By Nigel Williams
The US government is still to respond to a request from Guyana for forensic pathology assistance to help solve the killings of eight miners whose burnt bodies were last week found wrapped in tarpaulin at a remote diamond mining camp.
Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee yesterday confirmed that there had been no response up to Friday last. He would not speculate on whether the US would grant the request, but assured that the Lindo Creek camp site has been sealed off awaiting the arrival of the US experts. Last week Wednesday President Bharrat Jagdeo announced that Guyana had made the request for a forensic pathologist from the US through its embassy here in Georgetown. Sources at the US embassy told Stabroek News that the request has been forwarded to the relevant authorities and there should be a response by this week. Ask whether the US would be disposed to meeting the specific request, the source said it was a decision which the US State Department had to make, but hinted that Washington had met similar requests for other countries in the past. The forensic pathologist should help determine around when the miners were killed and how. Owner of the camp, Leonard Arokium has accused the joint services of killing the miners but the lawmen have since denied this claim. Yesterday, Arokium reiterated that he had received an anonymous call from a man days before he discovered the men’s bodies, telling him that he was there when soldiers shot and killed his men and after realizing they were not criminals they burned their bodies. Arokium said he had not been able to identify who the caller was and he said as far as he was aware no effort was being made to track the person down through telephone records.
Police Commissioner, Henry Greene said last week that he believed that the gunmen were still trapped and the joint services would not leave until they find them. The Joint Services had maintained since June 6 – following the police attack on the Rawlins camp at Christmas Falls – that the gunmen were trapped in the jungle. They have since not explained how the men were still able to move 90 miles to the Aroaima trail one week later where they supposedly hijacked a busload of passengers. Two of the gunmen, Julius Chung and Cecil Ramcharran were shot dead the same day at Goat Farm. Security experts here believe that in addition to requesting a forensic pathologist, the Jagdeo administration should have sought assistance to conduct ballistics test on the four spent shells found at the Lindo Creek scene as well as examining the weapons of the members of the security forces who were in the jungle. Police last week said that the four shells matched those picked up at previous forays by Rawlins’ gang and Greene said that all signs were showing a link between the miners’ murders and Rawlins’ gang.
There have been several calls for government to conduct an independent inquiry into the killings. The Alliance For Change last week wrote the President requesting that he set up a commission of inquiry. The President, while he had not decided on it, said if there were to be a CI it would have to include the other two massacres to determine whether there was any political influence.
At their weekly press conference on Thursday the main opposition, People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) said that the controversial circumstances and reports surrounding the deaths of the men make it incumbent for a credible and independent Commission of Inquiry (CI) to be appointed to determine who was responsible for this tragedy.
The PNCR said it had taken careful note of the fact that there are at least two versions of the events surrounding the deaths of the miners. It noted that Arokium is confident that his employees were killed by the security forces and he has spelt out the reasons for this belief in several interviews with the media, while on the other hand the Joint Services, and more recently the Commissioner of Police have issued vigorous rebuttals to Arokium’s claim.
According to the PNCR, its Leader Robert Corbin met with Arokium and other relatives of the deceased last Monday and from their discussions the party is more convinced of the need for such an enquiry after that meeting. The dead miners are: Dax Arokium, Cedric Arokium, Compton Speirs, Horace Drakes, Clifton Wong, Lancelot Lee, Bonny Harry and Nigel Torres.
