Mothers and other relatives of 73 civilians killed during the three-day gun battle in west Kingston were dismayed to hear that they will not be able to claim the bodies of their loved ones until autopsies are completed. Contrary to word from the Police High Command that post-mortems would begin today, the Ministry of National Security said the autopsies would not be undertaken as yet. The ministry said that relatives and friends will be advised when to show up at the morgues. A resident said, “All them telling we is to give them a picture of we relatives and our names and telephone numbers and them will call we.” The post-mortems will be done at the Spanish Town Funeral Home, Spanish Town Hospital morgue and Madden’s Funeral Home.

According to the police, the relatives of those killed should appoint independent pathologists to observe the process. They may do so on their own or through the Office of the Public Defender or Jamaicans for Justice, a human-rights lobby. The police said that albums with pictures of those who had died would be displayed at the just-established police complaints office at the Tivoli Gardens Health Centre, as well as at 14 Metcalfe Street, and at the Denham Town Police Station.

Some women displayed pictures of young men who have not been seen since the security forces launched their operation last Monday, saying “Even if them dead, we want dem body.” For these women and several others in west Kingston, the failure of the State to release the bodies—which are being stored at the two private funeral homes and in a refrigerated container in central Kingston— of their loved ones yesterday is proving hard to stomach.

The residents say they no longer trust the politicians: “The politicians dem put guns in the youth dem hands and then dem make police and soldiers kill the youth dem. We done with politics!” But it seems that trust had been rapidly waning long before this event.

Many are also concerned for the children of Kingston and how the trauma of these events has affected their psychological wellbeing. Returning to schools in the area has been difficult for students and teachers who said that their charges were distracted by the level of violence. One principal, Kandi-Lee Crooks-Smith, said that the children were unusually restless and talkative, with some students pushing and some just crying. Most schools in west Kingston, however, remain closed after last week’s violent clashes. School administrators are trying to come up with solutions to provide counseling for children teachers, and parents, who all remain rattled by the week’s escalation of bloodshed.

For full articles, see http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100601/lead/lead2.html, http://www.theworldpress.com/press/worldpress/jamaicapress/gleaner.htm, and http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100530/focus/focus5.html