$Unique_ID{COW01982} $Pretitle{233J} $Title{Jamaica Chapter 2D. National Security} $Subtitle{} $Author{Rex A. Hudson, Daniel J. Seyler} $Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army} $Subject{jamaica security police jdf training military prison jcf national political} $Date{1987} $Log{} Country: Jamaica Book: Caribbean Commonwealth, An Area Study: Jamaica Author: Rex A. Hudson, Daniel J. Seyler Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army Date: 1987 Chapter 2D. National Security During its long history as a British colony, Jamaica looked to London for its defense and security needs. Unlike many Hispanic countries of Latin America, including nearby Cuba and the Dominican Republic, Jamaica remained immune from foreign military intervention while under British protection. Jamaica reciprocated by supporting Britain's war efforts. As a member of the British West Indies, Jamaica participated in World War I by sending over 10,000 men to the front. After World War II broke out, the United States became the recognized protector of the British West Indies, acquiring a ninety-nine-year lease for base rights in Jamaica and other islands under the Lend-Lease Agreement (also called the Bases-for-Destroyers Agreement) of 1941 (see The Strategic Setting, ch 7). Jamaica also became a part of North Atlantic defense preparations, hosting United States naval and air bases. Many volunteers from Jamaica joined the various services, particularly the Royal Air Force. The Jamaica Contingent of the First Battalion of the West India Regiment went overseas in May 1944. When the war ended, the United States deactivated its bases in Jamaica, and Britain reassumed responsibility for Jamaica's defense and foreign affairs until independence. On August 7, 1962, the day after independence, Bustamante announced that the United States was free to establish a military base in Jamaica without any obligation to provide aid in return, but the offer was declined. Nevertheless, as the Castro regime consolidated its power in Cuba during the 1960s and the Soviet military presence in the region expanded, Jamaica's importance to United States national security interests grew. Jamaica experienced no direct military threat during its first twenty- five years as an independent state; in the early 1980s, however, it had to deal with indirect threats to its national security interests posed by Cuban activities in Jamaica and by the events in Grenada. The Seaga government handled the issue of the Cuban presence in Jamaica by expelling the Cubans and breaking diplomatic relations in 1981 (see Relations with Communist Countries, this ch.). Seaga's concerns about Grenada's undemocratic practices in the 1979-83 period and its close ties to Cuba and the Soviet Union also prompted his government to take a more active regional security role. Jamaica did not, however, sign the 1982 memorandum that established the Regional Security System (RSS) in the Eastern Caribbean (see A Regional Security System, ch. 7). When Maurice Bishop was overthrown and assassinated by the short-lived Coard-Austin regime in October 1983, the Seaga government's concern turned to alarm. Jamaica joined several members of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States in an appeal for United States military intervention in Grenada to restore order and democracy and then participated in a joint United States-Caribbean military operation in Grenada (see Current Strategic Considerations, ch. 7). Jamaica, whose population favored the joint military action by a 56-percent majority, also provided the largest Caribbean contingent (250 troops) to the peacekeeping force in Grenada from late October 1983 to June 1985. The Seaga government continued actively to support security cooperation among the Commonwealth Caribbean islands by having Jamaican troops participate in regional military exercises, such as Operation "Exotic Palm" in September 1985. In addition, Jamaica cooperated with the United States and RSS member states on regional security matters by holding joint military and narcotics interdiction exercises and by offering some training and technical assistance to the Eastern Caribbean. The Public Security Forces Jamaica has endorsed measures to ensure security of the Western Hemisphere but has not participated in any formal defense agreements. Despite its proximity to Cuba, Jamaica has not felt a need to maintain a large defense force, perhaps because it has always had powerful protectors. Even with the support of the police, the armed forces would be totally inadequate to resist foreign military aggression, especially from Cuba. Like the other English-speaking island nations in the Caribbean, Jamaica would have to rely on the assistance of a powerful ally in the event of outside military aggression. The nation's combined forces also would be inadequate to control a significant internal disturbance. Jamaica has not been threatened by military or mercenary invasion or internal insurgencies, however, in part because of its powerful allies but also because of its traditional political stability and its relative isolation from mainland countries and the more vulnerable Eastern Caribbean microstates. In 1987 the Ministry of National Security (which had included the justice portfolio during 1974-86) remained responsible for maintaining the internal and external security of the island, but it no