Jamaica - December 2022

After the measure was rejected in November, the Jamaican government reinstated a state of emergency (SOE) in several areas across the island on 6 December, followed by a renewed SOE on 28 December, effective until 11 January 2023. Jamaica, which has one of the highest homicide rates in the world, previously imposed similar measures over several parishes on 15 November, but that SOE ended after two weeks when the Senate refused to extend it. The state of emergency is meant to allow authorities to arrest people and search buildings without a warrant in order to rein in rising violence. This has drawn heavy criticism from political opponents and human rights activists, who have warned against a repeat of police brutality and arbitrary detentions that were observed during previous states of emergency in Jamaica.

Sources: AP NEWS, Insight Crime, Twitter: Andrew Holness, Jamaica Observer