Jamaica: Battybwoys affi dead" ["Faggots have to die"] Date: 17 May 04 "Battybwoys affi dead" ["Faggots have to die"]: Action against Homophobia in Jamaica In January 2004, around 30,000 people attended a huge stage show and Rastafarian celebration, Rebel Salute, in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. Some of Jamaica's most celebrated artists were present. Throughout the night, Capleton, Sizzla and others sang almost exclusively about gay men. Using the derogatory terms for gay men - "chi chi men" or "battybwoys" they urged the audience to "kill dem, battybwoys haffi dead, gun shots pon dem. who want to see dem dead put up his hand" (kill them, gay men have got to die, gun shots in their head, whoever wants to see them dead, put up your hand). The problem of homophobia in Jamaica goes far beyond song-artists however. Reports of violence regularly meted out to members of the LGBT community have reached such an extent that they have started to attract international headlines. Action is needed on a much wider scale to systematically tackle the prejudice that inspires the attacks and the laws which encourage them. The reports that AI has received range from vigilante action by members of the community to ill-treatment or torture by the police. Gay men and lesbian women have been beaten, cut, burned, raped and shot on account of their sexuality. In the past two years at least 5 Jamaicans have been granted asylum in the UK because their lives had been threatened as a result of their sexual identity; others have been granted asylum in the USA and Canada. AI believes that these reports are just the tip of the iceberg however. Many gay men and lesbian women in Jamaica are too afraid to speak of their experiences to human-rights organisations or to the authorities. One man described how six men from a "garrison community" (poor, inner-city communities controlled by either of Jamaica's two main political parties) blocked a road to beat a local gay man: "The crowd stood around watching, chanting "battyman, battyman, battyman" before gathering around him as he lay on the sidewalk. The crowd beat, punched and kicked him. They threw water from the gutter and garbage on him, all the while shouting "battyman, battyman." Then they dragged him down the road for half a kilometre. They shouted "battyman fi' dead." As I stood across the street I realised there was nothing I could do to help him. Some mothers were actually in tears at what they were witnessing but there was nothing that they could do either. . The crowd was saying "Give him to us! Let us kill him! He's a battyman!" The story is typical. Once a person's sexuality becomes known to family or community, they are at risk. Amnesty International has interviewed many people who have been forced to leave their areas after being publicly vilified, threatened or attacked on suspicion of being gay. They face homelessness, isolation or worse. A national newspaper reported in February 2004 that a father had encouraged students to attack his son after he discovered a picture of a nude man in his rucksack. One student described the attack on the 16-year-old: "him get nuff lick, kick, box and thump from other boy and girl." School authorities were forced to call police to escort the boy off the compound. Students received a "stern warning" but, at the time of writing, no-one had been charged in connection with the assaults. One man was forced to leave his community in 2003 after his friend was murdered and he was threatened by local gunmen. He is still homeless. "One morning, at about 2 a.m., my friend was at a dance in the community. He was enjoying himself and dancing and suddenly there was a gunshot and a bullet hit my friend in the back of his head. He turned around.and they shot him in his face again three more times. He fell, but they continued to shoot him as he lay on the ground. Then they announced that I was next and "battyman fi' dead." Protection is often denied by the police, who in many cases appear to tacitly or actively support such violence. Amnesty International has received many reports of police failing to investigate homophobic hate crimes. In some cases they fail even to take written or verbal reports of incidents. In many instances the police have tortured or ill-treated LGBT victims of crime seeking assistance. AI has received numerous reports of police arresting and detaining men overnight whom they suspect of being gay. In other cases known to the organisation, police have stopped passers-by or placed gay men in the holding-area of police station, informing those present of the "batty-men" and encouraging further verbal or physical abuse. Many people actively discriminate against homosexuals. Reports of individuals losing their jobs once their sexuality has become known to their employer are common. Sometimes hospital staff have reportedly joined in abusing gay or lesbian patients. Although lesbianism is not a criminal offence under Jamaican law, gay men are not the only targets of this kind of violence in Jamaica. Amnesty has assisted in several cases of lesbian women from Jamaica who have sought asylum abroad following persecution at home. Amnesty International has received reports of acts of violence against lesbians, including rape and other forms of sexual violence. There are reports of lesbians being singled out for attack on the grounds of "mannish" physical appearance or other visible manifestations of sexuality. Against this backdrop of violent crime against gay and lesbian people in Jamaica are the laws that continue to criminalise consensual gay sex between males. Article 76 of the Jamaican Offences against the Person Act punishes the "abominable crime of buggery" by up to ten years' imprisonment with hard labour. Article 79 punishes any act of physical intimacy between men in public or private by a term of imprisonment of up to two years and the possibility of hard labour. The public appears to strongly endorse the idea of differential treatment. A recent poll showed that 96% of Jamaicans were opposed to any move that would seek to legalise homosexual relations. Many churches have released statements indicating their support for the retention of current laws. The Prime Minister of Jamaica has many times confirmed his intention to retain legislation which discriminates against homosexuals. WHAT YOU CAN DO: Send the letters addressed to the Prime Minister of Jamaica. The Right Honourable P.J. Patterson Prime Minister of Jamaica Office of the Prime Minister Jamaica House 1 Devon Road Kingston 6 JAMAICA