longer administered justice. This ministry oversaw the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), and the correctional programs and institutions. The Ministry of National Security's 1986 budget allocation was approximately US$69 million for current expenses and US$6.5 million for capital expenses, accounting for 5.9 percent of the central government's budget. In 1984 US$38 million of the ministry's budget was allocated to the JCF. The JDF budget declined in the 1980s for budgetary reasons; it was approximately US$20 million in 1986, as compared with US$25.4 million in 1985 and US$38.9 million in 1984. Although traditionally apolitical, both the JDF and the JCF were subject to governmental policy directives. Their commanders--the JCF commissioner and the JDF chief of staff, respectively--were responsible for managing their respective forces on a day-to-day basis. JCF and JDF commanders explained in December 1986 that the minister of national security could make suggestions or recommendations to either force and that the JDF or JCF high commands could consider them as they saw fit. The Armed Forces In late 1987, Jamaica's combined armed forces, the JDF, consisted of a ground force supported by small air and coastal patrol contingents. Although not strictly an army, the JDF is referred to as such in common parlance. Its mission was to defend the country against aggression and to support the JCF, as required, in maintaining essential services and in protecting the civil population in the event of a disaster. The JDF also was responsible for coastal surveillance and air-sea rescue operations. In addition, the JDF has supported antidrug operations; since early 1982, JDF Eradication Units have helped to destroy marijuana crops and illegal air strips. Since the defense portfolio was dropped in the 1970s, the JDF has been under the minister of national security. As in the other Commonwealth Caribbean islands, the prime minister is the de facto head of the defense forces. The predominant element in the JDF is the Jamaica Regiment, whose origins go back to the West India Regiment that was founded in 1798 and used by the British in the American Revolution and various colonial campaigns in West Africa, as well as during World War I. The regiment, reconstituted as the New West India Regiment, formed the core of the defense force of the short-lived West Indies Federation in 1958-62. After the federation disintegrated, the First Battalion and Third Battalion of the regiment became the First Battalion and Third Battalion of the Jamaica Regiment. The Second Battalion was incorporated by Trinidad and Tobago in its new national forces. In 1962 the Jamaica Local Forces (JLF) was formed as one of the conditions under which Jamaica was granted independence. The JLF soon evolved into the JDF, but the First Battalion and Third Battalion of the JDF retained their historical designations. In the mid-1980s, the JDF's predominant ground force element consisted of the First Battalion and a support and service battalion. The First Battalion included an air wing and coast guard, as well as a headquarters unit at Up Park Camp in Kingston, an engineering unit, and other support units. Detachments were stationed at the JDF camp in a facility first established by the British in the mid-nineteenth century at Newcastle, high in the Blue Mountains, and in outstations located in various parts of the island. The Third Battalion, consisting of part-time volunteers, constituted the ground force reserve, called the Jamaica National Reserve (JNR). Commanded by a lieutenant colonel, the JNR, which had 1,030 members in 1986, consisted of a ground force supported by air and coastal patrol elements organized into an infantry battalion. Once the sole operational element of the former Ministry of Defence, the JDF, together with the police, was placed under the Ministry of National Security and Justice in 1974. The prime minister commanded the JDF through a major general. In 1986 the JDF had a complement of 1,780 officers and personnel. In addition, a civilian staff of about 360 included functional and administrative personnel. By 1986 JDF ground force equipment was almost exclusively of British origin and included the SLR rifle, Sterling submachine gun, general- purpose machine gun, and twelve 81mm mortars. The army also had a small number of Ferret scout cars, supplemented by fifteen Cadillac-Gage V-150 Commando wheeled armored personnel carriers received from the United States. The JDF's Air Wing, which was formed in July 1963, was headquartered at Up Park Camp and had a base at Montego Bay. Expanded and trained successively by British Army Air Corps and Canadian Air Force personnel, the Air Wing had a strength of 250 officers and personnel in 1986. It was equipped for ground force liaison, search and rescue, police cooperation, survey, and transport missions. In 1986 its inventory included predominantly United States-made aircraft but also some Canadian, British, and French models: five Bell 206A, three Bell 212, and two Aerospatiale Alouette II light helicopters; two of the Britten-Norman Islander light transports of the short-take-off-and-landing type; one each of DHC-6 Beech KingAir 90 and Beech Duke DHC-6 light transport models; and four Cessnas, including two 185s and two light transports: the 210 and 337. The aircraft were well adapted for use in areas of the hilly