Dear Editor,

Having waited this long for the report from the National Research Council, which I have now read and digested, I must express my disappointment at the glaring omission of the most important element of this fight, which is that it needs a political decision by Jamaica’s Parliament. If this is not done, it will not open up the door for us to go to the highest courts of justice and ensure a similar approach by other Caricom governments.

This is a demand which I will continue to make and is the cause and intent of my continued fight for repatriation and reparation — giving back for decades of injustice. And so, I repeat, Caricom is not a political body.

At the very least, the report should contain the verbatim Hansard record of the debates in parliament. And since the National Research Council is a creature of our two-party system, and bearing its educative intent, certainly the individual positions of Government and Opposition should be reflected, and what better way than by the independent or conscience vote of each MP.

And, indeed, it was out of the first debate that the proposal was made to bring other Caricom countries on board, based on the strength of collective voices, and my position that Jamaica must lead the way on the issue of chattel slavery. My present position, then, is for a parliamentary political decision to be made on the legitimacy of claims, and then parliament’s decision as to the forms it must take and proceed with separate claims, as manifested and known.

And built into which must be the non-confinement of claims, not only against Great Britain, but also to Africa and the internal claims of Rastafari against governments and their demand for repatriation.

It’s quite apparent that the report skirts the issue of a political decision, which must be made, and it is our parliament that needs to make amendments to this report. For instance, I could not accept that a committee usurps the parliamentary role and so I quote Article 9: “Assume the responsibility for the preparation and prosecution of the legal case for reparation and highlight the special case of reparation for Haiti.” Where in this is repatriation — the main cry of Rastafari?

Mike Henry, CD, MP

Central Clarendon

michaelhenrylmh@yahoo.com