IF THIS A NUH SICKNISS ENO MAN
Man charged of raping elderly woman freed
No-case submission successful
A 45-year-old father of three was yesterday freed in the Home Circuit Court of charges that he repeatedly raped the 75-year-old friend of his mother last year.
The gardener — who has been married for 16 years and who lives in the Waltham Park area of St Andrew — was freed on a no-case submission by his lawyer Philmore Scott made after the prosecution closed its case.
Scott had made the application on the grounds that the frail witness who was brought to court in a wheelchair would not have been able to properly identify her attacker.
In upholding the no-case submission, Justice Carol Edwards ordered the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty freeing him of the charges of two counts of rape and a count of indecent assault.
The man is alleged to have carried out the acts between January and March last year on the woman who was in his care.
AYE BWAAY WHAT A BASKET FI KYAR
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Play VideoKINGSTON, Jamaica – U.S. diplomats have expressed concern that an Islamic cleric convicted of whipping up racial hatred among Muslim converts in Britain might do the same thing in his homeland of Jamaica, according to a leaked cable from the island’s U.S. Embassy.
The dispatch, dated February 2010, warns that that Jamaica could be fertile ground for jihadists because of its underground drug economy, marginalized youth, insufficient security and gang networks in U.S. and British prisons, along with thousands of American tourists.
It says Sheikh Abdullah el-Faisal, who was deported back to Jamaica in January 2010, could be a potential catalyst, and it noted that several Jamaican-born men have been involved in terrorism over the last decade.
Another memo says an associate of el-Faisal was suspected of involvement in a previously unreported terror plot in Montego Bay, a tourist center near where el-Faisal now lives. A second associate was allegedly suspected of threats against a cruise ship in nearby Ocho Rios. No details of the alleged schemes were provided in the cables and both U.S. and Jamaican officials declined to comment on them.
U.S. diplomats and law enforcement officials have expressed concern in the past that Middle Eastern terror groups might forge alliances with drug traffickers or take advantage general lawlessness in parts of Latin America and the Caribbean.
The January 2010 return of “extremist Jamaican-born cleric Sheikh el-Faisal raises serious concerns regarding the propensity for Islamist extremism in the Caribbean at the hands of Jamaican born nationals,” said the secret cable, apparently from Isiah L. Parnell, the deputy chief of mission for the U.S. Embassy in Kingston.
“Given the right motivation, it is conceivable that Jamaica’s disaffected youth could be swayed towards organized crime of a different nature through the teachings of radical Islam,” said the dispatch dated February 25, 2010.
The cable is one of the quarter million confidential American diplomatic dispatches first obtained by anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks and separately obtained by The Associated Press.
There is no hard evidence that Jamaica has a burgeoning problem with extremism, though some of the embassy dispatches list suspected associates of el-Faisal, several labeled as radical Muslims and believed to be involved in drug and human trafficking. One is a 31-year-old Jamaican suspected of involvement in a Montego Bay bomb plot and another man suspected of threats against a cruise ship.
Other Jamaicans involved in terrorism include Germaine Lindsay, one of the four men behind the 2005 suicide bomb attacks on London’s subways, and Lee Boyd Malvo, who was convicted in the deadly sniper attacks that terrorized the Washington, D.C., area in 2002.
Jamaican police say they are monitoring el-Faisal but note that he has no criminal record in the country.
“To the extent that he was living abroad and was convicted of offenses, we do have concerns. But he is a Jamaican and we had to take him back,” said Deputy Police Chief Glenmore Hinds.
One of the leaked U.S. cables said Jamaica’s Ministry of National Security has established a special unit to collect information on Islamic extremism, but it voiced concern about whether the unit would be able to “react rapidly to actionable intelligence and to effectively prosecute an anti-terrorism case in the courts.”
El-Faisal, who is known as “al-Jamaikee,” or “the Jamaican” in Islamist circles, has been living in a rural town outside the northern city of Montego Bay, not far from where he grew up. He has several children.
He declined through a spokesman repeated requests for an interview with the AP.
