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Probe gay activist's death with open mind - Amnesty

NEWS OF THE murder of gay rights activist, Brian Williamson, has literally made its way around the world. Meantime, international human rights agitators, Amnesty International (AI) are advocating that the police investigate his murder "with an open mind".

The story detailing Williamson's murder at his New Kingston flat on Wednesday was published yesterday on the international homosexual website 365gay.com; British homosexual website, Gayuk.com; and US gay website, Advocate.com. The British media website, the independent.com, the BBC, and the Washington Times in the United States also carried stories. Interestingly, all the reports seem to suggest that Williamson's murder was a hate crime. This, despite police saying that they think that robbery was the motive.

Hate-related crime

The report on 365gay.com quoted JFLAG, the group that Williamson represented as saying, "The condition of his body...and his visibility as a gay man lead us to suspect this is a hate-related crime."

The alleged homophobic nature of Jamaicans was also stressed in the reports with claim that 30 gay persons have been killed in Jamaica since 1997. The incident has also attracted Amnesty International's attention, who is requesting that authorities conduct a 'thorough investigation into his death'.

In an international press release issued yesterday, Amnesty condemned the murder saying, "Every murder is an affront to human rights. When the victim is someone who worked to protect the rights of others, the killing is particularly disturbing." The group eulogised Williamson as being a tireless human and gay rights activist.

Amnesty also seemed to be of the belief that the police theory of robbery being the motive was not entirely correct. "There remains a strong possibility that Brian Williamson's profile as a gay man and advocate of homosexual rights made him a target for those with homophobic views. The taking of money or other items may have been an afterthought by the perpetrators of the killing with the primary motivation of the murder being hatred of homosexuals," said AI.

Numerous chop

Williamson's body was found lying face down in a pool of blood at his flat on Haughton Avenue. The same address was allegedly used a few years before as the site of an underground gay club. The body had 12 stab wounds to the face and neck and a single chop wound to the forehead.

The Half-Way Tree police say they are following all leads.