interior of the country, where there were few landing fields. The JDF's coastal patrol element, the Coast Guard, was established at independence. In 1986 it had a complement of about 150 active personnel, including 18 officers and 115 petty officers and personnel under the command of an officer with the rank of lieutenant commander. It had an additional sixteen personnel in its reserve and thirty in other ranks. Equipped with predominantly United States-made equipment, the Coast Guard modernized its three 60-ton patrol vessels in 1972-73 and augmented them in 1974 with the 103-ton multipurpose transport patrol vessel H.M.J.S Fort Charles. The Coast Guard operated from its base at Port Royal in cooperation with the harbormasters and the harbor patrol of the JCF. A Coast Guard unit was responsible for maritime antismuggling operations. The JDF's Coast Guard was too small, however, to patrol adequately the island's 1,022 kilometer-long coastline. Following independence, Jamaica retained a British training mission for the three JDF components; all JDF officers were trained in Britain. Canada later took over Air Wing training functions. All Coast Guard officers received training at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, England. The United States Navy also has provided training assistance for Coast Guard officers and other ranks. After a four-year lapse (mid-1980 to 1984), the British Army and JDF resumed their program of reciprocal defense exercises in June 1984. In addition, a group of 140 JDF soldiers was flown to Dover, England, for a month of training. Jamaica signed a new military training agreement with Canada in 1985, replacing the one in effect since 1965. Over 250 JDF candidates were trained in Canada during the 1965-85 period. The United States began providing some military assistance to Jamaica's small defense force after Jamaica requested training and equipment assistance in 1963. Jamaica's military aid allocation, however, was zero in the last year of the Manley government in 1980, partially because of the government's close ties to Cuba. The United States resumed military assistance to Jamaica after Seaga took office, and in 1986 assistance totaled US$8.3 million, mostly for enhancing the JDF's narcotics interdiction and marijuana eradication capabilities. Jamaica was scheduled to receive a total of US$6.3 million in United States military assistance in 1988, including US$300,000 in International Military Education and Training funds. Under the Seaga government, the JDF had received heavy equipment, including jeeps, trucks, and patrol boats from the United States. Jamaica's military recruitment was entirely voluntary. Young men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four who had left school at the secondary and postsecondary levels were required to register for two years of public service work as members of the National Youth Service. This service could be performed in the JDF, an all-volunteer force, and prospective registrants were encouraged to consider service in the JDF with an eye toward making it a career. JDF personnel were eligible for retirement under the Government Pensions Scheme. The Jamaica Combined Cadet Force (JCCF) was a uniformed training contingent founded in 1943. Funds provided by the prime minister's office covered expenses for training, uniforms, equipment, travel and subsistence, and pay of salaried personnel. JCCF operations were substantially expanded in 1972, and in 1973 the organization consisted of some 2,000 officers and cadets in 33 postprimary school units in all parts of the island, together with an independent unit and a small headquarters unit at Up Park Camp. Its mission was to provide youths with training, discipline, good citizenship, and leadership. Although not a part of the JDF, the JCCF provided a substantial reservoir of young men who had undergone some military training. Apart from its training assignments, the JDF was active principally in support of the larger JCF. A mobile reserve unit, the JDF was called on when a local police detachment was too small to deal with an incident such as an unauthorized strike or a riot. It also furnished manpower for patrols during civil unrest, search-and-rescue missions, and searches for firearms or marijuana. The Air Wing gave mobility to ground detachments, and the Coast Guard acted in cooperation with harbormasters and the police harbor patrol. The Police The major police force is the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), which was established in 1867 shortly after the institution of crown colony government. Generally viewed as poorly trained, underpaid, and overburdened, the JCF generated the country's most persistent human rights concerns in the 1980s. Police auxiliary reserve units included the 1,500-member Island Special Constabulary Force (ISCF), which assisted the JCF in large operations; the 1,700-member Special District Constables, who served as local police in smaller localities when called on to assist the JCF or ISCF; the Police Mobile Reserve Division (PMRD), whose duties included controlling or suppressing civil disturbances, providing security for parades and rallies, and conducting raids related to marijuana and the Firearms Act; the Parish Special Constables, who served in the regular force on special occasions; and the Authorized Persons, who had limited police powers. Larger cities had