Mustafa Muhammad, president of the Islamic Council, said el-Faisal’s angry rhetoric and conspiracy theories may attract some young and disenfranchised people, but he doubted it would have much traction among the Jamaica’s roughly 5,000 Muslims.
“Faisal has always been very eloquent and the moment he speaks he captures your attention,” Muhammad said in the library of a whitewashed concrete mosque in Kingston. “That is why it’s so sad, so very sad, about what he has come to believe.”
Jamaica’s Islamic Council has banned el-Faisal from preaching in the country’s mosques because he of his past. He now preaches in informal prayer sessions and conferences.
“He told me that he didn’t think he had ever done anything wrong,” Muhammad said. “That’s a concern to me.”
Born Trevor Forrest in 1963, he was raised in the rolling hills of northern Jamaica. His parents belonged to the Salvation Army, the Christian evangelical group. He converted to Islam after being introduced to the faith by a school teacher at about 16, Muhammad said.
Shortly after his conversion, el-Faisal’s global migrations began. In the early 1980s, he traveled to Trinidad for a Saudi-Arabian-sponsored course in Islamic and Arabic studies. He then went to Guyana for similar studies, according to terrorism researchers.
El-Faisal, now a compactly built 47-year-old man with receding hair, was deported to Jamaica for the second time last year after being arrested in Kenya, where he reportedly encouraged young men to join an extremist Islamic group in Somalia.
Before that, he preached in a London mosque attended by convicted terrorists and was imprisoned in Britain for nearly four and a half years for inciting murder and stirring racial hatred with sermons titled “No peace with the Jews” and “Them versus Us.” In one recorded sermon, he told followers that “the way forward is the bullet.” On another, he said jihadists should use “chemical weapons to exterminate the unbelievers.”
“Faisal’s popularity remains strong with online jihadist supporters, particularly American jihadist groups. His sermons are widely published across the Internet,” said Jarret Brachman, a former CIA analyst who is now an independent terrorism researcher.
Some experts in militant Islam said his isolation in Jamaica may create a mystique that could draw alienated people into his circle.
“There is a danger that Abdullah Faisal will radicalize individuals in Jamaica, just as he has previously done in the U.K. and elsewhere. He is a powerful, charismatic speaker who is easily capable of presenting Islamist extremism as a rational choice,” said James Brandon of the Quilliam Foundation, a British anti-extremism think tank.
Who is responsible for the uneducated teacher?
In the past few years we have seen a young Jamaican man who has constantly degraded our Jamaican culture and beliefs. However, he has been praised for being one of the best lyricist and the most intelligent in comparison to other dancehall artiste. He has made his way to the University of the West Indies with an invite from Carolyn Cooper, ironically the head of Literary and Cultural Studies. I still do not understand what Carolyn Cooper was trying to do by giving this invitation. Mr. Palmer has trampled our culture and changed his skin colour in the process. He has successfully made the rag doll more valuable than the Jamaican woman. Any invitation given to Mr. Palmer by the University of the West Indies should have been extended by the school of Psychology and Mental Health. Mr. Palmer is the complete package of what Jamaicans like The Wailers, Marcus Garvey and Jacob Miller worked tirelessly to prevent. He is a manufactured product of self hate and low self esteem. Which he waste no time in sharing as he records at least five songs per week. This very irresponsible person has not been held accountable for any of his actions. He has put many young women in the spotlight by insulting their womanhood just to boost his ratings. So why is he not being corrected? While, if a young man is found guilty of physically beating a woman he is put in prison regardless of his circumstances. Where as Mr. Palmer has beaten down the morality of the Jamaican women who are made helpless due to the cycle of poverty. Yet he has not been reprimanded or sentenced.
Mr. Palmer has not only used the media to spew venom but has created a following by dividing dancehall and creating his “gaza” precept. The word Gaza when translated in English means strong hold. Mr. Palmer use of the word Gaza is very fitting for what he has done and continues to do. Gaza is a part of war torn Palestine and has never been self ruled it is a place of conflict and chaos. Similar to Mr. Palmer’s following the Gaza is in turmoil. One of the main reasons why crime and unrest goes without punishment in the Gaza because head countries such as Israel take no responsibility where the Gaza is concerned.
