Three officers attached to the army’s Military Criminal Investigation Department (MCID) who allegedly tortured several soldiers during interrogation over a missing AK 47 rifle will likely be stripped of their rank, well-placed sources in the military said yesterday.
The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) recently commissioned a board of inquiry to investigate claims of torture meted out to soldiers: Michael Dunn, Sharth Robertson and Alvin Wilson who were implicated in the theft of the weapon. Army sources told Stabroek News yesterday that the high command of the force has taken the allegations seriously and the officers involved in the beating of the men would likely lose seniority. Stabroek News was told that the board of inquiry is expected to submit its report sometime this week. The board of inquiry has interviewed all of the soldiers who accused the officers of beating them. Asked whether the officers would be court-martialled, the source replied in the negative but noted that they will definitely lose seniority. “This thing has embarrassed the force and we cannot have three people bringing down the name of the organisation,” the source who asked not to be named said. Stabroek News was told that the officers have been implicated in other alleged transgressions and at least one of them was involved in the attempt to evict former Chief of Staff, Edward Collins from Camp Ayanganna recently.
The army has come under severe pressure over the torture allegations and at a meeting with privates and corporals last week, sources say Commodore Gary Best played down the brutality claims. He reportedly asked the ranks attending the meeting whether they knew the meaning of torture and if a parent disciplined his child if that is deemed as torture. The army source said that the MCID previously carried out its investigation into the missing weapon with limited supervision and with these allegations it is expected to be brought into line. According to the source the high command intends to pay closer attention the unit with a view to ensuring that there was no similar occurrence in the future.
“They have gone out of hand and they have to be brought back,” the source said. The department has been controversial as it was disbanded when officers attached to it intercepted drug-accused businessman Roger Khan, Sean Belfield and Haroon Yahya with a cache of high-powered weapons and sophisticated communications equipment capable of intercepting phone calls. The unit lay dormant until the 30 AK-47 rifles were spirited out of the army headquarters in 2006 at which point it was resuscitated. Stabroek New had been told that senior government officials exercised control over some of the operatives of MCID. The source said if indeed the GDF high command is able to take control of the unit it would be good for the force and its image.
Meanwhile, with regards the investigation to recover the single rifle which was stolen last year November, the source said that Robertson whose weapon went missing would likely be court-martialled after spending his 72 days in detention. The army is allowed to hold him for that period before charging him. Stabroek News was told that the reservist soldier continues to hold to his story that he did not steal the weapon but investigators are adamant that he knew something about its whereabouts.
Last week Warrant Officer Torrington, who was the Base Sergeant Major at the time of the disappearance of the rifle, began facing his court-martial. His lawyer, Leslie Sobers, at the commencement of the court proceedings had argued that his client had given a statement that was not free and voluntary. The court, which is being presided over by retired High Court Judge Winston Moore, is yet to rule on the issue.
President Bharrat Jagdeo who had made known to the media that a Board of Inquiry had been set up to investigate the torture claims said that his administration was taking the matter seriously. He said the GDF was committed to investigating the allegations. Several organisations have condemned the army’s treatment of the soldiers, including the Guyana Bar Association (GBA) which expressed “grave concern over the allegations.” The association said taken against the backdrop of the current campaign against violence, it seemed inconsistent that whilst violence against women and children was condemned, and rightly so, other incidents of violence were treated with less priority and concern and made to seem somehow tolerable, a notion that was repugnant and in contradiction of the maintenance of the rule of law in our society. The African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA) said these new allegations of torture levelled at GDF officers demonstrated that those in charge of the state had now embraced torture as a justifiable means to an end.
The Guyana Human Rights Association and the Guyana Public Service Union have also come out against the treatment of the soldiers.
