The Terms of Reference (TOR) for the Commission of Inquiry into July 18 protestor shootings in Linden are being given the “final touches,” Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon said on Friday.
He was at the time was addressing questions on the subject during a post-Cabinet press briefing at Office of the President.
Luncheon and APNU’s Joseph Harmon, who were tasked with drafting the TOR, met on Friday but Stabroek News was unable to reach either of them to ascertain if the TOR were completed.
When asked by this newspaper during the briefing when the TOR will be completed, Luncheon noted that by next Tuesday or thereafter he would be more informed.
“We are meeting today; myself and Harmon. We have been championed with this aspect of the exercise and belatedly AFC is being accommodated, having initially abandoned any role in the preparation of the TOR and the constitution of the body,” he said.
“We are meeting today and I have it also from good sources that this should be a short meeting to put the final touches on the existing draft TOR and to address the composition of the commission,” he added.
On July 18, three men, Ron Sommerset, Allan Wilson and Shemroy Bouyea, were killed and at least 20 other persons were injured after police opened fire on residents demonstrating against increased electricity tariffs, which took effect at the start of that month. The actions of the police, who said that ranks were provoked, have been condemned because of the failure to use non-lethal measures and there have been calls for murder charges to be laid against the officers who gave the orders to fire.
Region 10 Chairman Sharma Solomon said that based on what he has learnt, the process is far advanced to the extent “maybe where there are just a few outstanding issues left.” He said that the opposition parties would have made their positions known, “which means the challenge is now between the government and the opposition. Just a few issues that need to be ironed out. I don’t see it taking more than a few days to be finalised.”
Meanwhile, when asked about why no charges have been laid since there was a criminal investigating into the incident, Luncheon was unable to give a definitive answer. “I am certain there must have been administrative reviews of the actions taken on July 18 on the bridge, those results I am unaware of,” he said.
President Donald Ramotar had given August 2 as the deadline for the TOR to be completed. On that day, there was a parliamentary sitting and the forum was used to announce the TOR, which were not well received by the AFC, which said that it was not a party to the agreement.
Harmon later said that the TOR could be amended in the future, sparking questions and concerns that the deadline had not been met.
At a subsequent press briefing, Luncheon explained that the TOR were complete but based on the objections of AFC they were being revisited. He had explained that AFC had declined participation in the initial process. Later, AFC objected to a proposal for the TOR to include the organisation of the protests, saying that it was unacceptable and an affront to the dead.