Who will take responsibility for Mr. Palmer’s actions? What will happen when a nation of immoral children become adults?. Who will be responsible for a motherless nation? The consequences will be far worse than slavery. The only reason why Jamaica still exists is because of our vibrant culture and music. Our culture is depleting with individuals like Mr. Palmer who has pushed the envelope with his self destruction message. He has openly said he has no social responsibility and acts accordingly.
SHAME AGEN
When Spain Snubbed Golding!
Published: Sunday | May 29, 201171 Comments
A secret cable from the United States Embassy in Kingston has claimed that in early 2008 Prime Minister Bruce Golding was snubbed by the president of Spain, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who refused to meet him.
According to the cable, the Spanish president was upset over Jamaica’salleged ill-treatment of Spanish hoteliers.
The insult was recorded in a confidential diplomatic cable sent from the US Embassy to Washington captioned ‘Jamaica/Spain: Zapatero Refuses To Meet With Golding’.
A copy of the cable, obtained by WikiLeaks and accessed by The Sunday Gleaner, was apparently penned after a private conversation between a US Embassy official and a ranking Spanish offical.
“Spanish president of Government, Rodriguez Zapatero, thus far has refused to schedule a meeting with Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding during the latter’s upcoming visit to Madrid, according to (name deleted),” read a section of the confidential cable.
It added: “Speaking privately with (US Embassy official) at a reception the evening of May 13, (the Spanish official) expressed his government’s extreme frustration with Golding’s closure of RIU Group’s massive hotel construction site in Montego Bay because of its alleged breach of the law in construction (of) a fourth floor for which it had not obtained the required permit.”
Incidentally, King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia of Spain scrapped a scheduled visit to Jamaica in that same year.
Their proposed visit to Jamaica from December 2-4, 2008 was reportedly postponed because it was deemed too close to the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Spanish constitution, which was scheduled to be held in that country’s capital, Madrid, on December 6.
More than two months after shelving the trip, the King and Queen of Spain came to Jamaica on a two-day state visit from February 17 – 18, 2009.
Meanwhile, the secret missive also revealed that Daryl Vaz, minister with responsibility for information, moved to quell the brewing diplomatic storm.
The classified document described Vaz, who was a state minister in the Office of the Prime Minister at the time, as a “close adviser to Golding”.
The communiqué noted that Vaz “sought to assuage (the Spanish) concerns”, and he was reportedly slated to meet with RIU Group representatives on May 14, 2008, at the Spanish Embassy.
The confidential diplomatic cable also quoted the May 14, 2008 edition of The Gleaner, which reported that, “at least one Spanish investor has put on hold plans to construct a hotel, and two others have diverted attention from Jamaica, as the Spaniards take a wait-and-see attitude to the country’s investment climate”.
In the latter portion of the confidential cable, which was subtitled, “The Spanish ‘Re-Conquest’ of Jamaica”; an obvious reference to Spanish voyager Christopher Columbus’ late 15th century capture of Jamaica from the Tainos – it was noted that the Spanish RIU Group operates three large hotels on Jamaica’s north coast and has another two under construction.
Interestingly, some historians believe that during the Spanish rule of Jamaica, the land of wood and water was relatively ignored by Spain because it lacked the wealth possessed by other Spanish colonies in South and Central America.
The Americans noted that the archaic posture towards the island has changed significantly, as the confidential cable stated that, “since 2002, RIU and five other powerful Spanish groups have started construction of 20 large hotels, comprising almost 10,000 rooms, with overall Spanish investment surpassing US$1.5 billion – thus unseating the US as Jamaica’s largest source of foreign direct investment”.
“However … this massive investment has brought environmental, infrastructure, labour and regulatory difficulties in its wake.
“Over the last year, several Spanish firms have faced various allegations of unsafe and/or substandard working conditions, harsh treatment of workers, and violations of building codes,” read the final paragraph of the confidential cable.
GOODMORNING
A psalm of David.
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,[a]
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
DASH WHEY BELLY WID JUS ONE PILL?
