The opposition political parties will meet with civil society groups today to explore ways forward to address the allegations linking the Guyana government to drug trafficker Roger Khan.
WPA Co-leader Dr Rupert Roopnaraine made the announcement last evening on a live internet radio call in show hosted by demerarawaves.com. The opposition front, involving the Alliance For Change (AFC), Guyana Action Party, the National Front Alliance (NFA), the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), the Unity Party and the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) have agreed that a unified approach be activated to realize greater accountability, justice, respect for and observance of the rule of law and, generally, the establishment of good governance practices. The parties are to meet with civil society to strategise a response at City Hall this afternoon at 5 pm, Roopnaraine said on the programme, which looked at the future of Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy following allegations that he met with Khan and his associates in Guyana. The government and Ramsammy have denied the claims.
Khan has pleaded guilty to cocaine trafficking in the US and is to be sentenced shortly. The trial of Khan’s former lawyer, Robert Simels has attracted national attention as it has highlighted alleged cooperation between the government and Khan.
The PNCR has been staging pickets in the city as it calls on government to invite an independent probe of the allegations. The opposition parties have agreed to compile a comprehensive dossier cataloguing the government’s human rights abuses, including extra-judicial killings, torture and complicity with known organised crime gangs and narco traffickers and the resulting corruption in high office. The dossier upon completion will be submitted to local, regional and international bodies, including the courts with the appropriate jurisdiction and released to the media and the public.
The meeting with civil society is part of the plans for a robust public education campaign. The parties said the campaign will be always conducted “on the basis of consensus and in accordance with the laws and the Constitution of Guyana.”
Some civil society leaders have said at the minimum the allegations warrant a local probe.
Trade unionist Andrew Garnett says that, at a minimum, the Roger Khan confession to trafficking cocaine out of Guyana in a plea bargain with the US government has implications for the rule of law. He said that the guilty plea clearly points to illicit drugs leaving Guyana, noting that this violates local laws, which he said should trigger a probe here. Failure to do so, according to him, compromises the rule of law but with respect to the Khan confession he said that an independent international body should conduct the investigations.
Co-President of the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) Mike McCormack has said that there appear to be two categories of crime in the country, one prosecuted in the normal way and a second, which is beyond the scope of law and order officials. McCormack’s comments were made in the context of the allegations being raised in the US courts about murders in the country that have gone unsolved. Further, he said that it is this glimpse of parallel societies which is the most frightening revelation of the New York trial involving Khan’s former attorney Simels.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) Gerry Gouveia has urged patience before jumping to conclusions about the allegations. Gouveia said that a lot of questions must be asked here in Guyana, but emphasized that all the information needs to “come out.” He referred to the trial as certainly being of interest. Further, he said that the evidence being offered must be tested and proven, and he alluded to the issue of the spy equipment saying that “there are allegations which require documents, a paper trail.”