The Ministry of Home Affairs did not need a Mutual Assistance Act to request information on the 2008 cocaine in pepper sauce bust from Canadian officials as there were other avenues available at the time, a security source said.
According to the source, the ministry could have made a request to the Canadian embassy here through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was explained to this newspaper that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the local link between Guyana and all other countries.
“This [the non-existence of the Act] is no excuse for not making a request,” the source said pointing out that from all indications this government seems not interested in the fight against drug trafficking.
“I wasn’t surprised at this newest ploy,” the source said, again stressing that it is the Minister of Home Affairs who has to indicate to the Foreign Affairs Ministry that he wishes to request information from Canada.
The source pointed out that previously there would have been an arrangement where the Home Affairs Ministry could have approached the embassy directly for information. The source could not say if that agreement still exists.
It was explained that while Gail Teixeira and Ronald Gajraj held the post of Home Affairs Minister they could have dealt directly with the embassy as opposed to having to go through the official channel.
The source stated that there is always a sharing of information between Guyana and other countries and the government does not need an act to do that.
Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee could not be reached for a comment.
On December 8, 2008, 376 kilogrammes of cocaine in shipments originating in Guyana were intercepted at the Port of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. CANU head James Singh had told Stabroek News during a telephone interview that a request for information was subsequently made through the Home Affairs Ministry and nothing was received.
However, days later, he clarified his statement in a letter saying that no request for information was made by the Ministry of Home Affairs (on behalf of CANU) to the Canadian authorities under the mutual legal assistance mechanism as established by the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act No 38 of 2009. The Home Affairs Ministry explained later that during the initial investigation regarding the cocaine seized in Canada, a request was made by CANU directly to the Canadian authorities for the information. “However, as stated before the information provided to CANU was insufficient to commence criminal proceedings in Guyana,” it said.
The ministry added that the reason that no request was made through the Mutual Legal Assistance mechanism was because at that time such a mechanism did not exist, since the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act No. 2009 was only assented to on June 9, 2010.
The law for the mechanism had been previously passed in 2006 by the National Assembly, but it was not enacted owing to the failure of then President Bharrat Jagdeo to sign the bill into law. Government subsequently re-tabled the bill in 2009 and it was given the presidential assent the next year. A number of bills passed by the 8th Parliament had to be re-tabled owing to the failure by Jagdeo to sign them into law.
The Act provides for mutual assistance in criminal matters between Guyana and Commonwealth countries, and other countries with which Guyana has a treaty.
The Home Ministry added too that the law establishes the Minister of Home Affairs as the Central Authority for Guyana responsible for receiving and transmitting requests for legal assistance in criminal matters. “Letters of requests for assistance are drafted by the Ministry of Home Affairs on behalf of the requesting law enforcement agency based on information provided by the said agency and established best practices. The letter of request, which includes the specific assistance requested, is then forwarded to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (or in some cases the Diplomatic Representative of the requested country in Guyana) in order to facilitate transmission to the Central Authority for the requested country,” it explained.
“The Ministry of Home Affairs wishes to emphasize that the Government of Guyana has used and will continue to use the Mutual Legal Assistance mechanism as one of its tools to assist law enforcement authorities in investigating and prosecuting matters in cases where the available information is outside the jurisdiction of Guyana,” the release stated.
Alliance for Change leader Khemraj Ramjattan has since said that government’s failure to request information from Canadian authorities on the 2008 pepper sauce cocaine bust is a sign that it is not interested in finding the key players.
“The government does not want the information to be brought out,” Ramjattan had said, while noting that a request ought to have been made since the case was a very serious one. “The [Guyana] government, I feel, may have gotten the information and it may be implicating some of their friends. That is why don’t want the information to be brought out,” he said
