Dear Editor,
As the proprietor of guyanaobservernews.org, and a named subject in the letter captioned ‘Story and photo caption on website a misrepresentation,’ I am responding to the missive in question. The letter was signed by George Vyphuis, Assistant Commissioner of Police and the Commander of ‘A’ Division (SN, January 7).
I can unequivocally state that based on my experiences with the manner in which the judicial system in Guyana is functioning today, including those parts that fall directly under the command of Assistant Commissioner of Police George Vyphuis, there is a wide chasm in terms of our understanding of the legal and constitutional prerequisites of due process and equality under the law. Further, I am a social activist who combines my efforts with providing material and educational succour to the poor and powerless, with conscientious activism to change those aspects of their social environment that adversely affect the quality of life to which they are entitled as fully paid-up citizens of Guyana. In this context, I can with no ambiguity whatsoever endorse the entreaties of the Assistant Commissioner as it relates to any commonality between his views and purpose, and mine. I hope this serves to renew the faith and trust he seemingly deduced might be lost from the proximity of our images in a photograph posted on my website, and the caption that unnerved him and caused him to write his letter.
Mr Vyphuis says, “Further, I wish to state categorically, that I had no reason to apologize or to express sorrow for any action taken by me in the past concerning the said individual whom the Force charged concerning his behaviour at Le Repentir Dumpsite, impounding his vehicle prior to the institution of charges….” Well this alone says a mouthful, and speaks directly to the absolute lack of propriety and awareness of his social surroundings. Le Repentir is the final resting place of many of our ancestors. The mere idea that there is comfort with its transformation into a garbage dumpsite speaks more eloquently to the mindset of Mr Vyphuis than any criticism of mine. My behaviour at this dumpsite was an expression of my objection to the desecration of the final resting place of the family members of many Guyanese, as well as the endangerment of the health of the proximate community, including kids who are acutely susceptible to such environmental hazards. My behaviour, and that of Freddie Kissoon, Christopher Ram and others is compatible with that of the most revered of social activists past and present in our world, some of whom paid the ultimate price for their activism. I do not intend to place myself on the level of these conscientious heroes. What I am contending is that we are following the path they took when they confronted similar situations during their time. In such activism – and I am sure this also obtains for my friends and colleagues Freddie Kissoon et al – I am guided unswervingly by the humanitarian values entrenched in the words of Martin Luther King Jr, “Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or an animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.”
Mr Vyphuis stated, “I will execute my statutory mandate without fear or favour and will continue to act professionally in dealing with members of the public, irrespective of personality.” According to the oath of office of a law enforcement officer, Mr Vyphuis is mandated to discharge the duties of his office without favour or affection, malice or ill-will. For the police to arrest and detain two persons over a period of almost three days for the minor traffic offence of obstruction on the excuse that it required such a time span to conduct an investigation, impeaches the lofty convictions he expresses in his letter. For armed law enforcement officers during the night to surround the dwelling house of a citizen over the same minor traffic offence unequivocally contradicts these lofty assertions of Mr Vyphuis. The loud voices of police officers over communication handsets shouting, “Lock up Benschop, lock up Kissoon, throw them in Princess Hotel,” are not exactly manifestations of police professionalism in dealing with the public.
How come the same actions are not taken in more serious traffic matters when pedestrians and others are killed or seriously injured, and when the drivers of the vehicles involved share some affiliation with political party in power? Is this not evidence of double standards?
Finally, it is enshrined, “That the Courts represent the sole authority legally empowered under the Constitution and the Laws of Guyana to visit disobedience against the Law and impose punitive sanctions for such disobedience.” I seek in vain to decipher anything in this description that authorises either law enforcement officers employed to bring such matters before that authority or their political bosses, to use the law as a punitive instrument to teach lessons to, or inflict sanctions upon those whose actions they interpret as amounting to violations of the law.
Yours faithfully,
Mark A Benschop