municipal police forces, but their functions were restricted to enforcing municipal regulations and guarding municipal property. A senior superintendent of police headed the JCF's narcotics unit, which has been the lead agency for combating drug trafficking since 1974. The JCF was reorganized in 1984. At that time, the Police Staff College was created to provide higher training and education. The school was located at Fort Charles near Port Royal at the end of the Palisades Peninsula. New recruits, called cadets, were required to take written, oral, and medical tests before being admitted to the school. They received an eighteen-week basic course in police law, self-defense, first aid, and drill. Usually, they were sent to a rural post for ten months of on-the-job training and returned to the school for a six-week senior recruit course before becoming constables. More advanced training was provided for constables, corporals, and sergeants in such areas as pathology, sociology, and political science. Completion of the advanced courses was required before being considered for promotion to a higher rank. Some officers and personnel received advanced training in other countries. In 1986 the JCF had an authorized strength of 6,317 and an actual strength of 5,601, which was 3.9 percent below that of 1985. This figure represented a ratio of police to population of about 1 to 400. Despite an attrition rate in 1986 of 6.1 percent, the recruitment rate was 7.5 percent below that of 1985. The continuing decline in the number of recruits was attributed largely to attempts by the JCF high command to attract a higher level of recruits by raising educational and mental aptitude criteria. In 1985 only 181 of 5,418 applicants were accepted for training. Applicants had to meet height, age, and literacy requirements, as well as produce a certificate of character from a magistrate or person of similar standing and pass a medical examination. Constables were enrolled for five years and spent the first six months in a probationary capacity. Reasons for the JCF's failure to attract qualified individuals included relatively low salaries, the high levels of risk facing the police, and significant reductions in the size of the police cadet corps, a major supplier of recruits in previous years. In late 1987, the JCF comprised four branches: administration, services, security, and special operations. Each was commanded by an assistant commissioner, with the exception of the Security Branch, which was headed by a deputy commissioner. In addition to providing physical security to visiting dignitaries, the Special Operations Branch was responsible for the Criminal Investigation Department; the Police Marine Division (in charge of harbor patrol), located in Newport; and the PMRD, which was quartered at Harman Barracks and made up of the Mounted Troops, the Patrol Section, the Traffic Department (including the Radio Patrol Division), and the Women's Police. Under a December 1984 reorganization, the Special Operations Branch also was tasked to combat hard-core criminal groups and individuals who target the security forces. The JCF's Security Branch handled immigration and passport services. The Police Marine Division's harbor police operated in Kingston Harbour and a few other seaports, enforcing harbor regulations and carrying out rescues, as well as fighting crime on the waterfront. Customs Protective Officers checked the documents of goods going in or out of the customs areas at Kingston Harbour, called Western Terminals, and at the two international airports. Under the Suppression of Crime (Special Provisions) Act, in effect since 1974, the JDF was authorized to conduct joint operations with the JCF in order to maintain the peace. The act permitted the JDF to cordon off any area on the island while police conducted house-to-house searches within those areas without warrants. Police forces relied on the act extensively, and detention of suspects "reasonably" suspected of having committed a crime occurred regularly without a warrant, particularly in poor neighborhoods. Almost all detainees were released eventually without being charged. Until the 1970s, the police generally had a good reputation and were supported by the mass media and the middle and upper classes. The rural peasant and urban lower classes, however, generally mistrusted the police. Public esteem for police morality was lowered in the 1970s by increased newspaper reportage of allegations of police improprieties and brutality. An Americas Watch report documented an average of 217 police killings a year from 1979 to 1986, representing one-half of the country's total killings. The Jamaica Council of Human Rights reported that police killed 289 persons in 1984. Adverse public opinion resulting from charges of human rights abuses by the police prompted Seaga to reshuffle his cabinet on October 17, 1986. In the process, Winston Spaulding was dropped as minister of national security and justice, and the ministry was reorganized to eliminate the justice portfolio. The public also increasingly questioned police competence as a result of the growing number of unsolved crimes in the country, particularly those involving members of political parties. The Penal System To combat an increase in crime, judges began imposing stiffer prison sentences and an average of twelve death sentences annually. Penal administration