02 April, 2008 - Published 13:51 GMT

At the mercy of violent gangs

Amnesty International has accused the Jamaican government of abandoning hundreds of thousands of people to live at the mercy of violent gangs and brutal police.

The international human rights organisation said the authorities have wilfully neglected people who live in the poorest areas of the capital, Kingston and have failed to tackle either the violence or the corruption which have shattered poor inner-city neighbourhoods.

Amnesty's Jamaica researcher, Fernanda Doz Costa told BBC Caribbean's Marie-Claire Williams that authorities in Kingston are not doing enough to address the problem.

However, the Jamaican government has taken issue with Amnesty International's cliams that it is not doing enough to tackle its crime problem, which is one of the highest in the world.

Andrew Clunis, of the Jamaican information ministry, told the BBC of steps his government is taking to resolve this issue.

Is the Amnesty International report accurate in your view and do you agree with the Jamaican government's repsonse? Share your views with us by filling out the form on the right of this page.

The need to clean up Jamaica so that the citizens of Jamaica who migrate elsewhere can visit their home in piece. I am living in NY and I hear Jamaicans and would be visitors say that they will never go back to Jamaica because of the crime.
Sharon, New York