Jamaica receives bad human rights review in Geneva

Reviewing Jamaica’s human rights record last week in Geneva, some of the world’s most powerful countries have expressed their disappointment that the country has not responded positively to recommendations particularly regarding gay rights.

Addressing mounting concerns, Minister of Justice Mark Golding attempted to assure the members of the 22nd session of the United Nations’ working group’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Jamaica human rights record that the 1962 constitution “guarantees the protection of the human rights of all Jamaicans.”

As the pressure to institute legislation that protects the rights of gays intensifies here in Jamaica , the findings of the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights, has noted several shortcomings in the battle for gay rights in Jamaica.

The team of investigators discovered many inadequacies in the Jamaican legislative landscape and declared:

• “The right to freedom from discrimination had failed to prohibit discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity and recommended that Jamaica should amend its laws with a view to prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation and gender identity.”

• “It also recommended that Jamaica should decriminalize sexual relations between consenting adults of the same sex, and put an end to prejudices and social stigmatization of homosexuality,” adding that it had also noted that the “criminalization of private, consensual same-sex sexual acts perpetuated homophobia and made HIV-prevention messaging difficult.”

The investigative known team better known as the United Nations Country Team (UNCT), also blasted what was seen as a lack of intention by Jamaica to repeal the death penalty and buggery laws respectively.

“While noting that Jamaica had made progress in lifting the mandatory death sentence for certain crimes in 2005 and that the State had not carried out judicial executions since 1988, [the UNCT] was concerned that Jamaica did not intend to abolish the death penalty,” wrote the report.

Loop News Service