Despite startling revelations that could land well-known politicians and former senior policemen in hot water, Minister of State Joseph Harmon yesterday said that government was not prepared to grant amnesty or protection, to confessed ‘death squad’ member Shawn Hinds.
“If he discloses his connection with any criminal activity he can look forward to some period of incarceration but I am not offering any amnesty whatsoever to anybody who admittedly is involved in a criminal activity or criminal activities… Any such arrangement will have to be made with the police and the relevant authorities,” Harmon told reporters at his weekly post-Cabinet press briefing yesterday.
He described the statements made by Hinds during a recent interview with Travis Chase of HGP Nightly News as “interesting” and urged him to come up and provide government with additional information.
Hinds, a shadowy character often linked to the underworld, in an explosive interview, which is being released in segments, admitted that he was a part of a “death squad” which was responsible for the murders of persons during the crime spree which gripped the country following the 2002 Mash day jailbreak.
Speaking to reporters, Harmon said that the revelations by Hinds are “very interesting” not only because of what he says but based on the implications of his statements.
“We welcome anybody who comes in with information. You don’t have to go to the radio and the television to announce your story there you can come quietly,” he said, noting that government would prefer to have the story first as opposed to having to read about it in the news.
“Come to us first and say I would like to speak with you and we might consider it but you can’t go on the television and the news and all over the place and you admit to certain activities which are unlawful and expect that this lawful government will give you lawful conduct,” Harmon told reporters gathered in the media centre at the Ministry of Presidency.
He said that a few weeks ago he had made it clear to the media that with this recent spike in crime, the government was not only going to be going after the common criminals but also the intellectual authors of crime; “the people who are behind the scene that sometimes direct these activities.” He said that over the past few weeks, police have been doing “exceptional work in this regard in coordinating and collaborating with intelligence and operations and as such they have broken the backs …of at least two gangs that have been operating. This will only be done if you act on sound intelligence and our efforts over the past few weeks have been to beef up our intelligence resources to provide the kind of operational intelligence for the police force”.
He said government feels that Hinds’ revelations “fit into the mould that there are intellectual authors of crime and that as Mr Hinds said he had some linkage up higher up and definitely as a government we will have to pursue those statements made by Mr Hinds.”
Harmon encouraged Hinds to come in and provide more information. “Certainly the state apparatus will be interested in following up these leads more aggressively and to ask him some additional questions,” he stressed before adding that it is common knowledge that he was the security guard for the former acting town clerk and that he was in the security detail for a former PPP presidential candidate. While he stayed clear of mentioning names, it is known that Hinds was the personal bodyguard for Carol Sooba.
“It is interesting to note that this is something he is making public as to whether those persons to whom he had provided his service were aware of that background which he did in fact disclose to the reporter,” Harmon said.
He added that while the background is interesting, government is more interested in what is happening now. “I believe that Mr Hinds can provide us with some linkages, some further information that can show us why these crimes that took place did take place and who are the persons who are actually giving the directions,” he said, before making reference to Hinds’ previous statements that “he was not a lone operator.”
Harmon said, “These people do not operate on their own. There is always some backward linkage … And that is how we will be able to fight crime by getting at the higher ups, the intellectual authors and the providers of the instruments of death. It is when we are able to do that we will break the back of crime.”
Harmon expressed certainty that right now “tremendous strides” are being made in this regard. “What we want to say to the law-abiding citizens of this country is that the security forces are working day and night to guarantee and ensure your safety and what we are saying also again to the criminals that we have on the run, we will follow you up wherever you are. We are going to make sure this country is safe and whoever commits these crimes or helps in planning them and helping in their execution you are all part of a criminal enterprise. We are going to get to you.”
Asked about the safety of Hinds, he said, “Mr Hinds is known for protecting himself.” He pointed out that during the time that he spent behind bars, he had made statements about “soup and milk tea.” He stressed, “Mr Hinds can protect himself.”
CID
Asked about the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) investigating itself, Harmon said, “You can’t try the devil in hell. If an allegation is made against the CID, you can’t tell the CID to investigate themselves.” He added that given that what Hinds is alleging occurred a long time ago, “It may very well be that you have a fresh CID now that is not tainted with that history.”
Hinds, during the interview, had said that he and his squad would receive orders from members of CID.
“We used to go after these people including the police! Not we alone…the police was part of it! We used to get guns from the police …I used to go uplift a gun from CID headquarters, a machine gun; so this thing was not no one-sided affair … We was guided and…in communication with senior people from CID headquarters,” Hinds told Chase.
Harmon told reporters that the allegations made by Hinds are serious and “serious enough for us to launch an independent investigation, independent of the entities that have been named in his statement.”
Stabroek News made several attempts to contact Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan. During a call to his office his security said that he was unavailable as he was in a meeting.
Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum said that he could not comment on the allegations being made against the CID as he is yet to receive a recording of the interview. Pressed on the implications that such revelations would have on the image of the force’s crime investigation arm and whether the issue has been discussed at any level of the force, Blanhum said that he could not comment on something that he was not privy to.
