Press Release From Young Jamaica - June 20, 2026
The youth arm of the governing Jamaica Labour Party, Young Jamaica, notes that today marks the anniversary of the 1976 State of Emergency.
Young Jamaica calls on People’s National Party (PNP) President Mark Golding to tell the Jamaican people sorry for the atrocities, brutality, and human rights violations which the then PNP administration used as a measure to inflict on the people of Jamaica, including their political opponents.
Historical records confirm that the Michael Manley-led PNP Government used the emergency powers as a tool for brutal political repression rather than just crime control. The State of Emergency (SOE) featured the PNP Government using sweeping detention powers to arrest and hold hundreds of Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) members, organizers, and supporters without formal charges. Some lost their lives in custody, while others were subjected to cruel and brutal acts by agents of the State who were deployed by the PNP Government.
Prominent JLP political figures, including Pearnel Charles Snr. and Olivia Babsy Grange, and thousands of innocent civilians were detained in facilities at the "Red Fence" and "Wire Fence," Up Park Camp.
The detainees were held in inhumane conditions, faced severe physical abuse, were crammed into overcrowded cells, and faced circumstances of inadequate food and water.
Young Jamaica is of the view that Golding should make peace with those who remain hurt by the wanton human rights violations and political victimisation pursued by the PNP government by saying sorry for the referenced wrongs, which amounted to state-sponsored terror and intimidation against Jamaica Labour Party members, affiliates, and supporters.
The PNP President must pledge that never again will a PNP Government and its combolos in State agencies use emergency powers to forcibly evict thousands of residents from inner-city constituencies, such as what transpired in Trench Town months after the State of Emergency was declared in 1976.
The supporters of the JLP were forcibly evicted from their homes and replaced with PNP activists, including hooligans.
Young Jamaica is demanding that Golding pledge to the Jamaican people that never again will his Party perpetrate such wicked, vile, and unlawful acts against the Jamaican people.
Editor's Note
1976 and the years that followed must not be forgotten. Jamaicans were unkind and cruel to one another. Hundreds lost their lives due to partisan politics, and this period signalled the beginning of a downward trend in the economy and also in values and attitudes. We are still in a bottomless pit, suffering from the challenges of that period. All of Jamaica needs to express sorrow about how people were detained like common criminals for months.
The real way to say we are sorry is to behave as if we are sorry. Many had hoped for a truth and reconciliation process to deal with the hurt that the nation went through. Some people are still hurting.
We talk about slavery, but we have forgotten the period 1976 and the years following that. Many atrocities were committed during that time by political hot heads.
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Ok was not around that timeš¤„
ReplyDeleteIt was ugly, very ugly. Read up and find out about the Orange Street Fire, the burning down of the Eventide Home; many people's homes were burned to the ground, and they had to flee. The murders started to increase at that time.
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