Jamaican HIV/AIDS advocate Steve Harvey murdered at age 30

On the night of the 30 November, 2005, Steve Harvey, a leading Jamaican HIV/AIDS activist who had been working for 14 years to defend the health and human rights of people living with and at high-risk of HIV/AIDS, was murdered. He was found dead early in the morning with gunshot wounds in his back and head in a rural area, miles from his home.

Steve worked with Jamaica AIDS Support since 1997, and represented the interests of marginalized people and people living with HIV/AIDS in Jamaica and throughout the region. As coordinator of targeted interventions for Jamaica AIDS Support, he had been responsible for ensuring that the most marginalized of Jamaicansgay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals; sex workers; prisonerswere provided access to HIV/AIDS information and services. By mid 2005, he was chosen as LACCASOs (Latin America and Caribbean Council of AIDS Service Organizations), in-country project coordinator for Jamaica. His capacity, dedication and courage signaled the way for the most successful implementation of our Advocacy Project.

Steve Harvey was a person of extraordinary bravery and integrity, who worked tirelessly to ensure that some of Jamaicas most marginalized people had the tools and information to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS, said Rebecca Schleifer, researcher with the HIV/AIDS and Human Rights Program at Human Rights Watch and author of a recent report on anti-gay violence and HIV/AIDS in Jamaica.

Considering the enormous loss Steves death means for all of us, we request your solidarity, to condemn this brutal crime and request to bring the perpetrators to justice.