Country Report: Jamaica
By Tara Zanon
November 13, 2026
Jamaica’s current violence stems from decades of political polarization and organized crime. Since gaining independence in 1962, clashes between the two dominant parties, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People’s National Party (PNP), have fueled the rise of armed political supporters who disproportionally affect impoverished communities. Gangs controlled these “garrisons” as political proxies, intimidating voters and offering services in exchange for loyalty.
By the 1970s and 1980s, political parties and criminal organizations had deeply intertwined, driving widespread armed violence. Political violence peaked during the 1980 election, when Jamaica recorded 889 murders, compared with 351 in 1979.
Although political violence has declined substantially in recent years, Jamaica still suffers from severe gang violence and lethal state force. An estimated 250 active gangs control communities across Jamaica through extortion and intimidation while trafficking drugs and illegal arms.
Critics and human rights groups accuse Jamaican security forces of extrajudicial killings. In 2025, Jamaican security forces fatally shot 311 people, the highest count since 2010 and an approximately 65 percent increase over 2024. Planned police operations accounted for roughly half of those deaths. As of September 2026, security forces have fatally shot 215 people this year. This combination of gang and state violence routinely exposes civilians to extortion, intimidation, and lethal force, especially in impoverished communities with limited state protection and accountability.
Genocide Watch considers Jamaica to be at Stage 5: Organization, due to heavily armed gangs exercising territorial control that sustains criminal networks; Stage 6: Polarization, due to persistent division driven among rival gangs and the communities they operate in; and Stage 7: Preparation, due to the ongoing arming and organizing of criminal groups and increasingly militarized security operations. These conditions heighten the risk of mass atrocities by weakening civilian protections, entrenching gang control over vulnerable populations, and enabling violence to persist due to limited accountability for abuses committed by both criminal groups and security forces.
Genocide Watch recommends:
The Jamaican Ministry of National Security should dismantle gang-controlled territories by investigating and prosecuting gang leaders and arms suppliers, alongside seizing of illegal weapons and assets.
The Jamaican Parliament should strengthen the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM)’s authority to prosecute alleged extrajudicial killings and mandate that security forces wear body cameras to enforce accountability.
The Jamaican government should increase funding for anti-crime initiatives, particularly community-based violence prevention programs and youth employment opportunities, and expand support services for victims and witnesses of gang violence.
Read the report in PDF format here:
