Country of Origin - JAMAICA

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REPORTS

AmnestyUSA
Battybwoys haffi dead

European Parliament
Resolution on Human Rights in the World 2004

US State Department
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2004
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor February 28, 2005.

Human Rights Watch
Jamaica Hated to Death

Amnesty International
1997 Summary

... what I mean when I say the Black situation and the homosexual situation are parallel. We are the only ones who are socialized in such a way that we cannot trust our own “consciousness.” Because it’s very difficult to ever contradict the norm, whatever is the norm. And you know what this society has done to all of us? WE WANT TO BUY INTO “NORMALCY,” AS “NORMALCY” IS CONSIDERED WITHIN THE VERY TERMS OF THE VERY ORDER OF “KNOWLEDGE” WHICH HAS MADE US “DEVIANT!” You see what I’m trying to say? And yes, so it is “logical.” Right? But this is how the system traps you.
- Sylvia Wynter

This Caribbean island-nation gained independence from Britain in 1962 but has retained intact its colonial legislation with regard to sodomy. The presence of the law on the books, coupled with a fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible in this nominally Christian country, and a rabid homophobia based on a misogynist and black male chauvinism, has put the lives of many Jamaicans in jeopardy. Violence is often the response of first resort, the machete the weapon of choice. Persons suspected of being gay are often harrassed, beaten, burnt out of their homes, or killed. The police are as likely to add to the abuse, so the reportage of such incidents is low. Some forty gay men have been killed in the last ten years.

Gay men and women in Jamaica have been beaten, cut, burned, raped and shot because of their sexual orientation. Cases of violence against lesbians, including rape and other forms of sexual abuse, also have been reported to AI. Some women have fled the country to escape persecution.

Reports suggest that the police officers in Jamaica are often either directly involved or complicit in crimes committed against LGBT people by denying protection and tacitly or actively supporting torture and ill-treatment. Police have reportedly failed to investigate homophobic hate crimes and have arrested and detained men overnight whom they suspect of being gay. Because law enforcement officials have failed to protect victims of violence, the number of men and women who report abuse is assumed to be many times fewer than the number of actual incidents. - Amnesty International

Despite pressure from the European Union to decriminalize homosexuality, in keeping with international human rights standards, the Patterson government has adamantly refused to budge . The Joint Select Parliamentary Committee charged with making recommendations for constitutional changes, supported the repeal of the law, after consultation with and much lobbying by the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays J-FLAG . LGBT persons who are able, migrate or seek asylum in Britain, the US and Canada. This no doubt adds significantly to the country's brain drain as it rejects some of its brightest and best. Those remaining dare not risk exposure, or come out only at their peril. Larry Chang , former General Secretary of the Gay Freedom Movement, predecessor of J-FLAG, escaped with his life to the US where he sought asylum after having received death threats and been stoned on several occasions. With the murder of Brian Williamson, J-FLAG reverts to its default status as a faceless entity.

DELETERIOUS FACTORS

LEGAL

Offences Against the Person Act

• Article 76 (Unnatural Crime)
  "Whosoever shall be convicted of the abominable crime of buggery (anal intercourse) committed either with mankind or with any animal, shall be liable to be imprisoned and kept to hard labour for a term not exceeding ten years."
• Article 77 (Attempt)
  "Whosoever shall attempt to commit the said abominable crime, or shall be guilty of any assault with intent to commit the same, or of any indecent assault upon any male person, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, and being convicted thereof shall be liable to be imprisoned for a term not exceeding seven years, with or without hard labour."
• Article 78 (Proof of Carnal Knowledge)
  "Whenever upon the trial of any offence punishable under this Act, it may be necessary to prove carnal knowledge, it shall not be necessary to prove the actual emission of seed in order to constitute a carnal knowledge, but the carnal knowledge shall be deemed complete upon proof of penetration only."
• Article 79 (Outrages on Decency)
  "Any male person who, in public or private, commits, or is a party to the commission of, or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any male person of, any act of gross indecency with another male person, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and being convicted thereof shall be liable at the discretion of the court to be imprisoned for a term not exceeding 2 years, with or without hard labour."

Government intransigence

• 'We won't be bullied' - Gov't says it has no plan to repeal buggery law; denies anti-gay allegations

  • GOVERNMENT YESTERDAY dismissed claims by the international body, Human Rights Watch, that the authorities have been soft on police abuses on homosexual males and persons affected by HIV/AIDS.

