JUSTICE Minister AJ Nicholson says the security forces must guard against the risk of the state sinking into the abyss of a murder culture.

Senator Nicholson, in an apparent response to last weekend's warning from opposition spokesman on national security, Derrick Smith, against the security forces operating as executioners, recalled that it was not the first time that he was making the call.

"With this in mind, therefore, I reiterate that the Ministry of Justice and the Attorney General's chambers are keen to work with the Ministry of National Security to ensure that when members of the security forces find it necessary to take life, they do so only in lawful and fully justifiable circumstances," Nicholson told the Senate last Friday.

"Let there be no confusion about this. The Ministry of Justice, the administration, as a whole, does not, and will not, support killings that are undertaken outside the ambit of the laws of Jamaica. If the state turns a blind eye to unlawful killings, under the colour of the law, this will only drive the society into the arms of lawlessness."

He said that there would be no confidence in the security forces if the state is perceived as sanctioning unlawful killings.

Smith told a JLP Area Council One meeting last Sunday in Kingston that he was asking members of the security forces to exercise care and professionalism in carrying out their duties.

"Otherwise, the action does not display professionalism on the part of the security forces, it does not enhance the relationship between the security force and citizens, it is not good for the image of the country and it reflects badly on the management of the security forces," Smith said.

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