By Balford Henry, Senior Staff Reporter
SSP Renato Adams
THE COMMISSION of Enquiry into the West Kingston killings of July 7 to 10 resumes, probably, the most crucial week of this aspect of its work this morning.
Crucial in the sense that when after another week-long break there are some very serious issues to be dealt with. Perhaps, the most serious being that of the lack of support from civilian witnesses.
It is quite obvious now that the Commission will not be able to hear from witnesses represented by either the Jamaica Labour Party affiliated lawyers or those representing the Public Defender unless they are subpoenaed, a decision which chairman Julius Isaac obviously wish could be avoided.
Dennis Daly Q.C., the main attorney for the Public Defender, had already suggested to the Commission that his witnesses be subpoenaed because of their unavailability. But Mr. Isaac responded that subpoena would be a last resort.
In the meantime, the Commission has been depending on the investigative machinery of the public to find the witnesses and get them to the hearing. But, on the other hand, Tivoli Gardens Councillor Desmond McKenzie, who had referred several of the witnesses to the Public Defender, told The Gleaner recently that the witnesses were terrified of going to the hearing and that at least three of them have said that they have been threatened by the police.
Criticisms
There is also the shadow of the criticisms of both Mr. Isaac and the way he has handled the enquiry since it started as well as his fellow Commissioners for allowing him to dominate the proceedings.
The decision by the JLP-affiliated lawyers not to return to the enquiry after walking out on October 1 over their right to cross examine, has created a severe dilemma for the Commission: On one hand, if they proceed without these lawyers their report will certainly not be as authoritative as it should be; and if they relent and find a compromise they chance being seen as weak. However, it might be better in the end to seem weak rather to make a report that will largely be ignored.
The Commission has a practice of breaking for a week, every two weeks, in order to allow the Commissioners to catch up on the transcripts. This is probably why Commissioner Isaac sees no problem dozing off every now. But he certainly wouldn't want to go to the extreme of snoring so loudly over the tiny microphone constantly attached to his lapel as he did recently.
During the break, Mr. Isaac has had to respond to a number of issues, including the withdrawal of the JLP lawyers, which probably robbed him of some of the time he needs to do his catching up.
The Commission has heard from 36 witnesses so far, only four of whom were civilians. The four are, Director of Elections Danville Walker, National Lands Agency maps expert Calvin Thompson and journalists Milton Walker (CVM) and Tino Geddes (Radio Jamaica). Two of them were really technical witnesses, Mr. Danville Walker providing information on voting patters in West Kingston and South St. Andrew and Mr. Thompson explaining the use of the Agency's maps.
The last week's sitting of the Commission featured three of its most important witnesses Senior Superintendent Reneto Adams, head of the Crime Management Unit, who led the July 7 operation in West Kingston, and Mr. Walker and Mr. Geddes, two of the first journalists to reach the area that morning.
Testimony
SSP Adams' evidence was the most anticipated of all the witnesses so far and it was only during the period of his testimony that the venue of the enquiry, the Mutual Life Building at Old Hope Road, Kingston, seemed anywhere half full. Incidentally, this is really one of the low points of the activity - inability to attract more than a handful of spectators daily.
SSP Adams, who led the operations which left 27 people dead and dozens more injured, has claimed that it was information about a shipment of drugs, guns and ammunition which had arrived in the area, which led to the decision to cordon and search in the area on July 7. The cordon would have been spread around Denham Town to prevent escapes and the search was focused on the Golden Age Home on Last Street, Denham Town.
Evidence so far from SSP Adams and the other security officers suggests that after finding only a small gun, a .25 pistol, at the home they were bent on returning to Area Four Head-quarters, when the Jamaica Defence Force helicopter reported seeing armed men headed towards Tivoli Gardens from Denham Town. Adams said he decided to set up a roadblock near Tivoli Court which eventually led to an exchange of gunfire between the security forces and alleged gunmen both in Denham Town and Tivoli Court.
SSP Adams like several of the other witnesses from the security forces claimed that the gunmen were protected by women and children. He also defended the way the police fired back as not being "indiscriminate", "I don't necessarily have to aim."
He said that he genuinely believed that the offer of a safe way out of the area by Opposition Leader and M.P. Edward Seaga was a "ploy," although he did not explain why he felt so and denied that he had a "pretty poor view" of the Opposition Leader.
SSP Adams' claimed that it took him about six and a half hours to travel the roughly two chains from Tivoli Court to the corner of Darling Street although various pieces of evidence seem to contradict his timing. He said that he did not fire a single bullet from about 6.25 a.m., when the shooting allegedly started, until about 1.30 p.m. when he got to Darling Street and Spanish Town Road.
Contribution
He also seemed dissatisfied with the contribution of the JDF, suggesting that Lt. David Silvera, who led the JDF team at the time, was "very frightened" and was "hiding in the V150". Lt. Silvera had testified earlier that he was close to SSP Adams and had actually suggested to Mr. Seaga that he go to SSP Adams because he was allegedly pinned down near Darling Street.
These and other points show the need for the cross-examination of the witnesses by the lawyers representing the JLP and/or the citizens of Tivoli Gardens and Denham Town.
Burden
Although both lawyers for the Public Defender have been trying their best, it is obvious that the burden is far too much for the two men. They are up against a battery of well-qualified lawyers representing the Jamaica Constabulary Force, the Jamaica Defence Force and the People's National Party who seem to have found common cause so far.
In his evidence, Milton Walker spoke of the heavy gunfire which descended on Tivoli Gardens, while he was interviewing Mr. Seaga at the community centre. It was so frightening, he fell off his chair. Mr. Geddes added the next day that Mr. Walker actually took refuge under a chair.
Mr. Walker said he had a sense of Tivoli being under siege that morning, both in terms of the perception of the people who felt that the security forces wanted to invade the area and brutalize them, as well as in terms of his experiencing of gunfire coming from the direction of the Command Post at the Coronation Market where the security forces were based.
Will the Commission be able to attract witnesses with equal interest this week, or will it be another week of reiterating what has been said before? We will have to wait and see.
File photos
