The PNCR is calling on the government to establish an “impartial and independent” commission to examine and investigate the allegations of torture against the Joint Services.
And the party has submitted a motion on torture to parliament to back this demand.
The PNCR in a release yesterday scoffed at a recent report in Stabroek News that the Guyana Defence Force will discipline three persons for their involvement in the torture of soldiers.
The party, reiterating its earlier call for an investigation that would be impartial and independent, said that it would therefore expect that the public would be informed who are the persons appointed to conduct such an inquiry.
According to the PNCR, what is more troubling is that it is being stated in the media that the officer-in-charge will lose seniority. “This is unacceptable since torture is a serious crime which the United Nations declared as unacceptable in any circumstance. Torture is a criminal offence that should be treated as just that,” the party asserted.
The PNCR contended that merely having to lose seniority would be “a slap on the wrist to those who torture people,” adding that the party believes “that to do that is to send the dangerous signal to the PPP/C operatives in the military that they can torture people and get away with it.”
Against such a backdrop, the PNCR noted, it has sent a motion to the National Assembly to ensure that the issue of torture is dealt with in accordance with the constitution and the treaty obligations undertaken by the government.
“There must be created the required framework to ensure we eradicate the heinous crime of torture from our society,” the release said
In the motion on torture, the PNCR urges the National Assembly to call on the government to honour its legal obligations under Article 12 of the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and establish an impartial and independent commission to examine and investigate the allegations of torture made against the Joint Services.
In the motion in the names of MPs Aubrey Norton and Deborah Backer, the party also calls on the government to honour its legal obligations under Article 13 of the Convention by making certain that steps “be taken to ensure that the complainant and witnesses are protected against all ill-treatment or intimidation as a consequence of his complaint or any evidence given.”
The motion further resolves that the National Assembly call on the government to honour its legal obligations under Article 4 (2) of the Convention by enacting the necessary legislation to make torture an offence.
Moreover, the motion seeks to have the National Assembly call on government to also honour its legal obligations under Article 14 of the Convention by ensuring that persons found to have been tortured are compensated, and in accordance with Article 10 that public officials are made aware that all forms of torture are prohibited.
The PNCR also expressed its concern that the government seems unwilling to enquire into the circumstances surrounding the torture of Patrick Sumner, Victor Jones and David Leander.
“We demand that all allegations of torture be investigated and justice given to the victims,” the release stated.
During the Guyana Police Force-Guyana Defence Force Operation Ferret in late September last year, Sumner and Jones were arrested without warrant in the Buxton-Friendship community, de-tained for about three days and then released with their bodies badly blistered, burnt and bruised but without being charged. They alleged that they were tortured after being shuttled around the security circuit from the GDF’s headquarters at Camp Ayanganna to the Police headquarters at Eve Leary and Brickdam Police Station, then to a defence force camp on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway and, finally, back to Eve Leary.
In addition to Sumner and Jones, wanted man David Leander, also called David Zammet and ‘Biscuit’, who was captured by the joint services in an operation in Buxton alleged that he was beaten by the police.
Meanwhile, the release also called for an inquest into the death of 19-year-old Rameshwar Sawh who was found hanging in a cell at Enmore Police Station. The PNCR pointed out that the law is clear that in circumstances where there is controversy over the death of someone there must be an inquest.
The party also noted the need for an inquest into the death of Donna Herod who was gunned down during what was reported as a firefight between the police and gunmen in Buxton. On the morning of September 4, 2007 Herod had just collected her children from a nearby school after learning about a joint services operation in the village.
And while she was on her way home she was fatally struck with the bullet. Her children were not injured.
Chairman of the Police Complaints Authority (PCA), former Chancellor of the Judiciary, Cecil Kennard later handed over the report into the killing of Herod to the Director of Public Prosecu-tions recommending that a coroner’s inquest be speedily held into the matter. There has been no movement in this direction so far.