Dear Editor,
The torture by the army of its fellow officers is cruelty in its worst form, a departure from civil decency and should not be tolerated. Recently it was two men from Buxton at the hands of the army, now it is fellow army soldiers. There are acceptable and unacceptable ways of doing things. Watching the pictures of those tortured and hearing their stories was a chilling reminder of the barbaric eras of slavery and the days of the phantom squad.
It is seen that the Guyana Human Rights Association is taking a keen interest in this case. This is very good. What is not good is that the GHRA, the country’s human rights body, is saying that it will exhaust all local avenues before pursuing the mater externally. Head of the GHRA, Mr Mike Mc Cormack, knows the government and army will dilly dally over this issue until the GHRA and others grow tired of waiting or forget. There is no justice in Guyana and the PPP is good at the game of waiting us out. I urge Mr Mc Cormack to pursue this case internationally, even as he pursues it locally, given precedents and modus operandi of the government.
The GHRA can take a page from the Stabroek News which is fighting its battle both locally and internationally.
The society has had enough of the rhetoric, media opportunities and press releases by the opposition parties and their calls on the government to act. The opposition parties are the ones that need to get up and act. The AFC, PNC and GAP/ROAR have parliamentary seats and must use their parliamentary power to get the PPP to discuss these human rights violations with the purpose of having them corrected. Parliament is the nation’s highest decision-making forum and it should be utilized for what it is worth.
The growing trend of human rights abuses is consuming the nation. Interest groups and organizations must act decisively and now in the interests of those they are representing.
Yours faithfully,
Mark Waldron
