PM: Gov’t committed to protecting rights of victims, criminals.

PRIME MINISTER Andrew Holness has appealed to law-abiding citizens to support Jamaica’s crime-fighting measures, armed with the assurance that his administration is equally committed to safeguarding their rights, as well as those of the criminals who prey on them.

“We have, as a Government, to put in place the measures to both protect the innocent citizens, observe and secure their rights, and at the same time respecting the rights of the criminals because [they] have rights as well,” said Holness.

“That is the duty of a civilised society, whilst bringing down the crime rate. It is a difficult task, but this is what Government must do and this is what your Government is doing,” Holness stated, while delivering the keynote address at the official groundbreaking ceremony for Foreshore Estate in Delacree Pen, off Spanish Town Road, yesterday.

“But we can only achieve it with a partnership, and your role in the partnership, as good citizens, is to provide us with the information. The police cannot act in a clinical and surgical way to deal with the criminals without having intelligence.

“The intelligence comes when the citizens are willing to talk. And we have demonstrated, we have shown, that if you give us the information ... your own security will be protected. The confidentiality will be protected, but the police and the military will act in a manner that preserves the rights of the citizen and the criminal as well,” he explained.