Reckoning over rights

National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang’s assertion that legal challenges in the United States (US) against its third-country deportation policy are of no concern to Jamaica has drawn criticism from civil society advocate Kay Osborne.

Osborne described Chang’s statement as a “convenient deflection”, arguing that it sidesteps the Government’s responsibility to protect human rights under international law, including the obligation not to transfer people to places where they face torture or persecution.

Full coverageJamaica Prepares to Receive First Third-Country Nationals Under US Transit Agreement19 reports

“Those obligations don’t disappear because the litigation is in a US court,” she said.