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A calculated assault on the authority of the state? Crime, politics and extradition in 21st century Jamaica

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Abstract

The Jamaican state has operated under a form of the Westminster model, dominated by the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People’s National Party (PNP), since independence in 1962. There have been sixteen general elections since universal adult suffrage in 1944, regular changes of government have occurred and it has been regarded as a stable democracy for the majority of the period of its existence. However, this apparent stability masks a political culture which has been marked by violence and corruption. Whilst the political violence of the late 1970s had declined significantly by the end of the twentieth century, the spiralling crime rate has been an ongoing problem for both PNP and JLP governments. In this article, I explore the nature of the relationship between politics and crime in twenty-first century Jamaica. I argue that the original links between politics and crime which were forged in the preindependence stage and which assisted the consolidation of bi-partisan hegemony, have undermined the integrity and authority of the state in the twenty-first century. This discussion is approached through analysis of the recent controversy surrounding the extradition of Jamaica citizen, Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, to the United States on charges of firearms and drug trafficking.

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Notes

  1. Criminality encompasses a wide range of actors and actions. In this article, I am focusing on gang crime and its links to economic and political actors rather than examining the wider role of white-collar crime and its links with corruption. See Harriott for a comprehensive overview of crime and criminality in Jamaica [26].

  2. Dons have been defined as ‘male civilians who exercise control over a gang or a community’ and ‘are central figures in Jamaican organised violence.’ [66, p26]. Johnson and Soeters define a don as a ‘rogue leader’ and compare their roles to the ‘godfather-like extra-legal culture of the Mafia in Italy and elsewhere’ [62, p166-167].

  3. Jamaican gangs have been involved in the production and distribution of marijuana from the 1960s onwards but the drug trade went transnational after the 1980 election as the demand for cocaine led to its transhipment through the Caribbean [25, 78].

  4. According to Small, Coke was ‘quickly eliminated from police enquiries’ [78, p140].

  5. As Mr Seaga explained in an interview ‘ I built for them what people called an enclave, and I make no apology for that so that they could walk in peace and that their daughters wouldn’t have to be raped at night and they could walk without fear and attend meetings and go about and do their business at night’ [32].

  6. However, as the Commission of Enquiry into the extradition concluded, Golding’s position was not without foundation. The report noted that the Memoranda of Understanding signed by the previous PNP Minister of Security, Dr. Peter Phillips, did not have the force of law behind it and therefore did not override the provisions of the Interception of Communications Act (ICA). This Act is clear in limiting the sharing of covertly obtained information [74, p15-19]. The position of the US government in claiming its use of the evidence was legal within the Jamaican context was therefore rejected. The ICA was amended in July 2011 to allow intercepted communication to be shared with foreign governments [50] Wider questions arise about the continuing role of the US government in undermining Caribbean state sovereignty in the ‘joint’ pursuit of criminality (see Bowling for analysis of tensions between US and Caribbean law enforcement agencies [8]).

  7. The Declaration demanded the ‘Government of Jamaica in fulfilment of its first duty to protect its citizens, takes immediate and decisive steps to exercise the power of the State to seek out and punish perpetrators of crime.’ It called on members of the House to ‘sever links with gunmen, dismantle garrisons and to disassociate themselves from criminals and criminal sources of funding.’ [36].

  8. The notable exception to this is the US response to the Cuban Revolution [28]. In addition, relations have been fraught between the US and the CARICOM over CARICOM’s response to the removal from power of Jean-Bertrand Aristide [35] and its position on the Iraq war [64].

  9. Indeed, it transpired in December 2011 that a US spy plane had been observing Tivoli Gardens and feeding surveillance information to the Jamaica Defence force prior to, and during, its operations in the area. This was originally denied by the Jamaican government [51]. In addition, and more generally, as Green and Ward note, ‘The American state, often through its intelligence services has periodically employed the assistance of organised crime (for example, right-wing narco-guerillas such as the Contras) for political ends…’ [22, p94]

  10. The allocation of state funds to members of parliament was repackaged following the 2007 general election in the form of a Constituency Development Fund which amounted to J$20m per MP and ensured the continuation of a resource-dispensing role for the member of parliament [47].

  11. For example, in their analysis of informal economies in the transition countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Wallace and Latcheva highlight the ‘black economy, on the other hand, was more important for supplementing incomes and increasing wealth and was not so prevalent among the poorer households’ [86, p98]

  12. This poses interesting questions about the meaning of legitimacy. Webb et al. define it as ‘prescriptions for social acceptability based on only norms, values, and beliefs of large groups in society, disregarding prescriptions of laws and regulations’ [87, p495]. In the context of community level norms and values in Jamaica, it could be argued that the actions of the criminal organisations had a legitimate basis within the community.

  13. In November 2010, it was reported Bruce Golding had made a tour of Tivoli Gardens. Political slogans supportive of the opposition PNP had been daubed on buildings in the area. Residents commented on this negatively, arguing they remained loyal to the JLP. One was quoted as saying ‘Them rude fi [for] come here paint up PNP. We a rock strong Labourite and no care, what we have a family business and we nah switch [allegiance]’. Another one stated ‘God forgive we, we forgive Bruce Golding [for sending the army into the community to arrest Christopher Coke]’. It is clear from these statements that the relationships between community residents, the political parties and the dons remain complex [49].

  14. Specific examples would include: the Grace Kennedy Foundation, Kingston Restoration Company and the Stella Maris Foundation.

  15. It is also evident that the PSOJ, as a representative of business, were concerned their interests would be damaged by the ongoing international coverage of the extradition issue. Indeed, when the prime minister gave his reasons for signing the extradition, the matter of public confidence and the negative impact on business, were central [56].

  16. This diversity, especially along class lines, has been noted by Lundy [67] and Dodman [13] in the context of environmental issues and Sives [76] in the context of the election observer group Citizens’ Action for Free and Fair Elections (CAFFE).

  17. These range from protests against police action to a lack of services and reflect more than anything the inadequacy of the formal channels available to register complaints [61].

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank two anonymous reviewers, Mark Figueroa and Rivke Jaffe for comments on previous drafts of this article.

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    Amanda Sives

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Sives, A. A calculated assault on the authority of the state? Crime, politics and extradition in 21st century Jamaica. Crime Law Soc Change 58, 415–435 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-012-9391-0

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