Jamaican Researcher

Institutionalizing Human Rights at Fort Augusta Correctional Centre

Fort Augusta Adult Correctional Centre (entrance)

I recently concluded a series of human rights workshops with inmates at the Fort Augusta Adult Correctional Centre,  located in Portmore, St. Catherine (Jamaica). The experience has left me hopeful–on account of participants’ enthusiasm to learn about human rights and quickly apply their newly honed skills to secure better living standards and quality of life; as well as institutional leaders’ enthusiasm to obtain materials and demand that workshops be designed for them as well.

Over the duration of my visit I have sought to: impart knowledge about human rights, advocacy, the Access to Information Act, networking and communications, leadership, conflict, group development, and participatory governance; transfer skills in: leadership, advocacy, and networking and communications; and gather data about inmates’ experiences realizing their economic and social rights (ESR), as well as the preparedness of Fort Augusta for development and participatory governance, via large group discussions, surveys, face-to-face conversations, and general observation.

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Reinstating Maroon Police and Justice System in Charles Town

Queen Nanny of the Maroons (Jamaican $500 bill)

Quao’s Act gave the Jamaican Maroons, freedom and autonomy to govern their lives and community, independent of the Jamaican or any other external government. This Act positions them in a very unique socioeconomic and cultural space–where land taxes are not paid, as is the case of  the Moore Town and Scots Hall Maroons, and until recently, the Charles Town Maroons, through their Council,  policed their community and tried criminals in indigenous courts for all crimes, except murder.

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