Do not permit Jamaica Police to victimise members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force because of their religious beliefs.
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We the members of CelebrateShabbat.org, an online non-denominational community of Observers of the Holy Shabbat (Sabbath) call on the Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom to repudiate the statement by the commissioner of police in Jamaica and give the people of Jamaica the assurance that he will not be permitted to victimise members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force for any reason, and certainly not because of their religious beliefs.
News Highlights below by the Jamaica Observer:
Adventist leaders want police boss to retract statements
Sunday, May 31, 2009
LEADERS of the Seventh-day Adventist church in Jamaica are calling on Commissioner of Police Hardley Lewin to publicly withdraw comments he made last week in respect of cops and their day of worship.
THOMPSON... service to the police force is not the same as writing an examination
In releases to the media over the weekend, President of the West Indies Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Derek Bignall, and president of Northern Caribbean University, Dr Herbert Thompson, said Lewin's comments smacked of intolerance and discrimination and that they threatened rights to religious freedom.
"The Seventh-day Adventist Church is alarmed by the statement purported to have been made by the commissioner of police which amounts to intolerance of the religious rights of certain members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force. We oppose any law, policy, practice or statement which discriminate against people's religion," said Bignall.
At the 66th annual conference of the Jamaica Police Federation in Trelawny last Thursday, Lewin essentially said it was unacceptable for members of the force to stay away from police duties simply because it was their chosen day of worship. He was responding to a policeman who was querying the new date for an examination that had been rescheduled to facilitate those candidates who worship on the Sabbath.
But in his statement to the press, Bignall said religious freedom was an inalienable right given to every human being by God Himself and that those who govern or manage on behalf of the people, have a duty to protect them against those who will, deliberately or inadvertently, trample on those rights.
"It is a shame that the commissioner, who is sworn to protect the rights of all citizens of this nation, displays such a high level of intolerance," he said. "We are expecting him to publicly withdraw the statement he made, and commit himself to protect the rights of the men and women under his charge. People's rights must be respected and protected at the workplace and in pursuit of their educational goals."
For his part, Thompson said the police commissioner's comments were a "matter of grave concern" and that it was "regrettable that at the highest level of the Jamaica Constabulary Force there could be such an apparent flagrant disregard for this basic constitutional right".
He pointed out that in his former capacity as chairman of the Police Strategic Review Panel he had met policemen from all ranks, and those who were Seventh-day Adventists understood that if their service was required on the Sabbath, they would be obliged to serve their country.
"[But] ...service to the police force is not the same as writing an examination," he said in a letter addressed to the editor. "Respectable organisations everywhere that from time to time have to administer examinations, such as the police qualifying examinations, have, out of deference to individuals who are not willing to write such examinations on Saturday for religious reasons, permitted the writing of such examinations on other days. Why should the Jamaica Constabulary Force be an exception?
"The commissioner of police needs to be reminded that choosing to keep the Sabbath is not a criminal offence and, as one of the 250,000 members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in this country and one who has been serving this country in various capacities over the years, I expect nothing but utmost respect for all of us who choose to follow the dictates of our conscience by observing the Sabbath," said Thompson.
For more on this news articel:
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20090530T200000-0500_152532_OBS_ADVENTIST_LEADERS_WANT_POLICE_BOSS_TO_RETRACT_STATEMENTS.asp
News Highlights below by the Jamaica Observer:
Adventist leaders want police boss to retract statements
Sunday, May 31, 2009
LEADERS of the Seventh-day Adventist church in Jamaica are calling on Commissioner of Police Hardley Lewin to publicly withdraw comments he made last week in respect of cops and their day of worship.
THOMPSON... service to the police force is not the same as writing an examination
In releases to the media over the weekend, President of the West Indies Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Derek Bignall, and president of Northern Caribbean University, Dr Herbert Thompson, said Lewin's comments smacked of intolerance and discrimination and that they threatened rights to religious freedom.
"The Seventh-day Adventist Church is alarmed by the statement purported to have been made by the commissioner of police which amounts to intolerance of the religious rights of certain members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force. We oppose any law, policy, practice or statement which discriminate against people's religion," said Bignall.
At the 66th annual conference of the Jamaica Police Federation in Trelawny last Thursday, Lewin essentially said it was unacceptable for members of the force to stay away from police duties simply because it was their chosen day of worship. He was responding to a policeman who was querying the new date for an examination that had been rescheduled to facilitate those candidates who worship on the Sabbath.
But in his statement to the press, Bignall said religious freedom was an inalienable right given to every human being by God Himself and that those who govern or manage on behalf of the people, have a duty to protect them against those who will, deliberately or inadvertently, trample on those rights.
"It is a shame that the commissioner, who is sworn to protect the rights of all citizens of this nation, displays such a high level of intolerance," he said. "We are expecting him to publicly withdraw the statement he made, and commit himself to protect the rights of the men and women under his charge. People's rights must be respected and protected at the workplace and in pursuit of their educational goals."
For his part, Thompson said the police commissioner's comments were a "matter of grave concern" and that it was "regrettable that at the highest level of the Jamaica Constabulary Force there could be such an apparent flagrant disregard for this basic constitutional right".
He pointed out that in his former capacity as chairman of the Police Strategic Review Panel he had met policemen from all ranks, and those who were Seventh-day Adventists understood that if their service was required on the Sabbath, they would be obliged to serve their country.
"[But] ...service to the police force is not the same as writing an examination," he said in a letter addressed to the editor. "Respectable organisations everywhere that from time to time have to administer examinations, such as the police qualifying examinations, have, out of deference to individuals who are not willing to write such examinations on Saturday for religious reasons, permitted the writing of such examinations on other days. Why should the Jamaica Constabulary Force be an exception?
"The commissioner of police needs to be reminded that choosing to keep the Sabbath is not a criminal offence and, as one of the 250,000 members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in this country and one who has been serving this country in various capacities over the years, I expect nothing but utmost respect for all of us who choose to follow the dictates of our conscience by observing the Sabbath," said Thompson.
For more on this news articel:
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20090530T200000-0500_152532_OBS_ADVENTIST_LEADERS_WANT_POLICE_BOSS_TO_RETRACT_STATEMENTS.asp
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