2010 Kingston unrest
Encyclopedia
An armed conflict between the Shower Posse and Jamaica's military in Kingston
, the capital of Jamaica
, has killed at least 73 civilians and wounded at least 35 others since 23 May 2010. Four soldiers/police were also killed and it is claimed that more than 500 arrests have been made, as Jamaican police hunt for Christopher "Dudus" Coke
, a major drug lord and fugitive from justice, after the United States requested his extradition
.
When prompted as to his whereabouts three days after the mission was launched, police stated they did not know where he was.
Much of the unrest is happening in the constituency belonging to the Prime Minister of Jamaica
, Bruce Golding
, who said he was "taken aback" by its scale. Golding has been described by the American Broadcasting Company
(ABC) as a "known criminal affiliate" of Coke, which Golding refuted as "extremely offensive". Although the U.S. government considered Golding one of Coke's associates, it said it supported the Jamaican government's attempt to capture Coke.
After initial rumors that Coke was attempting to surrender to the United States
, Kingston police arrested Coke on the outskirts of the city, apparently while a local reverend, Reverend Al Miller, was helping negotiate his surrender to the United States Embassy.
Afterwards some 1,000 police and soldiers assaulted a public housing
complex occupied by heavily armed gangsters defending Christopher "Dudus" Coke
, considered one of the world's most dangerous drug lord
s, who has been indicted in the United States on drug and arms trafficking charges. Cartel gunmen swarmed through West Kingston, battling police and soldiers, and trapping civilians in their homes.
Coke has a heroic reputation in Kingston's slums. He has been likened to Robin Hood
because he has helped the community by handing out food, sending children to school and building medical centers.
in the capital Kingston and in the parish
of St Andrew to last for one month while gunmen were pursued by the security services. May 24, 2010 was also a public holiday (Labour Day), which can be noted in Jamaican history as one of the most unproductive and bloodiest since the time of its inception.
Security forces broke through barbed-wire barricades and fought their way into the warren-like Tivoli Gardens
neighborhood well into 24 May. While fighting raged in Tivoli Gardens, gun battles spread to other volatile slums close to Kingston.
Tivoli was heavily fortified by gangsters in preparation for the inevitable onslaught by the security forces. Molotov cocktail "factories" as well as storage dumps for ammunition were created in various sections of the community to provide quick supply to the gunmen besieging Tivoli.
Electrified barbed wires were used to block the main entrance to the community along with old burnt out cars and sharp metal scraps and cement. These barriers were further fortified by the use of IEDs made from cooking gas cylinders armed with electronically detonated fuses. Manholes were uncovered and filled with spikes and the roads were lined with hidden IEDs made from somatol explosives.
Recon operations by JDF helicopters showed well organised roadblocks made of sandbags manned by 3-4 men armed with AK-47 and Molotov cocktails. Snipers were also stationed on the roof to take out as much of the law men as possible before they can start disassembling the barriers.
According to Colonel Rocky Meade the level of defensive work was becoming of a very well organised militia. Ground report suggested that it took the soldiers 2 hours to advance a distance of 200 metres at the start of the operation, a distance that usually takes 5 minutes.
An independent assessment team said there were "appalling conditions" to be seen in Tivoli Gardens as people were stuck in houses. Lack of food, running water and a surplus of visible bodily waste were reportedly problems faced by many, while dozens of children and toddlers were lost in Rasta City with one wounded woman losing her 18-month-old son on the way to hospital. Corpses belonging to young men under the age of 30 were said to be lining the morgue. Prime Minister Golding said: "The government deeply regrets the loss of lives, especially those of members of the security forces and innocent, law-abiding citizens caught in the crossfire."
Journalists were ordered to "keep back" by the military while buildings were burnt by cartel gunmen, and looting occurred.
Journalists were permitted to view Tivoli Gardens for the first time since the unrest began, meeting soldiers who described the "ongoing operation" and residents who said "an atrocity took place [...] they are not showing you the homes which have bodies and a lot of blood".
