Petrelis Files

Jamaica: 2 More Nabbed in
Murder of Gay UK Consul

On Friday morning, Jamaican police made additional arrests in the brutal strangulation murder of John Terry, a gay UK citizen. From the RadioJamaica.com site:

Two more men have been arrested in connection with the murder of Honorary British Consul John Terry last month. [...]

The two were picked up during an operation at a house in Bushy Park Friday morning.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Les Green says the police have established a motive for Mr. Terry's killing but are not prepared to release it at this time.

Earlier this month, a 23-year old man was arrested in connection with the murder. He is still in custody awaiting an identification parade. [...]

Over the weekend, the Jamaica Observer ran a column by Mark Wignall that makes some startling and provocative claims, both about Jamaicans and gays:

If male homosexuals want to live their lives in peace, there are certain realities they have to face up to. Our culture is virulently anti-gay, plus we are a naturally violent people. That said, the vast majority of gay killings is done by gays when the relationship sours. [...]

I don't know where Wignall got the wrong notion that alleged gay-on-gay violence is responsible for most of the murders of gay men, and it certainly is not from the US State Department's February report on human rights and gays in Jamaica. From the report:

The Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All Sexuals, and Gays (J-FLAG) continued to report human rights abuses, including arbitrary detention, mob attacks, stabbings, harassment of homosexual patients by hospital and prison staff, and targeted shootings of homosexuals. Police often did not investigate such incidents. [...]

Homosexual men were hesitant to report incidents against them because of fear for their physical well-being. Lesbian women were subject to sexual assault as well as other physical attacks. Human rights NGOs and government entities agreed that brutality against homosexuals, primarily by private citizens, was widespread in the community. [...]

There is no evidence presented by the State Department to back up Wignall's outrageous claim.