The declaration by the new Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force, Commodore Gary Best that there should be some closure in the investigation of the alleged torture of two Buxtonians by members of the Joint Services comes across as hollow.
That three months have elapsed without either the police or the army providing a clear and convincing account of what happened to Messrs Victor Jones and Patrick Sumner is unacceptable but not quite surprising in the current practice of silence on certain cases.
If Commodore Best was intent on being transparent on this case and establishing a culture of openness under the new army hierarchy there were certain actions that he could have pronounced on without breaking ranks with the Guyana Police Force.
He could have told the public about the army’s efforts to glean from its members what transpired from the time the men were taken to Camp Ayanganna and whether any of them had knowledge of how the men had sustained the injuries they had.
He could also have told the public what efforts he had made to elicit from the police force information to fill in the gaps in the army’s account.
Since the army first had custody of the two men and might have been aware of why they were wanted for questioning, this particular matter has ensnared both services and calls into question whether they are complicit in brutality and interrogation methods more akin to police states.
By being evasive and silent, the army and the police may soon find themselves having to explain why their methods contravene the UN Convention Against Torture and for which Guyana has already had to answer questions over previous cases of brutality and alleged torture. One incident of this type can spoil all the work that the State party has tried to do to provide assurances to the UN committee.
The crux of the matter is how did two men in the custody of the police without any visible injuries end up so badly injured? Could these have been self-inflicted injuries? Most unlikely. Moreover, the two men have explicated in great detail their version of events and this is yet to be contradicted. If the army and the police did have a convincing case surely it would have been in the public domain by now. Surely by now the police can tell the public who authorized the release of the men from the Brickdam station, who then had effective custody over them and what explanation was given for the men’s injuries.
Unless the police begin to present themselves as a responsible and transparent law and order service, the public will have no trust in them. Indeed, the public will fear them and limit their interaction and cooperation and therefore every initiative which has as its objective the restoration of public confidence in the police force is doomed to fail.
Setting aside the poor investigative capacity of the force, more and more cases where the force just simply refuses to be accountable are surfacing.
Months after the Donna Herod shooting in Buxton and despite a recommendation by the Head of the Police Complaints Authority that an inquest be held there has been no further word from the police on its interaction with the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
A month later, the police are still to speak on the case involving Minister of Local Government, Kellawan Lall. Why was it even necessary to refer the matter to the DPP and second why has there been no action in what is a clear-cut case?
The clear felling of a substantial area for an illegal airstrip in the Corentyne has left rich clues among which are a bulldozer and a burnt ATV, not ordinary household appliances. How difficult is it to establish who owned the bulldozer, who had effective control over it and who was complicit in the drug operations? Thus far there is no word from the police.
Five months after, the public is still waiting to hear from the police and apparently the DPP about the very serious claims made against Senior Superintendent Merai. Is this the pace at which all investigations are done by the police? Or is this classic foot-dragging?
The torture allegations are a test case for both the police and army and will help to determine whether they are serious about accountability, transparency and good practice.