However, independent observers, such as Political Ombudsman Bishop Herro Blair and Public Defender Earl Witter, who visited the community expressed satisfaction with conditions. Residents were also quick to praise the conduct of soldiers.
Violence flared there after authorities tried to arrest Coke, who was charged last year in U.S. federal court with conspiracy to distribute marijuana and cocaine and with conspiracy to illegally traffic in firearms. Authorities in Jamaica sought to arrest him after federal prosecutors in New York sought his extradition, but his supporters attacked police stations in response.
The fifth one-dayer cricket match and first Test cricket match between West Indies and South Africa
were transferred to Trinidad
due to security fears.
On 27 May 2010, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
called for an impartial inquiry into the unrest. Amnesty International
and Jamaica's third party have echoed these sentiments.
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
, the capital of Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, has killed at least 73 civilians and wounded at least 35 others since 23 May 2010. Four soldiers/police were also killed and it is claimed that more than 500 arrests have been made, as Jamaican police hunt for Christopher "Dudus" Coke
Christopher Coke
Michael Christopher Coke , also known as Dudus, is a Jamaican drug lord and the leader of the Shower Posse gang. He is the son of drug lord Lester Lloyd Coke...
, a major drug lord and fugitive from justice, after the United States requested his extradition
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
.
When prompted as to his whereabouts three days after the mission was launched, police stated they did not know where he was.
Much of the unrest is happening in the constituency belonging to the Prime Minister of Jamaica
Prime Minister of Jamaica
The Prime Minister of Jamaica is Jamaica's head of government, currently Andrew Holness. Andrew Holness was elected as the new leader of the governing Jamaica Labour Party and succeeded Bruce Golding to become Jamaica's ninth Prime Minister on 23 October 2011...
, Bruce Golding
Bruce Golding
Orette Bruce Golding MP served as Prime Minister of Jamaica from 11 September 2007 to 23 October 2011. He is a member of the Jamaica Labour Party.-Biography:...
, who said he was "taken aback" by its scale. Golding has been described by the American Broadcasting Company
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
(ABC) as a "known criminal affiliate" of Coke, which Golding refuted as "extremely offensive". Although the U.S. government considered Golding one of Coke's associates, it said it supported the Jamaican government's attempt to capture Coke.
After initial rumors that Coke was attempting to surrender to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Kingston police arrested Coke on the outskirts of the city, apparently while a local reverend, Reverend Al Miller, was helping negotiate his surrender to the United States Embassy.
Initial unrest
The unrest started on 23 May 2010, when gangsters assaulted four police stations in southwestern Kingston and managed to loot and partially burn out one of the stations.Afterwards some 1,000 police and soldiers assaulted a public housing
Public housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the...
complex occupied by heavily armed gangsters defending Christopher "Dudus" Coke
Christopher Coke
Michael Christopher Coke , also known as Dudus, is a Jamaican drug lord and the leader of the Shower Posse gang. He is the son of drug lord Lester Lloyd Coke...
, considered one of the world's most dangerous drug lord
Drug lord
A drug lord, drug baron or kingpin is the term used to describe a person who controls a sizable network of persons involved in the illegal drugs trade. Such figures are often difficult to bring to justice, as they might never be directly in possession of something illegal, but are insulated from...
s, who has been indicted in the United States on drug and arms trafficking charges. Cartel gunmen swarmed through West Kingston, battling police and soldiers, and trapping civilians in their homes.
Coke has a heroic reputation in Kingston's slums. He has been likened to Robin Hood
Robin Hood
Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
because he has helped the community by handing out food, sending children to school and building medical centers.
24–25 May 2010
On the night of 24/25 May 2010, the Jamaican government declared a state of emergencyState of emergency
A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...
in the capital Kingston and in the parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
of St Andrew to last for one month while gunmen were pursued by the security services. May 24, 2010 was also a public holiday (Labour Day), which can be noted in Jamaican history as one of the most unproductive and bloodiest since the time of its inception.