Black market abortion pills in high demand
BY DONNA HUSSEY-WHYTE Sunday Observer staff reporter [email protected]
Sunday, May 29, 2011
JAMAICAN women have been secretly using a drug intended to treat something completely different, to abort unwanted pregnancies without a doctor’s prescription.
The drug, known as Cytotec — which is the generic name for the medication Misoprostol — was intended to prevent stomach ulcers, but has found widespread use as a means of inducing labour in pregnant women and, in secret, to terminate healthy pregnancies.
Bottles of the anti-ulcer drug Cytotec, which has gained popularity as an abortion pill and is sold without prescription on the local black market.
The Ministry of Health says under a new policy, only gynaecologists and obstetricians who are consultants in hospitals will have access to the powerful drug Cytotec.
FLETCHER… we were one of the first to publish its usefulness in inducing labour and now it has widespread use worldwide
FLETCHER… we were one of the first to publish its usefulness in inducing labour and now it has widespread use worldwide
3/3
The drug, which Sunday Observer sources confirm has become widely available on the local black market, sells for up to $15,000 for a course of treatment, which is about the same it would cost to get a more invasive surgical abortion done by a medical doctor.
One woman in an inner-city community, who spoke on the grounds of anonymity, has been selling the tablets for a number of years. She said demand for the ‘abortion pill’ has grown as more and more persons learn about it.
“Nuff people tek it,” she said. “Both teenagers and big people buy it. It don’t have no specific set a people, and nuff other people want it but don’t know where to get it. Nuff people just start hear bout it, so that’s why you find that more buying it.”
She said the tablets are supplied by another woman who travels overseas and purchases them and smuggles them into the country.
Four to six of the small white pills, she said, are sold on the black market for between $12,000 and $15,000. However, another woman told the Sunday Observer she got four pills for $4,000 at a pharmacy in Portmore.
She also reported that she was able to procure the drug at a downtown Kingston pharmacy, five for $8,000.
The pills are taken both orally and are inserted into the vagina. It is the vendor, without the benefit of medical or pharmaceutical training, who explains to the purchaser how the pills must be used.
The woman the Sunday Observer spoke with explained that all the tablets are taken and inserted at the same time and within an hour, the woman will expel or “bleed out” the foetus. This is usually accompanied by non-stop pain, high fever, diarrhoea, vomiting and the passing of large blood clots.
She noted that she would not recommend that women take the tablets after three months of pregnancy. However, she denied that there were any ill-effects from using them.
“It safe. It not doing you nothing,” she insisted. “A years now it selling and I never hear of anyone getting sick or going to the hospital because of it. It safe man.”
However, while it is an open secret that the drug is available for purchase illegally, some medical doctors are also giving it to their patients, without prescription, for ‘off-label’ use. In most cases, it is given to patients to induce the abortion of a healthy foetus, the Sunday Observer has learned.
Head of the Gynaecological and Obstetrics Department at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), Professor Horace Fletcher, who reiterated that abortion is against the law in Jamaica, said many doctors and patients nonetheless use Cytotec/Misoprostol to terminate pregnancies, sparking controversy over its use.
However, it has a perfectly legitimate and legal application.
“It is a prescription drug used to prevent stomach ulcers in people who use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin or ibuprofen,” Fletcher explained. “It has, however, been found to be very useful in women.”
He explained that Misoprostol has been used to induce abortion or terminate abnormal and normal pregnancies for social and medical reasons, but also to induce labour by softening and opening the cervix; to stop bleeding after delivery (post-partum haemorrhage); and to soften the cervix prior to surgical procedures like dilatation and curettage (D and C), or ‘scraping’ the womb.
Fletcher said it has its advantages and it is widely used in underdeveloped countries on mothers after they have given birth, especially because it does not need to be refrigerated like other drugs.
“It stops women from bleeding to death after having a baby,” he said.
He added that Cytotec has been in use legally in Jamaica for over 10 years. The tablets, he explained, are the most common method of inducing labour in Jamaica.