also was improved in the mid-1970s. The JCF, JDF, and other elements in the legal and penal systems were placed under the Ministry of National Security and Justice, which had been formed in 1974. Although the justice and national security portfolios had been separated in October 1986, the Ministry of National Security retained responsibility for Jamaica's prisons, Probation Department, and reform schools through its Department of Correctional Services. The latter department also operated a training school for prison guards, called wardens, in methods of supervision and correctional control of prison inmates and their rehabilitation. Prison conditions also posed a problem in Jamaica. The parliamentary ombudsman reported in 1986 that prison conditions had deteriorated further since 1984, when he had released a study detailing the deplorable facilities and degrading conditions. Overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, inadequate food, and limited medical care for inmates were the principal problems in the nation's two maximum security prisons and in its many police stations, where conditions were generally the worst. In 1986 Jamaica had eight correctional centers: the General Penitentiary, St. Catherine District Prison, South Camp Rehabilitation Centre (also known as the Gun Court prison), Fort Augusta Prison, Tamarind Farm Prison, New Broughton Prison, Richmond Farm Prison, and St. Jago Women's Centre. In 1986 these prisons had a total inmate population of 3,452 (rated capacity: 2,861). Female admissions increased by 129, a 10-percent increase over the 1985 figure. Approximately 32 percent (954) of the 1985 total were incarcerated for major offenses such as murder, robbery, and felonious wounding and the rest for minor offenses such as larceny. Over 70 percent of those imprisoned were under the age of 30 whereas 47 percent were 24 years or younger. The average age-group for females ranged from thirty to thirty-nine, whereas males averaged twenty to twenty-four. The country's principal maximum security prison, the General Penitentiary, was located in downtown Kingston near the harbor. Designed for 800 inmates, it had long been overcrowded and was scheduled for eventual replacement by a newer building. In 1986 it held 1,601 prisoners, including habitual male adult offenders serving long sentences. The St. Catherine District Prison, another maximum security institution for habitual male offenders serving short sentences, held 1,056 prisoners in 1986. The facility served as the site of death row, where condemned persons awaited execution. Projects for improving the General Penitentiary and other correctional centers were undertaken in 1985, and others were being planned. The South Camp Rehabilitation Centre housed 320 prisoners in 1986. Open to public view, the steel-meshed, gun-turreted facility was located in central Kingston. Fort Augusta Prison, located in a fortress built in 1970 to guard Kingston Harbour, was used as a minimum security facility; it held 105 inmates in 1986. Selected persons who had responded favorably to liberal treatment were transferred there from the General Penitentiary to finish their sentences. Tamarind Farm Prison held 134 first offenders and some selected recidivists serving short sentences. Richmond Farm Prison was a maximum security prison housing first offenders serving long-term sentences; its inmate population in 1986 was 119. New Broughton Prison and St. Jago Women's Centre had 12 and 104 prisoners, respectively, in 1986. Adults held in remand were placed either in police lockups distributed nationwide or in the adult remand centers administered by the Department of Correctional Services. The number of persons admitted to the adult remand centers in 1985 declined by 3 to 1,274. In order to reduce the rate of recidivism, the Legal Reform Division drafted the Criminal Records (Rehabilitation of Offenders) Bill and the Corrections Act, which was enacted on December 2, 1985. Under this act, the label "prisoner" was changed to "inmate," "prison officer" to "correctional officer," and "prison" to "adult correctional centre." The act also established gainful employment programs for inmates, prerelease and halfway houses for the rehabilitation and social integration of inmates, and provisions governing the standards and inspection of correctional institutions. In addition, it permitted temporary absences of inmates from correctional institutions for specified periods. Young persons under the age of seventeen charged with committing offenses were generally, but not always, tried before a juvenile court. While awaiting trial, which could occur up to three months after the charge, they were detained in "places of safety" where they received classroom and vocational training. Places of safety may be operated by the government or charitable and religious institutions or hospitals. If found guilty by the court, juveniles could be placed on probation or sentenced either to reform schools, called juvenile correctional centers (approved schools), or to a children's home. Juveniles receiving custodial sentences were committed to four special rehabilitation institutions. Boys went to Hilltop (maximum security) in St. Ann Parish or Rio Cobre Community School (open) in St. Catherine Parish, and girls went to Armadale (open) in St. Ann Parish or Lower Esher (open) in St. Mary Parish. In 1985 these facilities, with