Rights group heading to court

KINGSTON – A small local human-rights group has filed a suit in the Supreme Court challenging the one-month state of emergency which came into effect last month and blaming Prime Minister Bruce Golding for the recent unrest in downtown Kingston.
The group, Jamaican Forum for Human Rights, has named Prime Minister Bruce Golding, Attorney General Dorothy Lightbourne, Director of Public Prosecutions Paula Llewellyn, Governor General Sir Patrick Allen and former Police Commissioner Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin as the respondents.
Attorney-at-law Hannah Harris-Barrington, who has been living in Jamaica since December 2008, filed the suit on behalf of the group which is based in Hectors River, Portland.
Dr Clarice Ledwidge, bishop of the Ministries of Jessica Clarice Evangelist in Hectors River; Annette Marshall, a Tivoli Gardens resident, and other concerned citizens are the claimants.
Harris-Barrington, who is president of the group, was born in England of Jamaican parents and after practising as a British solicitor for many years came to Jamaica.
She said the aim of the group was not for publicity but to help the poor and underprivileged to get back their dignity and sanity.
“We don’t need fame or fortune, we need justice for the people, especially those living in the garrisons,” Harris Barrington told the Sunday Gleaner.
“God sent me here to help because there are too many injustices going on,” she added.
A date has not yet been set for the hearing of the claimants’ application. (Jamaica Gleaner)