    "We find the approach of this organisation unacceptably insensitive," Information Minister Burchell Whiteman said in a statement issued to the media yesterday... We also as the duly elected representatives of the people feel that it is the people who must set our agenda in respect of the legislation which we pass or the repeal of any existing laws. We are certainly not about to respond to any organisation, external to this country, which may want to dictate to us how and when to deal with the laws of our land," said Senator Whiteman. - Gleaner , 2004/1/18

  • The Government yesterday reprimanded Human Rights Watch for what it described as insensitive handling of the group's research report on Jamaica's treatment of homosexuals and bluntly told the New York-based organisation that it has no say in the crafting of Jamaican laws. - Jamaica Observer , 2004/11/18

• PM says no to changing anti-homosexual laws, Jamaica Observer , 2004/7/2

• GOJ firm despite Chief Medical Officer's recommendation, Gleaner , 2002/2/24

• GOJ says no to gay rights , Jamaica Observer , 2002/1/22

• Anti-gay law to stay - PM, Gleaner , 2000/9/17

Police Harassment

• Police abuse is a fact of life for many men who have sex with men and women who have sex with women in all of the communities that Human Rights Watch visited in Jamaica. As in the incident described above, homophobic police violence can be a catalyst for violence and abuse by others. It is sometimes lethal. Police abuse is also profoundly destructive because it creates an atmosphere of fear sending a message to other lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people that they are without any protection from violence ... Many of the men who have sex with men interviewed by Human Rights Watch reported having to flee their homes and communities because of homophobic violence by their neighbors or other residents of their towns. In some cases, police abuse of men suspected of homosexual conduct prompted violence by private actors, whose violence effectively evicted them from their homes. - Human Rights Watch

• Gay people in Jamaica, or those suspected of being gay, are routinely victims of ill treatment and harassment by the police, and occasionally of torture ... Most reports received by Amnesty International are anecdotal or anonymous, due to individuals' fears of reprisals or retaliation. - Amnesty International Report

• For the police in general, according to a number of the reports, male homosexuals are not to be protected by the security forces, but to be arrested and otherwise penalised for being homosexuals. The security forces, according to the informant’s testimonials, interpret the laws banning sodomy to mean that the identity itself is illegal. The law thus becomes an umbrella under which they feel free to harass, single out, and threaten men they perceive to be gay or who state that they are gay. - Robert Carr, Caribbean Journal of Social Work , Vol. 2, July 2003

RELIGIOUS

• Fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible, focussing on passages from Leviticus and Paul's Letter to the Romans, forms the basis of most Jamaicans' condemnation of homosexuality. The phrase "their blood shall be upon them" is taken as justification for stoning, beating and stabbing supected LGBT persons.

• Rastafarians, further influenced by Nazarene prohibitions, deem any sexual act beyond the "missionary position" as unclean, especially same-sex relations and cunnilingus. Menstruating women are untouchable. To the blood, Rastas add purifying fire in the curse "blod faia fi yu" (blood, fire for you) aimed at lesbians and gay men. It becomes too often a sentence carried out by self-appointed executioners and vigilantes.

CULTURAL

• Legacy of slavery

  • Forcible displacement of thousands of Africans of differing tribal cultures disrupted social cohesion and personal security, to be replaced by abject and dehumanizing bondage. Gender roles were reduced and rigidified into studs and childbearers, resulting in present-day dysfunctional relationships, unstable family units, and disparagement of anyone not meeting these narrow gender expectations.

  • Social control was enforced by brutally violent means, establishing corporal punishment as the way to deal with wrongdoers, discipline the young, and in conflict resolution. Parents believe they can beat unacceptable behaviour out of children, and this is extended to anyone who has incurred "judgement." The genocide aimed at LGBT persons is seen as necessary cleansing.

• Influence of dancehall: Murder Music

  • Nearly 10 years ago, I happened to be on the Winnifred Beach at Fairy Hill in Portland when my ears were assaulted by a boombox, pumping out a song I'd never heard before. As I listened, I heard the most alarming lyrics, inciting people to kill informers and homosexuals ... it was, in my opinion, not only anti-social and uncivilised, it was also against the Jamaican law and constitution. In the most basic sense of the phrase, "Boom, Bye Bye" was a dangerous public mischief. - John Maxwell, Jamaica Observer , 2004/9/5

  • There is no doubt in my mind that in the inner-city areas a time bomb is ticking which, if left unchecked, will overtake this country in another 10 years. In these areas young men take their cues from their heroes: the DJs. They go with what the DJs decide is par for the course. - Mark Wignall, Jamaica Observer , 2004/8/22

  • In (Beenie Man's) track "Damn," he sings "I'm dreaming of a new Jamaica, come to execute all the gays." In his hit "Bad Man Chi Chi Man," he urges listeners to kill gays. In Jamaican slang, "chi chi man" is equivalent to "faggot". - Andrew Noyes, PlanetOut Network , 2004/8/9

  • Dancehall lyrics - incitements to kill

  • Soul Rebels - comprehensive study of homophobia in dancehall lyrics

NEWS CLIPS

Jamaican activist seeks refuge in Canada
Jamaican queer activist Gareth Henry was friends with 13 people murdered since 2004 just because they were gay. The bodies of three of them have never been found.

