Dear Editor,
After massive public outrage and condemnation of the barbaric action which took place at Linden, Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee on Sunday, July 22, came out and laid blame squarely at the feet of members of the Guyana Police Force for the deaths and serious injuries. He told the nation that he was in no way involved in the decision of police officers to fire on innocent citizens. On Tuesday, December 6, 2011 Minister Rohee made the same excuse when police rained pellets on peaceful citizens in Hadfield Street, Georgetown. Many people were shot in the back and head. The fact that these heinous acts are committed by the members of the Guyana Police Force with such frequency and boldness must be a cause for concern, especially since the Home Affairs Minister claims to be oblivious to what is going on.
If we are to accept Minister Rohee’s claims that the police and not he are responsible for causing the mayhem, the Minister of Home Affairs may have a serious problem managing the police force or exercising any authority over same. The question as to who is responsible for the maintenance of internal security becomes very critical in this case. If the Minister never knows or is uninformed about these excessive and deadly measures used by members of the police force to shut out peaceful demonstration, then he is clearly not in control of the police force and must resign forthwith.
If we are to accept Minister Rohee’s position that the police force is to be blamed for the use of live rounds on peaceful protestors in Linden which resulted in deaths, we must ask ourselves what might have caused these police officers to take such action against innocent citizens? Just last month I had reason to caution Minister Rohee, the Minister responsible for public order and security, to refrain from making certain statements which I believe were capable of causing unnecessary fear and excitement in the nation. The readers would remember the Minister’s comments about some fragile state of national security in which Guyana found itself. His specific reference to Linden as a place where some unusual security situation might take root is mind-boggling today. So did the ranks decide to unleash terror in Linden because they felt there was some ‘fragile security situation’ there?
My hope is that the investigation reveals all the relevant details.
Yours faithfully,
Lurlene Nestor