a combined capacity of 318 (218 boys and 100 girls), held 230. The only juvenile remand center, the St. Andrew Remand Center for Boys, was located in Stony Hill, St. Andrew Parish, where thirty-five were held in remand in 1985. Most of the work of the Probation Department consisted of juvenile cases. Generally, in at least one-third of all juvenile court cases the offender was placed on probation. Probably less than 20 percent of the adults sentenced every year were placed on probation. Each parish had a Parish Probation Committee to oversee the work of individual probation officers, who were assigned to every court in the country. Incidence of Crime Jamaican national security concerns under the Seaga government have focused on countering three growing threats: crimes involving firearms, gunrunning, and narcotics production and trafficking. Although violent crime had become a major social problem, none of these phenomena appeared to pose a major threat to Jamaica's national security in 1987. The government was mainly concerned about the adverse impact that violent crime against tourists could have on the tourism industry, on which the island was dependent economically. The number of reported crimes, especially crimes of violence involving firearms, began growing during the 1960s and escalated sharply in the early 1970s. According to the Planning Institute of Jamaica, however, in 1986 the number of reported crimes decreased for the first time in several years, going from 53,066 in 1985 to 49,511 in 1986. Although violent crimes against individuals declined from 21,123 in 1985 to 19,301 in 1986, reported murders increased slightly, going from 434 in 1985 to 449 in 1986. Shootings declined in 1986 by about 100; there were 1,050 reported cases during the year. The largest single cause of murders in 1986 (46 percent) was domestic disputes. Other murders in 1986 were perpetrated under circumstances that included the following: 18.7 percent in association with other crimes such as robberies; 10.9 percent in revenge or reprisals (as compared with 6.9 percent in 1985); and 3.8 percent in drug-related activities (as compared with 2.3 percent in 1985). Violent confrontations between police and crime suspects were frequent, and criminals often possessed firearms. Breaches of the Firearm Act continued to increase in the early 1980s, from 842 reported cases in 1982 to 1,312 in 1985; incidents declined to 1,258 in 1986. Security forces recovered more than 2,700 firearms, including 126 M-16 and 7 M-14 assault rifles, in 1977-84. In the 1980s, violent crime continued to be most intense in the St. Andrew-Kingston District, which usually accounted for about half of all reported cases. In general, law enforcement agencies did not adequately control crime. Beginning in the late 1970s, mob killings or lynching of thieves increased, especially in rural areas. There were 226 cases reported in 1982; prosecution of vigilantes was rare. Much of the increased crime, particularly petty theft and pilferage, was attributed to poverty and unemployment. Gasoline price rises in January 1985 led to riots that left ten dead and fifteen wounded. Although Seaga dismissed the protests as the work of extremists, 53 percent of Jamaicans and 66 percent of Kingston residents who were polled sympathized with the rioters. Violent crimes against tourists on the north coast increased dramatically during the 1986-87 tourist seasons; most of these incidents involved armed robberies. An increasing number of crimes, including major offenses such as breaking and entering, larceny, and felonious wounding, were being committed by juveniles under the age of seventeen. The number of juveniles brought before the courts in 1985 increased by 9 percent to 2,599. Those in need of care or protection (1,004) comprised the largest group brought before the courts, whereas those charged with wounding and assault (571) and larceny (516) comprised the other categories. Some juveniles were tried in regular courts rather than in juvenile courts. Political Violence Although the political system has enjoyed a tradition of stability, a darker side of politics--endemic violence--intruded increasingly on the public consciousness after the mid-1970s. Violence has characterized Jamaican politics since the slavery era and has surfaced at times of protest or repression. Almost every general or municipal since independence has been preceded and followed by gang warfare, street outbreaks, and occasional assassinations. The first use of guns in Jamaican politics reportedly took place in Seaga's West Kingston constituency in the months before the 1967 election between Seaga and PNP politician Dudley Thompson. The political tension heightened after Walter Rodney, a Guyanese university professor and Black Power movement (see Glossary) advocate, was banned from Jamaica in October 1968. The government of Prime Ministered Shearer suppressed the riots and ensused. The level of political violence escalated dramatically in the 1976 election campaign, in which 162 persons were killed. The political disorder and rising crime caused the Manley government to declare a state of emergency, which remained in effect until June 1977. Some observers blamed the JLP for the sharply increased political violence in the late 1970s, but others attributed it to PNP militants linked to Cuba. More likely, extremist elements of the three