标签： Jamaica

A recent U.S. military strike against a vessel in the Caribbean Sea that left four people dead has drawn sharp rebuke from one of the country’s leading independent human rights organizations, which is calling for an immediate end to the covert lethal operation campaign. Human Rights Watch (HRW), a New York-based global human rights monitoring group, issued the condemnation Friday, arguing that the fatal attack is far from an isolated mistake — it is the latest example of a years-long pattern of unlawful extrajudicial killing carried out by U.S. forces outside recognized war zones.

Details of the strike were first released by U.S. Southern Command (Southcom), the Miami-headquartered military command responsible for operations across Latin America and the Caribbean, in a March 25 statement. According to the command’s official account, the lethal kinetic operation targeting the vessel was ordered by Marine General Francis L. Donovan, head of U.S. Southern Command, and carried out by the joint task force branded Southern Spear. The target vessel, Southcom claimed, was linked to officially designated terrorist groups, was traveling along well-documented narcotics smuggling corridors in the Caribbean, and was actively engaged in drug trafficking operations at the time of the strike. The command confirmed four male individuals described as “narco-terrorists” were killed in the action, and added that no U.S. military personnel were injured during the operation.

The attack marked the 47th lethal strike conducted by the U.S. military in counter-narcotics operations across the Caribbean and Pacific oceans, a campaign that has now claimed the lives of 163 people since its launch, according to data compiled by HRW. Sarah Yager, the organization’s Washington D.C. director, emphasized that the steady drumbeat of these strikes has created a systemic pattern of illegal force that has gone largely unexamined by the public and policymakers.

“These strikes aren’t one-off incidents, they’re part of a pattern of using military force where the law does not permit it, over and over again,” Yager said. “The fact that these strikes have faded from public attention does not make these violations any less grave or unlawful.”

HRW’s legal argument centers on a clear distinction laid out in international law between military operations in active armed conflict and civilian law enforcement actions. The organization stresses that the U.S. is not involved in any formal armed conflict with drug trafficking organizations operating in the Caribbean or Pacific, which means no suspected traffickers qualify as legitimate military targets under international legal standards. Outside of a declared armed conflict, the deliberate use of lethal force is only legally permissible when it is strictly necessary to defend against an immediate threat to human life. To date, the U.S. government has not released any public evidence demonstrating that any of the 163 people killed in these strikes posed an imminent lethal threat to anyone, HRW says, meaning the killings amount to unlawful extrajudicial executions.

The organization is calling on the sitting Trump administration to take immediate action to address the pattern of abuse: first, to halt the entire campaign of extrajudicial lethal strikes immediately, and second, to launch a full accountability process that includes investigating the unlawful killings, conducting formal assessments of harm to the victims and their surviving families, and providing appropriate legal and financial redress for the violations committed.

ST JAMES, Jamaica — On Good Friday, April 3, a landmark moment of reckoning and repair unfolded in St James, as Jamaican senior officials formally transferred full legal ownership of two parcels of land to the Rastafari Coral Gardens Benevolent Society (RCGBS), delivering long-awaited state restitution for the 1963 Coral Gardens incident that targeted the local Rastafari community.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security and Peace Dr. Horace Chang led the handover ceremony, joined by Olivia Grange, Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport. The event was held on the newly transferred plots in Albion, St James, to mark the annual commemoration of the 1963 Coral Gardens Atrocity Against Rastafari.

In his remarks to attendees, Dr. Chang — who also serves as Member of Parliament for St James North Western — clarified that the official titles for Lots 84A and 84B grant full legal ownership rights exclusively to the RCGBS. This transfer secures the community’s unconditional right to occupy, manage, and develop the property in line with its own priorities and cultural needs. The land is designated to function as a purpose-built, secure community space for Rastafari elders, designed to support the group’s unique cultural and social requirements.

