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Seaga OPPOSITION LEADER Edward Seaga last night reiterated the Jamaica Labour Party's call for a Commission of Enquiry into the killing of seven young men in Braeton, south St. Catherine on March 14 and accused the Government of seeking a "military solution" to a failing economy and disintegrating social order.
In a broadcast to the nation, Mr. Seaga said that a Commission of Enquiry was essential to answer many critical questions which must be answered.
"The Government cannot continue to cover-up state terror and brutality as a means of fighting crime. Crime must be fought with justice, not injustice, otherwise those who are responsible for apprehending criminals will themselves be criminal," he said.
The Opposition Leader said that a Government which condones state terror, is itself an instrument of terror which seeks to find a military solution to its problems.
After relating several shooting incidents dating back the so-called "Green Bay Massacre" in 1978, Mr. Seaga said: "History is now repeating itself as, again, with a failing economy and disintegrating social order, at present the military solution is being applied again."
He read another list of incidents, including "the invasion of Tivoli Gardens before the 1997 general elections," in which a child and three women were killed, and "the shooting of women protesting for water in Hopewell."
Mr. Seaga said that his lists were only a small sample of the almost weekly atrocities "of a Gov-ernment which is resorting to or giving free rein to the use of brute force."
"It will not work. It must not work. It did not work in the '70s. It will not work now," he said.
Mr. Seaga called also for the dismissal of K.D. Knight, Minister of National Security and Justice, who he said had allowed the annual murder rate to balloon from 449, when he took office, to the current 700 to 1,000.
"In any country in which justice is respected, the Minister responsible for national security would have been dismissed forthwith. It is time for a change. Let the change begin with K.D. Knight. He must go and the military solution must stop now. The Government must understand that brutalisation will disconnect, not reconnect the people," he said.
Mr. Seaga criticised Prime Minister P.J. Patterson for failing to address the issue of the killing of seven men in Braeton by the police.
"In no developing democratic country could seven young men, criminals or otherwise, be gunned down by the police without the leader of the country making an official statement and without serious impartial enquiry being held to determine right from wrong," he said.
He said that the country must equally recognise the killing of several policemen, a teacher and a former customs officer, allegedly by the same men.
"The sorrow of the families of these victims is ours. We mourn with them and want justice for them, but the right way. The alleged killers have to be found. That is the rightful job of the police. But, it is also the rightful job to capture, not to kill, if possible. The circumstances of this case tell us that a door was open. Why wasn't teargas thrown into the house at that time to flush out the suspects, who could then have been forced to surrender? Was it that the intention was to kill not to capture?" he asked.