parties--PNP, JLP, and WPJ--bore some responsibility for the increase, These parties are all known to have employed and armed thugs and criminals at election time. In 1979-80 Armando Ulises Estrada, Cuba's ambassador to Jamaica, aided an extreme left PNP faction in smuggling an estimated 600M-16 assault rifles into Jamaica from Cuba. Some of these automatic weapons originated from former United States stockpiles in Vietnam; others may have been obtained from black-market sources by JLP extremists. Their use during the nine-month 1980 election campaign escalated the level of violence in Jamaican politics. Rampant electoral violence during that period left 745 persons dead, including one member of Parliament. In contrast with 1980, the 1983 and 1986 elections were generally peaceful. Whereas political and gang feuds had accounted for 19 percent of all murdered in 1984, this percentage declined to 12.2 in 1986. At the inauguration of the new Parliament in January 1984, however, Manley led about 7,000 PNP supporters in demonstrations against Seaga's snap elections, resulting in 4 persons killed and 160 arrested. A municipal election code of conduct between the JLP and PNP minimized violence in the local elections of July 29, 1986. Nevertheless, there were some reports of beatings of electoral clerks, the seizure of polling stations by armed men, harassment of voters, and a mob killing. By raising popular expectations and not fulfilling them, Jamaica's political parties and governmental leaders were partly responsible for the alienation and protest that surfaced in violence. Until Manley's tenure at Jamaica House in the 1970s, each party in power had followed cautious policies designed to maintain the status quo, so as not to lose domestic or foreign sources of funds. In addition, on several occasions governments formed by each party attempted to use repression to control violence, thereby setting up a chain reaction. The legal system was not effective in dealing with politically motivated violence because suspects, victims, and witnesses remained silent and because police were reluctant to get involved in political disputes. In the interests of security, governments resorted to armed police, martial law, or emergency powers, practices that sometimes resulted in violent protests. The nation's political violence derives from the socioeconomic structure of Jamaican politics, that is, social stratification along racial and economic class lines. Increasing political, social, and economic polarization in Jamaica has contributed to both political and criminal violence. According to Stone, it is rooted in what he has called "bullyism," or a propensity to resort to violence, that is deeply ingrained in Jamaican culture. For example, since the 1960s armed gangs have "ruled" some ghetto areas of Kingston, using violence and intimidation against anyone suspected of sympathizing with a rival party. These and other gangs, consisting of hardened criminals and numbering up to 3,000 members, have been blamed by observers for much of the street and electoral violence in Kingston since the late 1960s. Some groups believed or were led to believe that their sectional interests, such as race identity, would not be served by either of the two political parties and that violent expression of demands was an alternate form of participation in the national political process. Violence also erupted occasionally as a result of trade union rivalries, which were underscored by the affiliation of the major unions with political parties. No known armed terrorist or guerrilla group was active in Jamaica in the late 1980s, but there had been occasional subversive incidents on the island in the 1980s, and several armed groups had been linked to such activities. The Seaga government tied several subversive and criminal activities in Jamaica to Cuban-trained extremists. In a speech to Parliament in 1984, for example, Spaulding, then minister of national security and justice, blamed the violence against policemen on the Hot Steppers Gang. The minister described gang members as "specially trained and highly motivated persons who constitute a special threat to Jamaica's security," and he linked the group to drug trafficking and Cuba, which, he alleged, provided guerrilla training for gang members. Spaulding also charged that the gang had political links with people in the top echelons of the WPJ, as well as with PNP activists. Security forces dispersed the gang from its camps in the Wareika Hills in 1984. Nevertheless, in 1985- 87 there were several armed attacks by unidentified groups against police stations, from which weapons were stolen. The Seaga government blamed the WPJ for several bank robberies. As of late 1987, Jamaica had not been subjected to any significant acts of international terrorism. Nevertheless, the country has expressed concern about the potential threat of terrorism and has subscribed to the principal international antiterrorism conventions. In a UN speech in October 1986, Foreign Minister Shearer called for a strengthened international law against hostage taking, as well as consideration of a UN convention on the suppression of international terrorism. The Suppression of Crime (Special Provisions) Act empowers the government to combat terrorism. At the request of the Seaga government, the House of Representatives has extended this act at six-month intervals.