By Nigel Williams
Police yesterday confirmed that eight burnt bodies were found at a Lindo Creek mining camp and amid feverish speculation a top military official has denied that the security forces had anything to do with the attack.
Those presumed dead are Dax Arokium, 28, Cedric Arokium, 46, Compton ‘Tona’ Speirs and Horace Drakes of Meten-Meer-Zorg, Clifton Wong, Lancelot Lee of Tucville, ‘Bonny’ Harry of Annandale and a teenager from Kwakwani.
A team of crime scene investigators including, government pathologist, Nehaul Singh yesterday unearthed a number of 7.62 spent shells and some documents in the camp where the men were murdered.
Police would now have to determine through ballistics testing whose weapons the bullets were fired from, which should elucidate one part of the puzzle as to who killed the men. Dr. Singh and crime scene experts were rushed to the forested south-eastern area of the country early yesterday morning and up to press time last night the team was still in the area. Police in a press statement last night said that following up with investigations into the report that a number of burnt bodies were found on Saturday in a mining camp at Lindo Creek, Berbice River, yesterday morning a team of Joint Services ranks along with the pathologist left for the scene. The police said the team was assisted by a relative of George Arokium, the owner of the mining camp, who acted as a guide. “The party has arrived at the scene and it has been confirmed that eight burnt bodies are in the camp. The ranks also found a number of 7.62 spent shells and some documents,” the police release said.
Dr. Singh told Stabroek News last night from the interior that investigators visited the scene of the slaughter, some ten miles below Christmas Falls in the Upper Berbice River. He said they were still conducting analyses to determine how long the bodies were burnt. Prime Minister Samuel Hinds performing the functions of President told reporters last night that there was no doubt that the miners were shot and killed. “There is no doubt or question that the men were shot….but they are still assessing as to when they were killed,” Hinds who along with Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee and Police Commissioner, Henry Greene visited the Arokiums Saturday night said.
The third mass slaughter for the year, the killing of the miners has rocked the nation coming amid a stand-off between the joint services and gunmen being led by Rondell Fineman Rawlins in the dense jungle and observers believe that the authorities need to quickly determine who carried out the slaughter and when. Some relatives of the men are adamant it was the work of the security forces, while others believe that gunmen roaming the jungle after fleeing from the joint services three weeks ago might have killed the miners. The camp owner Arokium maintained last night that he believed that the army was responsible for the attack and that it could not be Rawlins.
According to him, Fineman would have had to come into “enemy” territory to launch the attack. He explained that the camp could be reached by travelling strictly over land. Driving from Linden and through Ituni there was a “turn-off” 76 km before reaching the Kwakwani junction. The “turn-off” is the UNAMCO logging road which is located approximately a 30-minute walk from the main road.
According to Arokium, Fineman was probably moving away from the Joint Services ranks that were scouring the area around Christmas Falls for him and his gang. Fineman would then have logically crossed over the Berbice River, the man said.
He went on to explain that had Fineman wanted to attack the camp then he would have then had to cross the Berbice River once again, this time moving towards “enemy territory” where the Joint Services ranks were awaiting him. Arokium believes that no man in his right senses would have done that.
“I think that the army did it. All the evidence points to the army,” Arokium charged.
The exact date of the murders is still unclear. However, Hinds said that it had come to his knowledge that the men may have been murdered as early as June 14.
Speaking to Stabroek News yesterday under condition of anonymity, a senior military official said while he was in no position to answer to the allegations that the servicemen men were involved in the killing of the miners, based upon all the reports he had received that was not the case. “The security forces would not conduct such activities. We would not kill people and then burn them” the officer declared. He added that it was not the way the military or the police do things. According to him, the perpetrators of the slaughter were heartless people. “This entire incident runs deep,” the official remarked, while noting that there remains a number of unanswered questions. The official told Stabroek News that once it could be established when the men were killed a number of other questions as to who killed them and why would be answered.
Arokium said that he had received reports that the men were killed sometime last week but only managed visit the location early Saturday morning. Upon arrival he made the discovery of burnt bones and skulls. He told Stabroek News that on Wednesday night he had received a phone call from a woman who told him that some “soldiers” had shot and killed his men and burnt their bodies. Later, he said, he received a second phone call from a private number. This time, Arokium explained, it was a man calling who told him the same thing. The dredge owner recounted that he arrived at his camp some time between 7 am and 7.45 am Saturday. He was greeted with skull and bones and his entire camp was in disarray. He said someone in the area had told him that they had heard shots several days prior to his arrival there. The man said his camp site had two main areas – the kitchen and another tent for sleeping. The tarpaulin roof was missing from the tent where the miners slept, George said, and he suspected that the eight men had been wrapped in the tarpaulin and their bodies burnt.
Stabroek News understands that the men who killed the miners were dressed in camouflage uniforms. Police had encountered a group of gunmen at Christmas Falls on June 6 and killed one of them during a confrontation. However, six of the men escaped, the police said. Early last week another group of gunmen hijacked a busload of passengers on the Aroaima trail and disappeared. Police killed two gunmen subsequently at Goat Farm, located some 90 miles from Christmas Falls and arrested another-a teenager at Ituni. It is not clear whether the men who were killed- Julius Chung and Cecil Ramcharran were among the hijackers.
Police have not been able to explain how the gunmen who were first confronted at Christmas Falls were able to move 90 miles, breaking out of a cordon which was reportedly established. Some observers believe that the lawmen might have been up against two groups of gunmen -one at Christmas Falls and the other at Goat Farm. Rawlins is said to have been in the Christmas Falls area and he and others might have already cleared out of the jungle.
Abandoning
Contacted for a comment yesterday, Executive Secretary of the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association, Edward Shields said the killing of the men was most despicable and he said the authorities must act now to protect miners who are already abandoning their sites fearing for their safety. Shields said security has remained one of the top priorities of the association for the past several years, but despite many pleas, the authorities had not addressed it in a holistic way. According to Shields following the February massacre in Bartica the association held a number of meetings with Prime Minister Hinds, the police and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission. He said to date they were yet to formalize measures necessary to improve security in the interior. “We have always stressed the need for good security, but the police keep saying they have resources constraints,” Shields remarked. He said the interior because of its vastness was not safe as it provided excellent cover for criminals. Shields mentioned too that the establishment of a number of illegal shops in the districts was also contributing to the harbouring of criminals in the area. Asked about the Christmas Falls area, Shields said a few years ago miners had found excellent diamonds in the area, but despite this for the past several years only Arokium was operating there. Shields admitted that the area was desolate, observing that anyone operating there would definitely be at risk.
