The PNCR, after repeatedly calling for the publication of the report on torture allegations against the Guyana Defence Force and the Guyana Police Force, says it is appropriate to remind the government that torture is in violation of the Guyana Constitution.
The party further stated that the government must be reminded that torture is also in violation of the various international agreements to which Guyana is a signatory, such as the UN and the OAS Conventions Against Torture. These Conventions also stipulate that the victims of torture are entitled to compensation, the PNCR added.
It noted in a press release on Thursday that a report on torture in the GDF was promised by the President and the Chief of Staff, while the Minister of Home Affairs undertook to investigate the use of torture by ranks of the Guyana Police Force.
And the GDF has reported publicly that they have handed in their report but its contents have not seen the light of day, the party observed.
According to the PNCR, the “report fingers two GDF officers from the Military Investigation Department, a Lieutenant and a Captain, both of whom are well known to be responsive to instructions from the Office of the President.”
In that light, the party contended that the government was, therefore, caught in a dilemma as to how it could release the report and escape the consequences of its contents.
In the meantime, the PNCR said that the torture allegedly committed by ranks of the Police Force on David Zammett remains uninvestigated.
The question of torture by security forces in Guyana has been under scrutiny for over a year, the party added, but the government is yet to bring closure to this matter.
Guyana has, therefore, acquired a reputation, in the English speaking Caribbean, for engaging in such brutal acts as torture. The country has, accordingly, become the object of attention and scrutiny by international organisations and Governments.
In seeming to encourage torture to be used by the security forces, the PNCR contended that the government “is culpable for allowing this unsavoury practice to take root in the security forces.”
The PNCR further argued that “the refusal of the Jagdeo Administration to root out torture as a practice among elements of its security forces, borders on the criminal and will have far reaching consequences for the future of this country.”
