Jamaica death toll rises but kingpin eludes assaultSlum dwellers in Kingston are seething with anger at Jamaica's security forces' house-to-house searches for a powerful druglord, with the death toll rising but no trace of the operation's target.
Police said Thursday that 73 bodies have been found in morgues, some in a state of decomposition, although several deaths may not have been linked to the four-day-old assault. Three security personnel have died.
Heaps of sometimes smouldering garbage littered streets of western Kingston, a world away from Jamaica's world-famous beaches and the stronghold of gangster Christopher "Dudus" Coke -- who is wanted by the United States on drug charges.
"Coke, he take care the community. Residents accused security forces of firing indiscriminately in recent days.
"Why so many deaths for one man? Government officials have refused to discuss Coke's whereabouts.
Hinds said the lines between civilians and combatants had become blurry, saying civilians were "sometimes also gunmen and gunwomen."
"Security forces have so far accounted for four firearms seized, quite a low number compared with the number of people killed," the rights group pointed out.
Walls were covered with artwork depicting Coke's father and don predecessor, Jim Brown, who died in a mysterious fire at a police jail in 1991.
The relationships between the gangsters are government are complicated. At election time, Coke had mobilized for Prime Minister Bruce Golding's Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), while other dons have supported the opposition.
Golding, who represents Tivoli Gardens in parliament, declared a state of emergency on Sunday after months of hesitation, vowing both to capture Coke and to battle Jamaica's scourge of crime.
The United States has strongly supported the operation and provided bulletproof vests to Jamaican security forces, concerned about the island's role as a conduit for drugs.
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