US group says gays abused in JamaicaBY LAVERN CLARKE Special assignment editor
Wednesday, November 17, 2004



IN an 81-page report published yesterday, the New York-based Human Rights Watch ripped into Jamaica for its treatment of its homosexuals and called for sweeping legal reform, and even constitutional changes, to address the problem.

One significant downside from Jamaica's homophobia, Human Rights Watch claimed, was its prevention of a broad assault on HIV/AIDS, which is estimated to affect 1.5 per cent of the population or 22,000 people, the third highest in the Caribbean after Haiti and Dominican Republic.

Among the group's suggestions are that the government:

. repeal laws against buggery;

. that the anti-discrimination clause in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the Jamaican Constitution be amended to include 'sexual orientation and gender identity' and 'sex'; and

. that government opens itself up to international scrutiny by ratifying conventions against torture.

In explaining how homophobic tendencies in Jamaica impacted negatively on the treatment of people with HIV/AIDS, Human Rights Watch said Jamaicans still believe that AIDS is largely a homosexual disease although official statistics indicate that 68 per cent of the cases here are transmitted between heterosexual partners and only 5.4 per cent are cases of 'men having sex with men' (and bisexuals combined).

Consequently, persons with HIV/AIDS continue to be stigmatised as 'battymen' - a derogatory Jamaican term for male homosexuals - and even the intervention groups working with HIV/AIDS cases are stigmatised and even threatened with violence, the report claimed.

The report is titled 'Hated to Death', with the sub-title 'Homophobia, Violence and Jamaica's HIV/AIDS Epidemic'.
It is likely to stir a new round of debate on the treatment of homosexuals in Jamaica and focus more attention on the island by international gay-rights groups that have been leading an international campaign against dancehall artistes, whose music they claim promote violence against gays.

But the Human Rights Watch report hits not only at popular artistes, but sharply attacked the Jamaican government's positions on the issue as anti-progressive, specifically naming Prime Minister P J Patterson and health minister John Junor for refusing to endorse recommendations by their own technocrats to repeal anti-gay laws.

The report does give some credit to the health ministry for its interventions in dealing with the HIV/AIDS problem, but charged that "other parts of Jamaica's Government undermine these important efforts by condoning or committing serious human rights abuses".

Consequently, it said, abuses against MSS occur in "a climate of impunity fostered by Jamaica's sodomy laws and are promoted at the highest levels of government".

The report also claimed that the police were often the instigators of beatings, and verbal abuse of the AIDS-afflicted, citing a case in Montego Bay on June 18 this year when a suspected gay man was 'chopped, stabbed and stoned to death', ostensibly at the instigation of the police who started the process by beating the man with batons.

Whereas gay-rights lobbyists such as OutRage! have targeted specific interest groups for their attacks, Human Rights Watch directly labelled the Patterson administration as a facilitator of abuse and told the government to act 'forcefully and quickly' to change course.

In fact, the group even urged ministers to use their platforms and contacts with the media to promote acceptance of the gay community.

Human Rights Watch warns that to maintain the present policy course is to consign thousands of Jamaicans "to lives of horrific abuse and premature and preventable death".

Taken from : http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...in_jamaica.asp

What are your thoughts on this??

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http://www.everytingjamaican.com/jam...ANS+HOMOPHOBIC

lol lol PB remember this locked thread??? This is the same subject I brought up months ago about Jamaicans being homophobic we are one of, if not the most homophobic country in the world as AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL states. This is a very important subject that needs to be spoken about hopefully this time it won't get out of hand.

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"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake." - Matthew 5 v11 KJV

Very waggish indeed.

Hmmmm, interesting reading. I think all that will do is give the USA gays second thoughts about coming to Jamaica. I do agree that it is not right for any outside group to tell a specific government what to do. But, I also agree with the reform the article calls for. Not living in Jamaica, it's hard to guess how that government will respond to the article. I hope, though, that they will look into the problems and possible lean more towards tolerance. Please, somebody, keeps us informed... and thanks for the article.

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Peace & Blessings ,

Rod

People are afraid of what they don't understand. It's one thing to disagree with a person's lifestyle but to beat or kill them over being who they are is ridiculous. What goes on in their bedrooms is no one else's business.

Recently I heard or read somewhere where foreigners have the perception that in Jamaica, gays are hunted down and mobbed and burned by people chanting "More Fire".I had to laugh, because they were basing this off the lyrics of some songs or something, and interpret calls for "more fire" to mean literally that people should be burned up. I have never heard anything like that happening in Jamaica. I do believe that many of these claims are exaggerated. That shows they don't understand the Jamaican culture. For foreigners reading this, calling for "more fire" and to "bun out" certain things, means simply to speak out strongly against it.

I think a lot of this hype is stemming from outsiders looking in and not really understanding Jamaican culture. While I do believe that people should let people live, and not hurt or kill people, I also believe that as a nation and as individuals, we have a right to speak out against behaviour which threatens those moral values which we try to uphold.

When the leader of JFLAG was killed, gay groups all over the world were in uproar. They claimed it was an anti-gay killing and made a big hype about it - because they thought they could use it to push their cause. When the facts came out that it was not a hate crime, but more likely a plain old robbery, or even a crime of passion, they had nothing to say. No retraction of their accusations, nothing.

If these changes to legislation and constitution are put to the vote, the Jamaican people will not let it pass.

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"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake." - Matthew 5 v11 KJV

Very waggish indeed.

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"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake." - Matthew 5 v11 KJV

Very waggish indeed.

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this has become a serius problem in the uk with artist being banned shows cancelled people cant eat a food.in a country where this is tolerated this recent group has started this campain saying the sane things a want to tell the people how to run their firstly differnt cultures differnt mind u cant want to tell a country or peope how to run their busineess the have no undersatanding of the culture especially when the want to force what the do unto other people if that is what u do just but out of other people business we come from a culture that se that wrong adam & eve no adam & steve but we dont go around killing every jay person because of it we are a vocal people its the only way we know how to expres ourselfs the dont understand that this is the only a man can eat feed i'm family and get out of the getto i lucky to be the uk but i used to be in the getto so i know it tough . but if them dont stop take food out peolpe mouth then trouble start "bounty say anytime my hungery u a go see mi nine "

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Which people are you passing judgement on here? The Bible say, "judge not lest ye be judged."

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Peace & Blessings ,

Rod

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Read full article here...

Hmmm...

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"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake." - Matthew 5 v11 KJV

Very waggish indeed.

Who is looking out for the rights of those who do not condone homosexuality?

Read the Letter to the Editor - Jamaica Gleaner - November 22, 2004

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"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake." - Matthew 5 v11 KJV

Very waggish indeed.