“This is a critical step forward. We are not erasing our history, nor are we rewriting it,” Dr. Chang emphasized. “We must carry our history with us, but we also have the responsibility to move forward and build a better, more just future from that history. That is exactly what this handover represents.” He also praised the sustained advocacy of RCGBS leadership over decades, specifically highlighting Ras Lewis Brown for his organizing and advocacy work, and Sistha Pamela Rowe-Williams for her consistent communication and unwavering commitment to the group’s core goals.

Dr. Chang also acknowledged the critical work of the National Land Agency (NLA), led by CEO and Commissioner of Lands Cheriese Walcott, which oversaw the completion of all required legal processes to ensure the transfer was legally sound and permanent. He added that the Jamaican government looks forward to continued collaboration with the RCGBS in future initiatives.

For her part, Minister Grange framed the handover as evidence of the government’s deepening commitment to addressing the longstanding harms inflicted on the Rastafari community. She reported that to date, more than $130 million has been distributed to the RCGBS Trust Fund to support survivors of the 1963 atrocity, with an additional $12 million deposited into the fund in recent weeks. Grange also noted that the government has provided ongoing financial support for the temporary Rastafari elders’ home in Norwood, while a permanent facility that meets the community’s specific cultural and dietary requirements is being developed.

Grange emphasized that the land transfer marks a major milestone in a national reparations process that launched in 2017, when Prime Minister Andrew Holness issued a formal public apology on behalf of the Jamaican state and committed to a comprehensive program of reparations and restoration for the Rastafari community. Led by Grange’s ministry, the initiative has focused on redressing the intergenerational harms of the Coral Gardens incident through three core pillars: direct financial support, formal state recognition of the Rastafari community, and tangible reparative action such as this land transfer.

Speaking on behalf of the Rastafari community, Brown reflected on the 60-plus year journey that led to the handover, from the first public testimonies of brutality by surviving elders, to the formal establishment of the RCGBS as a recognized advocacy body, and ultimately to high-level negotiations with government leadership at Jamaica House. He expressed sincere gratitude to Dr. Chang for guiding the community through complex legal requirements and for championing the group’s 13-point policy recommendations to the Jamaican government.

Even as he celebrated the milestone, Brown stressed that the work toward full reparative justice remains unfinished. He called on members of the community to remain unified and persistent in building a more equitable and secure foundation for future generations of Rastafarians in Jamaica.

KINGSTON, Jamaica — A fatal accident on Easington bridge has ignited sharp criticism of the Jamaican government’s infrastructure management, with opposition road affairs spokesperson Richard Azan demanding immediate corrective action. On Friday, a local man lost his life after falling into a large, unaddressed hole in the deteriorating crossing, a tragedy Azan calls a preventable failure of governmental responsibility.

In an official statement released following the incident, Azan argued that the death has reignited long-simmering questions about the ruling administration’s flagship Accelerated Bridge Programme. According to Azan, the initiative has repeatedly fallen short of its commitments to deliver critical repair work across the parish of St. Thomas, leaving high-risk structures like Easington bridge unrepaired for months.

“This is a profound failure of duty,” Azan stated in the release. “A Jamaican is dead because we allowed a known hazard to remain open to pedestrian traffic. I am angry and deeply saddened by this completely avoidable loss. The Government must stop issuing empty promises and start issuing work orders. Every day of delay puts another life at risk.”

Azan explained that with no safe alternative crossing routes available to local residents, the community had no choice but to continue using the damaged bridge despite its well-documented structural flaws. That unnecessary gamble, he emphasized, has now ended in death.

The opposition spokesperson laid out two clear demands for the government: first, to table a full, transparent parliamentary disclosure of all infrastructure funding allocated and spent in the region since Hurricane Melissa hit, and second, to install a safe temporary crossing for Easington without further holdup.

“No more excuses. No more waiting. Repair the bridge or build a safe passage. Honour the dead by protecting the living,” Azan added. He closed his statement by extending sincere condolences to the deceased man’s family and loved ones as they grieve their loss.