JFJ Concerned About Detention Of Coopers Pen Residents Ahead Of Demolitions | RJR News

Human rights lobby group, Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ), has joined the growing list of those raising concerns about the detention of more than a dozen men in Coopers Pen, Trelawny, ahead of a demolition exercise in the community on Tuesday. 

It was reported that 20 to 25 men were picked up by the police around 3 a.m. and taken to Falmouth Police Station where they were held for hours. 

According to them, they were told by the police that they were searching for guns. 

In a statement Friday, JFJ said the situation raises serious human rights concerns. It asserted that the detention, fingerprinting and seizure of personal property, such as phones, represent significant interference with constitutional rights to freedom of the person, movement, liberty and privacy. 

The organisation added that the mere presence of police at a demolition exercise does not on its own justify the detention and processing of residents as though they were criminal suspects. 

JFJ also raised questions about the legal basis for the fingerprinting and photographing of the men, noting that the Fingerprints Act sets out circumstances in which such measures may lawfully be taken. 

The group said that in the absence of a court order following a formal charge, fingerprinting is permitted only when a person consents after being informed of the right to refuse. 

JFJ said the Act does not permit fingerprinting simply as part of a fishing exercise. 

The organisation is calling for the Jamaica Constabulary Force to clarify why police were present as part of what appeared to be a private demolition exercise and whether the detention of the men formed part of the demolition operation or was connected to a separate police operation.