By Elishya Perera
WASHINGTON DC (CWBN)_ Following the International Human Rights Day on December 10, the US Department of State imposed sanctions on several perpetrators of serious human rights abuses, including six officers of the Jamaican Constabulary Force Crime Management Unit.
Accordingly, Devon Orlando Bernard, Reneto DeCordiva Adams, Patrick Anthony Coke, Shayne St Aubyn Lyons, Leford Gordon, and Roderick Anthony Collier were designated for their involvement in the extrajudicial killings of four people in Jamaica on May 7, 2003.
The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) is a department under the Ministry of National Security, and it is the premier law enforcement arm of the Government of Jamaica.
According to a statement issued by the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the United States values its close relationship with the Jamaican government, and this decision to sanction these officials underscores the Unites States’ commitment to hold perpetrators of human rights violations in Jamaica (and around the world) accountable.
The statement noted that section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act 2020, provides that in the event the Secretary of State has credible information that officials of foreign governments have been involved in a gross violation of human rights or significant corruption, these individuals and their immediate family members are to be designated publicly or privately and are ineligible for entry into the United States.
José Antonio Almendáriz Rivas from El Salvador and Chief Huang Yuanxiong of the Xiamen Public Security Bureau of the Wucun Police Station in China were also among those whose violations and human rights abuses were brought to attention in the statement.
“These designations underscore our support for human rights and the promotion of accountability for gross violators of human rights. We are proud to be a leader in championing human rights across the globe, thereby honouring the vision of our founders and expressing the time-honoured American aspiration for all people to be free,” the statement concluded.
