, 2001) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women.
Ensure that high-level political leaders, including the prime
minister and all other cabinet officials, take a leadership role in campaigns
focusing on improving human rights protections and reducing stigma and
discrimination against people living with and at high risk of HIV/AIDS.
National and parish-level governments should work with the media and nongovernmental
organizations to disseminate this information in a manner that is accessible to
people with limited literacy skills.
Ensure that the national HIV/AIDS program, in consultation with
the Ministry of National Security and the Jamaican Constabulary Force, develops
and implements a formal plan for a budgeted program of monitoring of and
regular public reporting on violence and abuse against marginalized groups at
high risk of HIV/AIDS.
Government officials at all levels should use public events and
contacts with the media to condemn police violence against HIV/AIDS workers;
should affirm international standards relating to equality, including
nondiscrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and HIV status;
and should reiterate the importance of human rights protections for all groups
vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, including men who have sex with men and sex workers.
The Ministry of Health’s stated position, articulated in national policy
documents, on the importance of protecting marginalized groups against stigma
and discrimination should be emphasized in public events and media.
Provide training on HIV/AIDS, sexuality, and sexual orientation
to all personnel in health care facilities, including instruction on the right
to privacy and protection of confidential information about HIV status and
specific guidance on how to guard against negligent and intentional
disclosure. Ensure that appropriate and accessible legal remedies are
available to individuals whose privacy has been infringed or who have
experienced discrimination or harassment in the health system based on HIV
status.
Establish an effective and independent oversight and complaint
mechanism to ensure the proper implementation of health policies and norms
relating to HIV/AIDS, including protection of confidential and private
information. Investigate and sanction all health personnel who disclose
confidential information without authorization.
Condemn the criminalization of consensual homosexual conduct and
support the repeal of sections 76, 77, and 79 as a violation of the prohibition
against discrimination based on sexual orientation and as an impediment to the
national response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The repeal of sections 76, 77, and
79 is consistent with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
the American Convention on Human Rights, and the United Nations International
Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights.
As part of monitoring compliance with the International Covenant
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the U.N. Committee on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights should report on Jamaica’s efforts to ensure provision of
HIV/AIDS information and services on a nondiscriminatory basis and to guarantee
the confidentiality of information about HIV status.
Ensure that monitoring of police harassment of HIV/AIDS outreach
workers and of people suspected of homosexual conduct, and related human rights
abuses are an important and regular part of monitoring programs supporting
police reform and HIV/AIDS efforts in Jamaica. Accelerate surveillance and
monitoring of NGO reports of police violence through the United Nations
supported monitoring system and other means, and ensure widespread public
reporting of data collected on this subject.
Support the development of organizations among members of the
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, and among sex workers, to
strengthen the capacity of these persons to advocate for the protection of
their rights in institutional fora.
Promote ratification of the Inter-American Convention on the
Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women.
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