ACLU attorney Steven Watt, speaking on TVJ's All Angles Wednesday night
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ACLU attorney Steven Watt and National Security Minister Dr. Horace Chang
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has ripped into the Foreign Affairs Ministry's response to the case of the Jamaican fishermen who are suing the US Coast Guard for inhumane treatment.
ACLU attorney Steven Watt is of the view that the Ministry was aware of their detention and could have done significantly more to notify family members that the men were missing.
The Ministry on Tuesday stated that there was no record of any complaint of mistreatment lodged with the Jamaican Government by the men, and their families did not contact the Ministry when they went missing.
However, Mr. Watt, who was speaking Wednesday night on TVJ's All Angles, contended that the families did report the men missing to the police, the coast guard, put messages on social media, and did everything in their power to find them.
He argued that the ministry by contrast did nothing to notify family members despite knowing that they had been detained.
The attorney pointed out that both the US and Jamaican governments could have done more. According to Mr. Watt, it is "incumbent upon the United States to notify Jamaican nationals of their right to consular representation, but if they don't, I think it's incumbent upon the Jamaican consulate to actually make active enquiries at detention facilities within its jurisdiction."
The fishermen say they were subjected to inhumane treatment while they were kept aboard four US coast guard vessels for more than a month.
Misrepresented
National Security Minister Dr. Horace Chang has claimed that Foreign Affairs Minister Kamina Johnson Smith was misinterpreted when she told the Senate last week that the case involving the Jamaican fishermen came to her attention for the first time through the media.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Ministry said it granted a waiver for the US Coast Guard to detain the men in 2017.
On Thursday afternoon, Dr. Chang told RJR's Hotline that when the Foreign Affairs Minister spoke in the Senate, she meant that it was the first time she was made aware of allegations of mistreatment by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Dr. Chang reaffirmed the position that the relatives of the fishermen should have brought the situation to the government's attention, however, no complaint was made.
He outlined for future reference that if Jamaicans are in difficulty in a foreign country that they contact the consular office for assistance.
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