Communication No. 349/1989 Submitted by: Clifton Wright (represented by counsel) Date of communication: 12 January 1989 Alleged victim: The author State party: Jamaica Date of adoption of Views: 27 July 1992 (forty-fifth session) testified that after they left the car, Mr. Phillips remained in the vicinity of the vehicle, looking up and down the road, while the author stayed in the car and held a gun to the driver’s neck. Realizing that he was witnessing a hold-up, he first walked casually away from the scene, and only then began running. From a distance, he saw the car driving away with its lights turned off. Subject matter: Denial of a fair trial by an independent and impartial tribunal in a capital punishment case Procedural issues: Available remedy— Exhaustion of domestic remedies Substantive issues: Effective remedy—Right to life—Permissibility of death sentence under the Covenant—Right to humane treatment—Right to a fair hearing—Right to a fair trial—Right to adequate time to prepare one’s defence— Equality of arms 2.2 The author was arrested on 29 August 1981 at about 6 p.m., together with Winston Phillips. He had been seen driving Mr. McDonald’s car by a friend of the latter; the car had been reported stolen on the same day. Both the author and Mr. Phillips were brought to the Waterford police station, where they were searched and found to be in possession of pieces of jewellery that the wife of the deceased later identified as belonging to her husband. The author submits that when they were arrested, the police could net possibly have known about the murder, since the deceased’s body was recovered only in the afternoon of the next day, in a canefield close to where he had dropped off Messrs. Cole and Phillips. Articles of the Covenant: 2(3)(a), 6(1) and 6(2), 10(1) and 14(1); and 14(3)(b) and (e) Article of the Optional Protocol: 5(2)(b) Rules of procedure: Rule 94(3) Individual opinion: Dissenting opinion by Mr. Bertil Wennegren 1. The author of the communication dated 12 January 1989 is Clifton Wright, a Jamaican citizen currently awaiting execution at St. Catherine District Prison, Jamaica. He claims to be a victim of violations by Jamaica of article 14, paragraphs 1 and 3 (b) and (e), of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. He is represented by counsel. 2.3 No identification parade was held after the arrest of the accused on 29 August 1981, allegedly because a mob had sought to attack them at the police station when it became known that the deceased’s jewellery had been found on them. The authors were moved to the Spanish Town police station thereafter, and Mr. Phillips was admitted to the hospital. No identification parade was conducted in Spanish Town, either, as the police officers conducting the investigation felt that because of the events at the Waterford police station, a parade would be unnecessary or even suspect. The facts as submitted by the author 2.1 The author was convicted and sentenced to death on 29 March 1983, in the Home Circuit Court of Kingston, for the murder of Louis McDonald. The prosecution’s case was that the deceased was last seen by his family in the afternoon of 28 August 1981. That evening, one Silvester Cole, a witness in the case, was trying to obtain a lift at a road junction in Kingston. The author and his co-defendant, Winston Phillips, were similarly waiting for a lift at the same junction. All three were picked up by a yellow Ford Cortina motor car: Mr. Cole and Mr. Phillips stopped after approximately two miles and left the vehicle. In court, Mr. Cole 2.4 A post-mortem was performed on 1 September 1981 at about 1 p. m. by Dr. Lawrence Richards. According to his evidence during the trial, which remained unchallenged, death had occurred an estimated 47 hours before, at around 2 p.m. on 30 August 1981, as a result of gunshot injuries inflicted no more than 10 to 20 minutes before death. Thus, it is submitted that death 100