By Gaulbert Sutherland
Stop torture was the cry by citizens yesterday when they converged opposite the Georgetown Public Hospital in a silent vigil to protest the torture of a 15-year-old by police.
Just about 110 representatives from a cross-section of civil society and opposition political parties were present at yesterday’s vigil, assembling along Lamaha Street with banners that read, ‘Solidarity against Torture.’ The event was organized by NGOs Red Thread, Women Across Differences, Help and Shelter, EveryChild Guyana and Mothers in Black. “It’s simply a symbolic stand…it’s to say that we’re not prepared to allow our police and so-called disciplined services to behave as they choose,” said Karen De Souza, Red Thread’s coordinator. The vigil, she said, is an opportunity for Guyanese of conscience to demonstrate that they are totally opposed to torture and to stand in solidarity with the teen and his parents.
The 15-year-old was among several persons arrested following last week’s murder of retired Region Three vice-chairman Ramenauth Bisram. The teen, Nouravie Wilfred and Deonarine Rafick were held and a wounded and battered Rafick was charged last Friday with the murder and remanded to prison. It later emerged that the teen had been severely burnt in his genital area but the police only took him to the hospital after media reports. Wilfred was released on Tuesday after having been in custody for a week.
But the teen remains a patient at the Georgetown Public Hospital and is likely to remain there for the next six months. On Wednesday policemen, Narine Lall and Mohanram Dolai appeared in court charged with unlawfully wounding Wilfred and Rafick. No charges were laid in relation to the teen.
For over an hour yesterday the group stood on the roadside. In addition to private citizens, some of those present included PNCR leader Robert Corbin, AFC leader Raphael Trotman, GAP/ROAR MP Everall Franklin, Guyana Trades Union Congress President, Gillian Burton, representatives of the Amerin-dian Peoples Association, the Guyana Citizens Initiative, Guyana Association of Women lawyers, the Sisters of Mercy of the Catholic Church, the Wesleyan Church, the Guyana Book Foundation and members of several other organizations.
Never again
Torture should not happen again, Jean La Rose, programme coordinator of the Amerindian Peoples Associa-tion said. She stated that she was present along with her daughter to lend her voice to the fact that torture must not and should not be tolerated. She said that those responsible for such acts must be brought to justice.
Taffieny Conway, president of the National Youth Development Network told this newspaper that the organization was shocked at the torture of the teen and hopes that “we can recognize that we can change this and stop it from happening in the future.” Similar incidents should be brought to light, dealt with and those responsible should be held to account, she asserted. Another citizen, Charlene Wilkinson said that her heart is bleeding for Guyana stating that the country is “starving and dying because of the absence of leadership and the presence of monsters at the head of government.”
Opposition leader Corbin told Stabroek News that his party would support every initiative by any organisation to force this administration to address the atrocity, noting the continuum of torture that has plagued the country for years. “I am happy that more and more people are recognising that irrespective of race, colour or creed, age or peculiarities that torture is torture whenever it is committed and the society must reject it,” he added.
The PNCR leader also called for the appointment of an independent panel of persons whose credibility is known by the society to investigate the torture. “We will have no confidence in anything done by the police to cover up their own tracks,” he said.
Meantime, Trotman noted that he was there in his personal capacity, as well as AFC leader and lawyer. “Any event in which citizens and particularly civil society is prepared now to step out, the AFC is prepared to stand with them,” he stated. He noted that President Bharrat Jagdeo had stated that a police investigation would take two weeks but pointed to the a “certain bias” in relation to pronouncements made by the Commissioner of Police and others about the child being able to identify the perpetrators because he was hooded. “That is a serious thing because why is a child hooded in the first place. I don’t know that it is one of the approved methods of… keeping people in custody or interrogating them”, he commented. “We hope that it will build and that we will have small but meaningful forms of protest against what has happened and at the same time hope that these events will galvanize the outrage that is being expressed nationally so that we can bring that together perhaps into a more formidable form of protest either in the form of a bigger rally or something not too long from now,” he said.
Everall Franklin added that the unconstitutional behaviour of the security forces and the issue of respect for peoples’ rights had been raised numerous times but “apparently it’s been falling on deaf ears”. He said that the latest incident has highlighted “the total breakdown of law and order and total disregard for human life and suffering.” He declared that it was incumbent on all, regardless of political affiliation that this is about humanity and confronting something that is evil. Persons could not look on such incidents and say it will not happen to them. Every time someone in the community is affected, it takes away something from citizens, he warned. “If we could highlight and get people to understand that this is all of our business then we would have achieved something”, he declared.
Indictment
Meanwhile, several organizations have also added their condemnation of the incident with the African Cultural & Development Association (ACDA) stating that it is an indictment against the state and the Women’s Progressive Organization (WPO) denouncing the “excessive force” used.
In a statement, ACDA said that the torture of the teenaged boy by the police is an indictment against the state, after repeated incidents of a similar nature over the years. “…These incidents have been repeated, each time with greater intensity and disregard, much to the silence of the very public stakeholders who now surprisingly find this particular case horrifying, as if conveniently awakening to assert a long suppressed social conscience,” the organization said. It expressed the hope that the case could open the door to a “long overdue, honest reality check,” which it says is necessary to move towards confronting the root problem affecting the nation.
ACDA contended that the police ranks who committed the “heinous act” have conformed to a system of approval of the state for years on the question of excesses. Further, it said the silence of religious organisations, the Private Sector Commission and others have all contributed by allowing their prejudices and self-interest to prevail, ignoring and permitting the state to sink the nation into the “mire” now enveloping it. “There are several incidents over the years that support the [approval] of the State,” it emphasised, adding that it is convenient and dishonest to blame “a flawed line of command and the betrayal of a confirmed operational philosophy on rogue elements.”
The WPO also joined in condemning the actions of ranks at the Leonora Police Station for using “excessive force” on the teen. “This act perpetrated against a child is reprehensible,” the organisation, the women’s arm of the governing PPP said in a statement on Tuesday. “Those responsible for such actions must be dealt with condignly in order to prevent those rogue elements who may want to repeat such actions”, it added.
The WPO expressed sympathy for the young man and his family while hoping that the injuries to his body and psyche can be reduced through effective medical treatment and a supporting environment to help him overcome the impact of the traumatic experience. It also cautioned that while the police force has been doing a good job in trying to rid the society of criminals and is deserving of support, the recent act can undermine the positive gains by again putting the force in a negative light.
And the Men Empowerment Network (M.E.N) has said that the torture of the teen while in police custody is a “sad dereliction of duty” by the police officers who are tasked with serving and protecting citizens. In condemning the incident, the organization said that the burning of the teen’s genitals, “symbolic of the manhood of this boy” would have long lasting, far reaching emotional and psychological impact on him and those associated with him. In this regard, it offered counselling and support services to all parties affected by the horrific abuse. The group called on all Guyanese to be awakened to the need to protect its children from such inhumane abuse of judicial power.