-Corbin
Opposition leader Robert Corbin yesterday said the recent call by the United Kingdom and other countries at the UN Conference in Geneva for an independent probe into the “phantom squad” and human rights abuses here vindicates the PNCR’s advocacy and the work of the joint opposition parties.

Speaking at the PNCR’s weekly press briefing, Corbin noted that among the recommendations of the United Kingdom were calls for Guyana to hold an independent probe into abuses allegedly committed by the phantom squad between 2002 and 2006, and that the government should commit to wide-ranging reform of the security agencies and the criminal justice sector, guided by broad consultation and transparency. Regrettably, he said, the party knows from past experience that such calls upon the Bharrat Jagdeo administration would be futile unless sanctions are imposed or the inquiry is conducted by the United Nations itself.

The British also know, from their own experience in Guyana, that the government “only pays lip service to consultation and transparency, which was so evident recently, that they were forced to withdraw millions of dollars pledged to the Security Sector Reform Project,” Corbin said. “That the PPP administration gave up an opportunity to receive millions in aid rather than maintain transparency and continue consultation with stakeholders, indicates the extent of their disregard for international opinion,” he added.

In December 2002, Corbin noted that the PNCR had demanded that there be a Commission of Inquiry into the existence of a “phantom gang,” which Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon had admitted existed in Guyana. At that time, he said, there was clear evidence of the involvement of the then Minister of Home Affairs and there were statements by several persons, including Axel Williams and later George Bacchus, which implicated him. Shortly thereafter, both Williams and Bacchus were executed and the call by the PNCR was rejected by President Jagdeo, Corbin added.