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Pretending to Practice…Murdering Rights

By Sankofie | Published June 16, 2026 | 1 Comment

On May 17, 2026, 45-year-old Latoya “Buju” Bulgin, a mother of two, was shot by police in Granville, St James. This happened during a public protest against the police killing of a 17-year-old young man.  That killing had happened a week earlier.  Camera footage captured Ms. Bulgin’s minivan moving off slowly, her being shot by a policeman, her body dragged from her vehicle and placed in a police pickup truck which then drove off.  She was later pronounced dead.

The Unụchi Foundation is an ‘information, education, and advocacy nonprofit organization centered on the empowerment and healing of Africana peoples through Ọbịa (Obeah) and other Africana Knowledge Traditions (AKT),’ https://unuchi.org.  With a general focus on knowledge reparation, the organization made plans for an event, “Iche Nche Ọbịa,”  to be hosted at Hope Gardens on September 25th last year.  The event was intended to help to contextualize Ọbịa (obeah) from the viewpoint of the Igbo peoples and support advocacy for the repeal of Jamaica’s Obeah Act.  The event as planned was also pronounced dead.  

Side by side these two situations provide a contrast in moral guardianship grounded in the legacy of colonial theology and law.  The murder of Latoya caused widespread, cohesive outrage in communities, the press and on social media. Police brutality, violence, desecration of her body and more was collectively called out.  Human rights organizations pressed for accountability while the church, used very strong statements to condemn police brutality and lament the desecration of her body. They called for investigations and reforms. The proposed Iche Nche Ọbịa event was greeted with a more divisive response. While the response of the general public was more indifferent, some culturally aware activists, academic and Rastafari supported the plan for the event.

In response to Iche Nche Ọbịa a forceful outcry came from the church and Christians who vociferously opposed, damned and condemned the event and took to the streets with public marches, rallies, and visible mobilization against it.  While the murder was more generally framed within a Human Rights context, the Iche Nche Ọbịa, was positioned as a spiritual confrontation where Christianity had to be defended against African Spiritual practices.  The difference is stark. When faced with state violence, the church speaks,  when faced with African spirituality, the church marches.

These two situations violated provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  The challenge to the Iche Nche Ọbịa and the murder of Ms. Bulgin show how both state violence and cultural repression can take us down a very slippery slope of human rights violations.  Violation of the Right to Life, the Right to Human Dignity, Freedom from Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment, the Right to Effective Remedy, and the Right to Security of Person in the murder of Latoya “Buju” Bulgin.  The silencing of Iche Nche Ọbịa undermined the Right to Freedom of Thought, Conscience, and Religion, the Right to Freedom of Assembly and Association, the Right to Cultural Participation, and the Right to Expression. Together, these violations remind us that Jamaica cannot claim moral guardianship while failing to uphold the most basic human rights — the right to live and the right to believe.

Sankofie
June 15, 2026