THE family of Keith Clarke, the man killed during a botched raid by security forces searching for fugitive Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke have written to Public Defender Earl Witter asking that his office open an investigation.
Members of the security forces involved in the raid were taken off frontline duty after Clarke was shot dead in his bedroom in the early hours of May 27 at his house on Kirkland Heights in Red Hills, St Andrew. Four Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) soldiers were shot in the raid, which targeted a house next door.
“His family’s privacy and dignity were violently disrupted, their property destroyed and ultimately Keith’s right to life savagely violated. The lives and emotions of the family have been shattered by this unwarranted invasion of their home,” wrote his brother Claude, a former People’s National Party (PNP) Government minister.
His family had earlier called for a full investigation into the incident by security forces.
Residents of Kirkland Heights said they were awakened that morning by gunshots minutes to three that morning.
“We heard gunshots for over two hours. Even helicopters were involved in the operation where more than one bus load of soldiers came into the community,” one resident told the Observer, adding that after an hour of what sounded like a “war”, Clarke was found dead.
“We heard that it was an operation to capture Coke, who is believed to have been in the area, but they shot and killed the wrong person,” said another resident.
The shooting angered Carolyn Gomes, executive director of human rights group Jamaicans For Justice, who visited the scene.
“This is wrong; this cannot be allowed to happen,” she said and called for the law enforcement agents to be more professional in their approach.
After gun battles with gunmen loyal to Coke, he still remains at large. Coke is wanted by the United States to face gun- and drug-trafficking charges.
He fled his stronghold of Tivoli Gardens in West Kingston after security forces moved into to arrest him, an operation that led to the deaths of 73 civilians and three members of the security forces. The Public Defender has opened an office in the community to investigate claims of abuses made against the security forces.
Be the first to comment