Dear Editor,
I write with reference to Verwayne Adams’ letter titled ‘All the facts should be given‘ (SN, August 17). Mr Adams is dealing with the subject of the Linden crisis, and writes: “The editor owes it to the nation to get all the facts and publish them, and not feed the readers with half truths.“
Mr Adams is asking for all the facts, but he is still interested in one fact only, namely, that Mr Granger agreed with government to raise the electricity rates. And, hinting broadly, he wants Mr Granger to bear part of the blame for the Linden crisis.
What about the fact that governments in democratic societies should not use live bullets and SOPs that include ‘shoot to kill‘ orders when dealing with peaceful protesters? Shouldn’t Minister Rohee require his police to use teargas, rubber bullets or water cannon to disperse unruly protestors? And, what about the convention of ministerial responsibility, which requires Minister Rohee to take responsibility for what happened and resign or be fired? So, should the Guyana government just ignore the doctrine of ministerial responsibility as nonsense?
I am cognizant of the stance put forward by pro-government writers such as Vishnu Bisram, Ralph Seeram, and Mr Ramischand, namely, that Rohee was not at the site of the shooting deaths of three protestors and did not give the order to shoot. These arguments make a mockery of the doctrine of ministerial responsibility, which says a minister must take responsibility for things that go terribly wrong in his ministry, even if the minister was not directly involved.
I cite Ravi Dev’s column published on August 5 in Kaieteur News. Mr Dev references the police shooting death of canecutter/protestor Mohamed Shamshuddin in 2001. Mr Dev then leads a march to protest the shooting. The police commander calls Mr Dev and tells him he has orders to “shoot to kill” if he continues with the march on the public road. Mr Dev says he has no reason to doubt or disobey the commander’s warning and chooses wisely to get off the road, or else the protestors (I have no doubt) could have met the same fate as those in Linden on July 18. I suggest that ‘shoot to kill‘ is part and parcel of the modus operandi of the police force when dealing with marches and protests.
Is there any evidence in the form of written memos or pictures of Minister Rohee conducting workshops for police commanders telling them live bullets cannot be used when dealing with protestors? Minister Rohee has been a serial failure given the events which have taken place. If the doctrine of ministerial responsibility has any meaning at all for President Ramotar, he would promptly relieve Mr Rohee of this most crucial portfolio.
Letter writer Mr Adams calls for “all the facts to be given”; the slant of his letter suggests this is the least of his concerns.
Yours faithfully,
Mike Persaud