So it's not surprising that Henry — until recently the cochair of the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, Allsexuals and Gays (JFLAG) and now a refugee claimant in Canada — breaks down when talking about the death of his coworker and one-time roommate Steve Harvey in 2005.
- Krishna Rau, Xtra, 2008/2/28

Gay Jamaican Man Wins US Asylum
Hardbeatnews, NEW YORK, NY, Tues. Nov. 13, 2007: A gay Jamaican man has been granted asylum by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Ven Messam, according to Columbia Law School’s Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic, won the immigration petition based on his claims that he feared persecution because of his sexual orientation if he was forced to return to Jamaica.

“I am grateful to the United States government for saving my life,” a statement from the Clinic quoted Messam as saying.

He claimed his life in Jamaica was constantly in danger, with angry mobs carrying machetes, stones, knives, and guns, threatening to kill him because he is gay.

“When I tried to contact the police for help, the police instead threatened to arrest me and told me to leave the country if I wanted to stay safe,” he added.

Professor Suzanne B. Goldberg, director of the Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic which lobbied for Messam, insisted that the asylum approval “highlights the particularly severe dangers facing gay Jamaicans.”

“From election campaigns that use songs which promote burning and killing gay people to police support for violent, anti-gay mobs, the Jamaican government is actively menacing and endangering its gay citizens,” said Goldberg.

Messam was referred to Columbia’s Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic by Immigration Equality, a national organization focused on immigration rights for GLBT individuals, which provided important assistance in the case.

Four students from Columbia’s Sexuality and Gender Clinic - Simrin Parmar ’08, Jennifer Stark ’09, Jonathan Lieberman ’08, and Eileen Plaza ’09 - provided legal assistance in preparing their Messam’s application for asylum.
–Hardbeatnews.com

Keith Boykin considers boycott
"Jamaica depends on tourism to support its economy, and many of those tourists come from the United States. I've been to Jamaica before, but unless I'm there to help bring about change, I refuse to go back under the current conditions. I encourage other people of conscience to consider what they can do to make a difference for their part. One option might be to lead a boycott of the country, but I am not yet sure if that would change the government's posture or simply punish the people who are already poor. I'm still thinking about that one."
- Keith Boykin , 2007/5/1

Call for end to beatings
A joint forum of church, human rights lobbyists and politicians from both sides of the political divide, made a desperate plea yesterday for Jamaicans to end violence against homosexuals. The forum, headed by Political Ombudsman and clergyman, Bishop Herro Blair, said while the act is illegal and immoral, Jamaicans must abstain from mob violence and should instead seek to build a culture of tolerance for such individuals. In recent months, there has been a drastic increase in the number of mob attacks on homosexuals, the group claimed with as many as 16 since January according to the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians and All-Sexuals (JFLAG). This is coming from a figure of 40 beatings in 2006, JFLAG claimed.
- Daily Gleaner, 2007/4/17

EU Parliament calls for Jamaica to end homophobic abuses, urges decriminalization
See Report

US State Department issues Human Rights Report
For the first time, the US State Department has acknowledged the persecution that Jamaican LGBT persons face. It records in part, "Human rights NGOs and government entities agreed that brutality against homosexuals, both by police and private citizens, was widespread in the community."
- Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2004 , Section 5.

Loses US Asylum Appeal
In a ruling that shows how difficult the conservative federal courts and the homeland security hierarchy have made it for foreign gays to win asylum here, the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, in Philadelphia, ruled on November 18 against an asylum petition by a gay man from Jamaica, a notoriously homophobic nation, even though an immigration judge had ruled in the petitioner’s favor.
- Arthur S. Leonard, Gay City News , 2004/11/25

Activist granted US asylum
Larry Chang, a co-founder and General Secretary of Jamaica’s first gay rights organisation, has been granted political asylum by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security due to persecution on grounds of his sexual orientation. The confirmation of asylum was conferred on October 15, after three years of uncertainty for Chang.

• Washington Blade , 2004/10/29
• Jamaica OutPost , 2004/11

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RESOURCES

Organizations

J-FLAG
Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals & Gays

Amnesty International LGBT Network

Asylum Law

Human Rights First

Human Rights Watch

International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission

International Lesbian & Gay Association

OutRage

Queer Resources Directory

Sodomy Laws

United Nations Human Rights Commission

US Citizenship & Immigration Services

Media

Gleaner
Daily Gleaner Series

Jamaica Observer

Interviews with J_FLAG Co-Chairs and Amnesty OutFront Director
Worldview, 2005 December 27

Filmography

Songs of Freedom
Documentary film
by Philip Pike

Dangerous Living: Coming Out in the Developing World

Documented Persecution

Personal Accounts

Sample Affidavit

US applicant

The test of a liberal democracy rests as much with how it protects the rights of its minority as its acceptance of the rule of the majority. For no right is sacred if it does not guarantee the rights of those with whom we disagree or do not like.
- Gleaner Editorial, 2007/5/1

Am I not human too?