If the allegations that Patrick Sumner, Victor Jones and David Leander were tortured can be proven, some members of the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Defence Force are likely to be in big trouble.
Patrick Sumner and Victor Jones were arrested by members of the police and defence forces during Operation Ferret last September. They were taken to defence headquarters in Camp Ayanganna, police headquarters in Eve Leary then to another military camp where they said they were tortured. Jones and Sumner were released without charge but with visible scars of burns and bruises on their bodies.
A third man, David Leander, arrested later, met his attorney only after a successful Habeas corpus application before a judge who, on seeing the victim’s condition, ordered him to be taken to the hospital immediately. Mr Leander was so badly injured that he was unable to walk and could hardly speak and had to be hoisted into the Magistrates’ Court to answer charges of attempted murder and possession of narcotics.
The crime of torture was the subject of a significant ruling by the British House of Lords in 1999 in the case of General Augusto Pinochet who was the Head of State of Chile from 11 September 1973 until 11 March 1990. It had been alleged that, during that period, various crimes against humanity (torture, hostage taking and murder) were committed in Chile for which General Pinochet was “knowingly responsible.” According to the lords:
“The jus cogens nature of the international crime of torture justifies states in taking universal jurisdiction over torture wherever committed. International law provides that offences jus cogens may be punished by any state because the offenders are “common enemies of all mankind and all nations have an equal interest in their apprehension and prosecution.”
As a crime of a “universal jurisdiction,” therefore, those who order or carry out such acts can be prosecuted anywhere in the world, irrespective of the nationality of the victim or perpetrator. No one can claim exemption from this because of his or her official capacity. There is no statute of limitations for such crimes under international law.
The Minister of Home Affairs, Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force and Commissioner of the Guyana Police Force should be aware of their personal obligations in this matter. They must know that the Government of Guyana signed and ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment since 1988.
Under Article 1 of the Convention, the term “torture” means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by, or at the instigation of, or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity.
Further, as a signatory to the Convention, Guyana is obliged to “take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction.” No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture and “An order from a superior officer or a public authority may not be invoked as a justification of torture.”
The Government Information Agency quoted Minister of Home Affairs Mr Clement Rohee as saying, “I want to maintain that we have always denounced torture as a means of extracting information whenever it is discovered and that position remains the same. What I would like to say however, is when allegations or accusation of torture are made, obviously we will have to investigate these allegations. Those recent allegations [by the men from Buxton] of torture
