Dear Editor,
The killing of Courtney Crum-Ewing on Tuesday, March 10, has shocked and galvanized citizens from all walks of life to stand in solidarity and to salute and honour a Guyanese brother who in the face of countrywide disillusionment and apathy became an example and the public conscience for all Guyanese.
Who would have thought that using a bullhorn to encourage citizens of Guyana to go out and vote for change in a residential housing scheme in which he lived could have cost him his life?
The pain and loss the Crum-Ewing family has had to endure knows no words, and we send our sincere condolences to them. As a nation, we take their grief as our grief and their resolve for justice as our resolve for justice. The family has called for unity and the setting aside of differences if we are to honour the memory of their son as a man of courage, and to be true to the ideals of justice which he advocated and for which he was killed. We reiterate the words of Courtney’s father asking for all Guyanese to honour the memory of their son by walking through the door that he opened for us.
We join with Courtney’s parents in calling on the Guyana Police Force to expeditiously investigate the two government officials who had allegedly threatened Courtney – based on the reports he had made directly to the police while he was still alive. We expect the police force to proceed with professionalism and diligence in their investigations of these two officials and their known associates – as to their whereabouts on the night of the shooting, including searches for guns and ammunition and for ballistic tests to be conducted on any guns owned and found. In other words, to exercise procedures employed in the recent arrest of the two men recently held on suspicion for seventy-two hours, but since released as no evidence has been found to directly link them or the car still held in police custody. We expect the police to act conscientiously and fairly in keeping with the Police Code of Conduct and to release accurate and timely information on the results of all their investigations.
Courtney stood in defence against racism, injustice, corruption, greed and abuse. His example must be a wake-up call for all citizens who believe in democracy; to recommit to free and fair elections and elections free from fear to our right to freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and the rule of law.
In the face of Courtney’s assassination, we must condemn political killings and political thuggery and the virulent racism inherent in partisan politics with its breed of ethnic insecurity and polarization. We must work instead towards a transformative political culture that will heal our fractured nation and usher in a society that is secure in its diversity and in its defence of decency.
The architects of this assault on democracy intend instability and ethnic insecurity, but we stand more united. The architects of this assault on peace intend upheaval, but we stand more determined that there will be justice.
To all the family of Courtney Crum-Ewing and to his three young daughters: We commit our energies to not only fight for justice, but to use his example as a banner for ushering in a new political, ethnic, social and economic culture where constitutional rights and freedoms are guaranteed to all.
(We plan to continue collecting signatures through an online petition, but for those who do not have internet access, petition signature sheets will be available at the daily picketing activity from 12 midday -1pm outside the Attorney General’s Office)
Yours faithfully,
Andaiye,
Danuta Radzik, Norwell Hinds, Janice Jackson, Vanda Radzik, Joy Marcus, Jocelyn Dow, Joycelyn Bacchus, Alissa Trotz, Susan Collymore, Vanessa Ross, Wintress White, Halima Khan, Karen de Souza, Norma Adrian, John Martin, Gillian Washington, Simone Williams, Juanita Whittaker, Vidyaratha Kissoon, Melissa Ifill, Melinda Janki, Vic Insanally, Joyce Jonas, Marilyn Trotz, Tianna Percival, Claudia Heywood, Loria Mae Heywood, Marilyn Heywood, Cassandra Nunes, Vanessa Kissoon, Grandison Robinson, William Ramlall, Pam Vievakanan, Patricia Kirton, June Kirton, Vincent Alexander, Michelle Ramsaroop, Gerhard Ramsaroop, I Saul, Trevor Bom, Heston Bostwick, Mark Jacobs, O Osogbo, Margaret Lawrence, Patricia King, Rupert Roopnaraine, M Batson, Mona Grant, Cheryl Battis, Myrtle Hinds, Jenese Bancroft, Veronica Barclay, Patricia Hutson, Desiree Alleyne, June Hollingsworth, Sharon Murray, Cecil Anderson, Dona Williams, Norman Ng-A-Qui, David Clement, Ahmad Rahaman, Eon Andrews, Sherlina Nageer, Abiola Bobb, Pamela Bacchus, Kofa Thornhill, Jacqueline Browne, Monty Gaskin, Marlon Bristol, Cindy Frank, Rochelle Russell, Imran Khan, Ruel Johnson