Jamaica State of Emergency 2010 · Global Voices

Photo by bbcworldservice used under a Creative Commons license
Tensions finally reached boiling point in Jamaica after months of the JLP government‘s resistance to the United States’ extradition request of alleged drug don Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke.  Coke is wanted on several counts of drug and arms trafficking charges in the U.S.  Once the Prime Minister announced that the extradition warrant would be signed, law and order began to unravel.
On Sunday, May 23, the country's capital, Kingston, was placed under a state of emergency that is expected to last for at least a month; since then, the ‘Dudus’-controlled Tivoli Gardens, which has the reputation of being “the mother of all garrisons”, has responded violently, basically declaring war against the state.  Coke's supporters and state security forces have continued to clash and the death toll is rising; citizen media is emerging as one of the most vocal and reliable sources of information throughout the unrest.
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May 27 – Jamaica: Latest Updates
May 27 - Jamaica: Situation Improving?
May 26 – Jamaica: Bloggers Look at the Lighter Side
May 25 – Jamaica: Citizen Media Follows the Standoff
May 24 – Jamaica: State of Emergency
Citizen Media Resources
List of Twitter users commenting on the situation – http://twitter.com/#/list/georgiap/jamaica-extradition
On the Ground News Reports
Mainstream Media Links
– Nationwide Radio has been providing comprehensive coverage of the situation via its online stream
– JNN/Jamaica Live is getting information out via Ustream
– The Jamaica Gleaner and The Jamaica Observer daily newspapers have also been on top of the situation
- Situation map by citizen media initiative On the Ground News Reports: