Judicial CP in Jamaica was sometimes inflicted with the cat-o'-nine-tails on the upper back, but in more recent times usually with the tamarind switch on the bare buttocks. This latter sentence was quite common as recently as the 1960s.
It seems to have fallen into disuse around 1970 but was then revived in 1994 -- see Aug 1994 press report of the first court case for 25 years in which it was ordered and this Nov 1994 follow-up -- before being abolished in 1998.
According to Benson (1937), in 1935 there were 350 whippings in Jamaica by order of the courts, all but one of which were for juveniles. This was an increase from 234 in 1930.
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Stills from The Harder They Come - film set in Jamaica in the 1960s [HISTORY]
This of course is a dramatic reconstruction, not the real thing, but it is believed to be a fairly authentic representation of a flogging with the tamarind switch. I am not responsible for the poor picture quality, nor for the inaccurate title "Judicial Caning [sic] in Jamaica". I think we can assume the tamarind switch would be the same as that described in the Prison (Amendment) Rules, from which it is evident that the instrument was very similar to the post-1960 Isle of Man birch.
Legislation on sexual offences against children [HISTORY]
Under section IV "Child prostitution", quotes Article 58 of the Offences Against the Person Act, which provided whipping for procuring. This is out of date, as all JCP in Jamaica was outlawed in 1998.
George Osbourne v Jamaica [HISTORY]
Official report of a UN Human Rights Committee hearing in 2000. The complainant was sentenced in 1994 to 15 years' jail and ten strokes of the tamarind switch for illegal firearms, robbery and wounding with intent. Evidence quoted includes an affidavit from another prisoner, Errol Price, also sentenced to prison and the tamarind switch in 1994, who received his punishment in 1997 in the Penitentiary at Kingston, and who describes the experience thus: he was "seized, blindfolded and ordered to remove clothing from the lower part of his body. When this was done, he was forced to lean forward across a barrel and one of the warders placed his penis into a slot in the barrel. He was then strapped into that position and struck across the buttocks with an instrument that he was unable to see [...] An unnecessary number of prison warders (25) were present at the time of the whipping."
This description accords exactly with the reconstructed scene in the film The Harder They Come (see above), except that the prisoner in the film is brought to the barrel in his underpants, which are pulled down only after he is strapped to the barrel. In the full uncensored version of the film, the penis slot arrangement is clearly shown, the purpose of which was presumably to protect the genitals from being crushed against the barrel on the impact of the switch.
Higginson v Jamaica [HISTORY]
Another UN Human Rights Committee hearing (2002). Higginson, at age 21 in 1995, was sentenced to jail plus six strokes of the tamarind switch. It's unclear whether or not the whipping had actually been carried out. The Committee found Jamaica to be in breach of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights just for passing the sentence, whether or not it was inflicted. However, Jamaica resiled from the Optional Protocol (recognising the Committee's right to rule on violations of the Covenant) in 1998, and seems to have refused to have anything more to do with the procedure, so presumably both this case and the one mentioned above are now in limbo.
US State Department Human Rights Practices Report 1998 [HISTORY]
The appeal court ruled that flogging may not be imposed, as the legislative authority for it had expired (see this Dec 1998 news item).
A Summary of Concerns: A Briefing for the Human Rights Committee [HISTORY] (Alternative link)
Amnesty International document from 1997. Errol Price, sentenced in 1994 to the tamarind switch, received his 6 strokes in 1997; the document goes into detail about how they were administered. This was the first judicial CP to be administered in over 20 years.
CP in schools is lawful in Jamaica. The Education Act states that teachers may administer "reasonable corporal punishment". However, their own trade union advises them not to use it, and to leave any CP to school principals.
There have been some moves against corporal punishment, and its use may have declined, to the point where some people evidently think, mistakenly, that it has been stopped, and call for its "return", as in this April 2006 newspaper column.
It is clear from various reports that both the cane and the strap have been widely used in schools. The practice appears to be known locally as "flogging" or "licks".
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GITEACPOC cites a 2006 survey which found that 60% of respondents were in favour of caning and spanking in schools.
Other external links for Jamaica/Schools
JAMAICA: Judicial CP