“We (the local medical fraternity) were one of the first to publish its usefulness in inducing labour,” he said. “And now it has widespread use world wide. It has resulted in a decrease in deaths from high blood pressure and bleeding after pregnancy.”
“In viable pregnancies (when there are no signs of miscarriage or impending pregnancy loss and the pregnancy can be expected to result in the birth of a live infant) near to, or at term, it is used to induce labour for certain conditions, decreasing the need for Caesarean section,” he explained
Nonetheless, he warned against unprescribed Cytotec being used by pregnant women, and offered the reminder that abortions are illegal in Jamaica.
Fletcher noted that the drug can be used legally to terminate abnormal pregnancies, but confirmed that despite this, some doctors are, in fact, giving it to patients who simply want to abort normal, healthy foetuses.
Twenty-three-year-old Alicia (last name withheld) said last year she found out she was pregnant at a time when she simply could not afford to have a child. It was her first pregnancy and she said she just was not ready. Neither was her 38-year-old partner, who already had three children he was struggling to look after.
Four and a half months into her pregnancy, despite feeling the baby’s movements inside of her, she visited a doctor who inserted one of the tablets inside her vagina and gave her two more tablets, instructing her to take them orally within seven hours after the insertion.
Alicia recalled experiencing horrific abdominal pain which felt as if she were giving birth. This was accompanied by very heavy bleeding. All this began within an hour of taking the pills.
“A day and half later, everything pass out,” Alicia recalled. “Ten days later I went back to the doctor to make sure that everything was out.” She was then given a prescription that would prevent any infection from developing as a result of the chemically induced termination.
Alicia said she has not experienced any problems since. However, she says her stomach remains enlarged and her breasts have sagged.
That abortion cost her $10,000.
While he does not know of anyone dying from the unprescribed use of the drug in Jamaica, Fletcher said he is aware of persons in other countries dying from complications associated with the drug.
“It has been a cause of maternal deaths in some other countries as it can cause rupture of the uterus,” he explained. “It can also cause death of the baby from excess uterine contractions.”
He added that the drug can force the fluid around the baby (amniotic fluid) into the mother’s lungs, which could result in death.
But, one reputable gynaecologist who did not wish to be named, said while he is not promoting the use of Cytotec for abortions, the drug is one of the most efficient methods of terminating a pregnancy and safer than abortions performed by many ‘back-door’ doctors using surgical instruments.
“It is much safer than other forms of termination,” he said. “A lot of the complications once associated with abortions have been reduced,” he added.
“We no longer see young girls coming in with their insides rotting out, or developing infections, or persons with their insides dig-up and ruptured from the use of unsterilised instruments.”
“Cytotec is very efficient and it does not leave anything inside of you. Nowadays you hardly see those complications. It’s just that termination is illegal in Jamaica, so it just can’t be used like that. There are specifications to termination of pregnancies, but a lot of complications have been reduced since the ‘abuse’ of Cytotec,” he said.
Studies have demonstrated that Cytotec can be used to terminate pregnancies at any stage of gestation, hence unconfirmed reports reaching the Sunday Observer of unborn babies as old as five and six months being aborted through use of the powerful drug.
Director of Standards and Regulations in the Ministry of Health, Princess Thomas-Osbourne said the ministry is aware of the misuse of the drug and steps are being taken to curb the practice.
“The Ministry has had several reports regarding the illicit use in this way, and harm caused to patients to whom it has been given,” Osbourne said. “A policy has been developed and is to be implemented.”
This policy, she explained, would remove the use of Cytotec from the private sector and allow its access only to gynaecologists and obstetricians who are consultants in hospitals. The medication could then only be used under the direct supervision of these consultants.
“Any use by anyone to procure an abortion is illegal, whether on a prescription by a doctor or dispensed by a pharmacist,” she warned.
Using the pills for abortion is considered to be ‘off-label’. This means that the drug has not been FDA approved for use as an abortion pill, for cervical ripening or to start labour.
Not having FDA approval for this also means there are no standardised dosages or guidelines in prescribing Cytotec for these purposes.
One manufacturer of Misoprostol, Searle, warned consumers in 2000 about the possible risks of the drug if used during late pregnancy.
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