Dear Editor,
“The police are here not to create disorder. They are here to preserve order.” – Richard J. Daley
When I was a young man growing up in Burnham’s Guyana, I perceived the police to be the good guys who were out to get the villains and make certain that children like myself (at that time), slept safely in their beds. I had no reason as a child to be fearful of Burnham’s police although I was aware from my elders how this organisation supported the rigging of elections and turned a blind eye to the murder of a political opponent. How different are they today?
I never thought this organisation would have evolved for the worse after 1997 where some of its members have protected drug lords, killed a child, allegedly brutalised and burned the genitals of a child and raped young women. Children who should be studying, playing games, enjoying their friends and family are now marching in the street because an oppressive force has lost the common decency of recognising the line in the sand: you do not maim and shoot children. The Jagdeo regime has made their biggest miscalculation to date by creating the conditions for children and mothers to be protesting on the streets. The youths and women are the most powerful electoral constituency in any country, but they are usually not very militant in their actions unless extreme situations force them into acts of militancy. When the youths and women become militant, no police, no army, no Jagdeo can stop them because they will get what they want in the end – justice. The youths have never and will not now buy into hogwash such as “a vote against Jagdeo is a vote for the PNC,” or a “protest against Jagdeo is a protest for the PNC.” They will measure the issues as they see them. It has been permanently chiselled into their memory that their friend was allegedly murdered by a policeman.
Why was this child in the West Bank shot? Obviously he was not a hardened criminal. What minor crimes were he and his friends guilty of? Smoking marijuana, taunting a policeman? In the first place this policeman inserted himself into these children’s comfort zone based on a complaint that could possibly have been vindictive in the first place. Therefore the police should have approached the situation with the mentality of gathering intelligence on any law-breaking activity in progress, and assess the threat before they took measures to neutralise the threat. By neutralising I mean arresting the alleged law-breakers, not shooting any of them.
The treatment given to this young man proves many things to me. It proves a dysfunctional Police Force is alive and well in Guyana. It proves that the police are dealing with suspects in any manner they please with no evidence of sanction from the political directorate. It highlights what many poor citizens have to endure on a daily basis in Guyana whether they are innocent or guilty. It proves that the concept of basic human rights is far from a reality in Guyana. It proves that this is how the law sometimes deals with anybody who defies authority. It proves that in Guyana persons are often considered guilty until proven innocent. It proves that the law is now upside down. It proves that this Jagdeo regime is no better than the Burnham regime save and except Burnham rigged elections.
In a related case, a tortured teen is fighting for his right to compensation because of the sterling effort of an honourable son of the soil: Khemraj Ramjattan.
I call on the Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee to take his blinkers off and stop accusing people of “wallow[ing] in negativism and destructive criticism of the forces” and bring himself back to reality. The reality is that the Guyana Police Force is a destructive force. Is there no sort of vetting process to keep unsuitable recruits out of the force?
Mr Rohee being a former roots man who suffered at the hand of Burnham’s oppressors, should wake up and condemn this killing and demand compensation for the family of this child and the child who was maimed at the Leonora Police Station. I fully understand Mr Rohee’s status has evolved since he is now counted as one of the new aristocrats in Guyana, but he should never forget his past.
Will the family of this child secure justice? The Police Force does not deserve Mr Rohee’s defence today; they deserve a full and frank pulling up since their slip is showing. Heads must roll in the West Demerara Police Division for these constant lapses of proper policing.
Mr Rohee said “goat did na bite [he]” and thus his presidential ambitions would be well served if the nation were to see him lead the reform of this organization, because so far he has shown negligible leadership in reforming the Police Force. However, it is not too late. The Police Force must know their place as the protector of the nation, not as the creator of disorder in Guyanese society.
Yours faithfully,
Sasenarine Singh
