Describing the recent robbery and murder by members of the Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard in the Essequibo River as “reprehensible,” President Bharrat Jagdeo added that it was worse because it was reportedly committed by “members of the security forces − people who are supposed to protect and serve our country with integrity.” Chief of Staff Commodore Gary Best repeatedly apologised for the actions of his ratings and promised to convene a board of inquiry.
Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon called the crime “unbelievable and unacceptable” and “urged a comprehensive investigation and the application of the full force of military and criminal law to those rogue elements in the service.” But Luncheon was the only official to link the awful crime with the conduct of the Joint Services. He urged citizens to show “continued faith in the Joint Services.” Why should they?
Joint Services’ chronic misconduct is the crux of this crime. To confront the troubles on the East Coast, the police force quietly reformed the Quick Reaction Squad to replace the discredited Target Special Squad. Commodore Best announced the establishment of the Joint Special Operations Group “specifically to hunt down gunmen and eliminate the current threat they pose.” He confirmed, further, that “all land, sea and air resources are being utilised.” The shadowy Military Criminal Investigation Department was also activated in the Guyana Defence Force.
With these new arms, the defence and police forces embarked on Operation Restore Order in June last year. The police bungled the assault at a camp at Christmas Fall. The Lindo Creek massacre − in which only the skulls and burnt remains of eight miners were found in a camp just 16 km from Christmas Fall – brought that phase of the operation to an end.
It was the Joint Special Operations Group which was rewarded for killing Rondell ‘Fine Man’ Rawlins and his accomplice Jermaine ‘Skinny’ Charles last August. Several other suspects − Malcolm ‘Coolie Boy’ Alleyne; Orlando ‘Bullet’ Andrews; Robin ‘Chung Boy’ Chung; Otis ‘Mud Up’ Fifee; Aubrey ‘Dread’ Glasgow; Vivian ‘Bolo’ Harris; Noel ‘Baby’ James; Troy ‘John I’ St John and Cecil ‘Uncle Willie’ Ramcharran’ − were shot on sight over the previous ten months.
Few persons protested the growing catalogue of Joint Service killings. Apologies have never been offered, compensation has not been paid, inquiries and inquests have not been convened and culpable members of the security forces have not been held accountable. Innocents were killed in the crossfire. What is to be made of the killing of Donna Herod − a 47-year-old mother of nine − who was shot dead while escorting her child from school during a Joint Services operation in September 2007?
Few voices have been raised over allegations of unlawful arrests, beatings, detentions and searches without warrants and torture which some officials dismissed as “roughing up.” How many soldiers and policemen have been punished?
Luncheon described the Essequibo robbery and murder as “a reflection of something that deteriorated… something that went wrong.” He has called for an investigation to find out “what it is that happened that particularly led inexorably to this event.” What happened is that, as Alliance for Change leader Raphael Trotman told the National Assembly, paying rewards to the Joint Services “can result in officers turning into bounty hunters who set out to hunt and kill people like animals.” What happened is that killing by the security forces is too easy. Chickens are coming home to roost.
By approving ‘brute force’ tactics, officials have allowed too many soldiers and policemen to learn the wrong lessons about law enforcement. They came to think that they could commit abuses and other crimes without fear of punishment.