Security forces broke through barbed-wire barricades and fought their way into the warren-like Tivoli Gardens
Tivoli Gardens, Kingston
Tivoli Gardens, the political Garrison, is a West Kingston neighbourhood in Kingston, Jamaica. Tivoli Gardens has been the scene of confrontation between gunmen and security forces in 1997, 2001, 2005, 2008 and during the 2010 Kingston unrest. It is home to the alleged drug 'Don' Christopher Coke...
neighborhood well into 24 May. While fighting raged in Tivoli Gardens, gun battles spread to other volatile slums close to Kingston.
Tivoli was heavily fortified by gangsters in preparation for the inevitable onslaught by the security forces. Molotov cocktail "factories" as well as storage dumps for ammunition were created in various sections of the community to provide quick supply to the gunmen besieging Tivoli.
Electrified barbed wires were used to block the main entrance to the community along with old burnt out cars and sharp metal scraps and cement. These barriers were further fortified by the use of IEDs made from cooking gas cylinders armed with electronically detonated fuses. Manholes were uncovered and filled with spikes and the roads were lined with hidden IEDs made from somatol explosives.
Recon operations by JDF helicopters showed well organised roadblocks made of sandbags manned by 3-4 men armed with AK-47 and Molotov cocktails. Snipers were also stationed on the roof to take out as much of the law men as possible before they can start disassembling the barriers.
According to Colonel Rocky Meade the level of defensive work was becoming of a very well organised militia. Ground report suggested that it took the soldiers 2 hours to advance a distance of 200 metres at the start of the operation, a distance that usually takes 5 minutes.
26 May
On 26 May, police stated that they had more than 500 people in custody. The civilian death toll was raised to 44.An independent assessment team said there were "appalling conditions" to be seen in Tivoli Gardens as people were stuck in houses. Lack of food, running water and a surplus of visible bodily waste were reportedly problems faced by many, while dozens of children and toddlers were lost in Rasta City with one wounded woman losing her 18-month-old son on the way to hospital. Corpses belonging to young men under the age of 30 were said to be lining the morgue. Prime Minister Golding said: "The government deeply regrets the loss of lives, especially those of members of the security forces and innocent, law-abiding citizens caught in the crossfire."
Journalists were ordered to "keep back" by the military while buildings were burnt by cartel gunmen, and looting occurred.
27 May
On 27 May, police said they had located the corpses of 73 civilians.Journalists were permitted to view Tivoli Gardens for the first time since the unrest began, meeting soldiers who described the "ongoing operation" and residents who said "an atrocity took place [...] they are not showing you the homes which have bodies and a lot of blood".
However, independent observers, such as Political Ombudsman Bishop Herro Blair and Public Defender Earl Witter, who visited the community expressed satisfaction with conditions. Residents were also quick to praise the conduct of soldiers.
Violence flared there after authorities tried to arrest Coke, who was charged last year in U.S. federal court with conspiracy to distribute marijuana and cocaine and with conspiracy to illegally traffic in firearms. Authorities in Jamaica sought to arrest him after federal prosecutors in New York sought his extradition, but his supporters attacked police stations in response.
Coke is captured
Coke was captured on June 22, 2010 by Jamaican police near the outskirts of Kingston. There were no violence reported during the arrest.International response
Several airlines cancelled flights to and from Kingston after foreign governments issued emergency warnings against travel to the city. Canadians were told not to travel to Kingston unless essential.The fifth one-dayer cricket match and first Test cricket match between West Indies and South Africa
South African cricket team
The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status...
were transferred to Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
due to security fears.
On 27 May 2010, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is an autonomous organ of the Organization of American States .Along with the...
called for an impartial inquiry into the unrest. Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
and Jamaica's third party have echoed these sentiments.
Further reading
- McCaul, Kathleen. "Jamaica drug gangs 'call the shots'". Thursday, 27 May 2010. Interview with Ian Thomson, Ondaajte Prize winner.
- Silverman, John (Professor). "Jamaica violence 'linked to US drug market'". Thursday, 27 May 2010. (from the author of Crack of Doom, the first British book about drugs and Jamaica)