Kingston, 3 August 2021 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has welcomed the decision of the Commissioner of Police, Major General Antony Anderson, to order an investigation into claims that the police in Clarendon forcibly trimmed the locks of a young Rastafarian woman of the Nyabinghi Order.

Minister Grange:
“If the allegation is true, it would be a gross violation of the young woman’s human rights and a very serious disrespect to her sacred religious practice.

It is wrong for any person to forcibly cut the hair of another person, or discriminate or deny services because of how a person wears his/her hair.

I await the Commissioner’s investigation and the actions that will follow. The investigation must be quick and transparent; and if the allegations are proven, there must be sanctions against those responsible.

I agree with General Anderson’s statement that ‘any police officer who in 2021 would violate any person’s rights in this way would not be suitable to continue as a policeman/woman.’”

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