Dear Editor,
My family have known the Arokiums for a number of years and we also grieve with them and the other families who have lost loved ones in this dark period. I find the attempt to link the killings of these miners to Fineman and his gang both ridiculous and distasteful. Wanted men on the run will try as far as possible not to draw unnecessary attention to themselves.
They will not have time on their hands to shoot, retrieve a tarpaulin from the roof of the camp to wrap the bodies of eight men and burn them for the simple reason that the gunshots would have drawn the attention of the heavy Joint Services presence that was assigned to hunt them down, and the smoke from the burning of the bodies would also have attracted attention.
Men on the run from the law cannot defend themselves in public, so they are being made scapegoats for the atrocities committed by others in military fatigues.
According to the Kaieteur News (22.6.08), a man informed the police that six Rastafarian men carrying firearms confronted him and after spending the night with him at the camp, they left.
These men didn’t rob or kill him and then burn his body, and he was more of a threat to them as it related to their location.
Also in the same newspaper, on the same day, Mr Arokium stated that upon arriving at his camp, it was evident from the water that no mining activities had been done for a while. This fact leads me to conclude that Dax (his son) and the other miners were killed in the earlier weeks of June, as early as when the first member of Fineman’s gang was killed. It is my opinion that the bodies were burnt to cover up this fact, so the time of death cannot be established.
It was also reported that some of the miners were brutally beaten with hammers and I wonder what benefit men on the run would hope to gain by doing such a thing.
The retrieved 7.62 spent shells from the scene did not match any of the weapons of Fineman’s gang according to Prime News. According to Mr Arokium’s explanation of the layout of the area, it indeed seems highly unlikly that it was the Fineman gang that attacked the miners, and let me remind you, this man is a land surveyor.
We as Guyanese people refuse to have dust thrown in our eyes any longer; the truth of what happened to these men must be told and not be covered up.
The perpetrators of this horrific act, no matter who they are, must be brought before the courts to face the fitting punishment. I am pleading with those in authority that have the resources and power at their disposal to intervene in this matter. An independent and thorough investigation needs to be conducted; all the Joint Service personnel that are assigned to capture Fineman and his gang should take a polygraph test, just as was done with the CANU officers. Please let the truth be known, a wrong has been done and must be righted, no matter the embarrassment.
Sometimes we have to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes to know how they feel.
The families of these men were robbed of the opportunity of giving them a decent funeral; please let us not rob them of the opportunity of receiving justice.
Yours faithfully,
Marcia Goodchild
