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Human rights in Jamaica
According to Jamaicans for Justice, human rights are basic standards without which people cannot live in dignity. Jamaica, an island in the Caribbean Sea, is a democratic state with two major political parties. They are the ruling People’s National Party and the Jamaica Labour Party, currently in opposition. Being part of the United Nations, as well as signatory to various human rights treaties and conventions, Jamaica is bound by a list of human rights obligations included in but not limited to:


 * Universal Declaration of Human Rights
 * International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
 * International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
 * Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
 * International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
 * American Convention On Human Rights

Despite its own Constitution, complimented by the various treaties and conventions guaranteeing basic human rights in Jamaica, the country continues to struggle to keep up with these rights and obligations, attracting national, regional and international attention Among the most chronic human rights violations plaguing the island are extra-judical killings by the police, the prosecution of gays and extreme homophobic tendencies toward lesbians.

Extra judicial killings
Former Scotland Yard Murder Squad chief Hamish Campbell reports that an average of one person killed every day at the hand of the local police force. With a total of 258 police killing in 2013, he estimated the figures could rise. In 2011, United Nations Human Rights Committee at a convention held in Geneva, expressed their concern for the more than 3,500 reported killings of persons by the Jamaican police. Despite the watchful eyes of the international community, these human rights contraventions persist. The most recent incidents being the allegation of a Death Squad operating in the parish of Clarendon where it is reported that nine people have been killed by eleven police officers believed to be rogue cops. Also, a 32 year old construction worker was allegedly beaten to death by officers after he was arrested for a very small quantity of marijuana

Homosexuals in Jamaica
Along with the issue of extra judicial killings, the criminalization of homosexuality and the harsh violence facing both gays and lesbians continue to dominate talks on human rights in Jamaica. Dubbed the most homophobic country in the world by some human rights groups, Jamaica continues to see an increase in violence against homosexuals by. The Offences Against the Person Act (OAPA) makes gay intimate encounters in Jamaica punishable with jail time of up to ten years. Although lesbians are not targeted by statute, they face similar violence, discrimination and abandonment by family and friends

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