As the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the death of Dr Walter Rodney began its final hearings yesterday, the attorney for Donald Rodney, brother of the deceased, submitted that there was compelling evidence that the Forbes Burnham-led PNC government was responsible for the politician’s June 13, 1980 death.
Keith Scotland submitted that there was and is clear and compelling evidence beyond a balance of probability that there was state involvement in the terrorisation of opposition members, which was not confined only to the Rodney-founded Working People’s Alliance (WPA).
Further, citing testimony from previous hearings, Scotland said that the active roles played by both the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and the Guyana Police Force (GPF) in providing the means for suspected assassin Gregory Smith to leave Guyana after the death of Rodney, also pointed to state involvement.
Rodney died after what was believed to be a walkie-talkie that was given to him exploded. His brother, who was seated in his car next to him at the time, survived the blast but was injured.
Smith had been identified as the man who gave Rodney the device and he was later whisked to Cayenne, French Guiana under a different name and he lived there until December 2002, when he died of cancer.
Recapping the testimony of Joseph Hamilton, a former member of the House of Israel, Scotland said Hamilton directly linked the PNC government and the top echelon in the terrorising of WPA persons through use of members of the House of Israel to commit acts against them.
He recalled too that Hamilton had pointed out that the WPA did not utilise violence but could have become violent in retaliation.
Scotland also cited the testimony of Dr Nanda Gopaul, saying that it pointed to there being direct acts of state oppression and a demonstration that there were state actors who would commit criminal activities and who would be dressed in police uniforms and stood side-by-side with non-uniformed officers while others had no form of identification authenticating that there were members of the force.
Highlighting Eusi Kwayana’s testimony about a speech which he said Burnham had given in August 1979, Scotland noted that Burnham had said, “Now comrades, one moment, now we allow them [the WPA] to hold meetings for the time being, and we discovered what their plans were, they have confirmed the intelligence which we had before, they have exposed themselves and now we shall move to their destruction.”
Scotland also highlighted from Kwayana’s testimony that the murders of WPA members, including Ohene Koama in November, 1979 and Edward Dublin in February 1980, which was followed by Rodney in June of the same year, came shortly after Burnham’s speech. He said Kwayana attributed them to being part of the destruction to which Burnham referred.
No damage
Meanwhile, with the commission just given two days for public hearings by the new administration, Chairman of the Commission Sir Richard Cheltenham yesterday noted that the development had implications for the commission’s ability to adequately deal with its terms of reference.
Attorneys for respective interested parties have also echoed similar sentiments as they posited that another two weeks would do no damage as they attempt to seek justice and closure on the issue of Rodney’s death.
In opening remarks yesterday, Sir Richard underscored that while the commission and attorneys would like to have an extension, it is within a government’s ambit to determine the life of such a commission.
He, however, emphasised that the executive cannot dictate the findings of the inquiry as the commission is solely independent in that regard. The Chairman said that the commissioners will use the evidence available to fairly and justly arrive at its findings.
The new APNU+AFC government last month announced that the commission would be given a month in which to present its findings to the president after the final sitting.
Members of the government, which won the presidency and a parliamentary majority at elections in May, have repeatedly expressed disfavour with the CoI given the amount of money spent so far and the fact that much of the evidence received so far is based on hearsay information.
In June, Attorney General Basil Williams had disclosed that $324 million had been spent on the commission’s hearings, including a US$7,300 monthly fee paid to freelance journalist Shaun Samaroo to report on the inquiry and produce a book and documentary on the findings.
In justifying the setting up of the CoI, the former Donald Ramotar government had said it wished to clear up all outstanding questions surrounding Rodney’s death, although it did not consult the WPA or the main opposition parties on its constitution. However, the PNCR leadership had said that the CoI was part of a plot orchestrated by the PPP/C to “provoke resentment against the PNCR rather than to pursue the truth.”
The commission’s terms of reference includes examining the facts and circumstances immediately prior, at the time of and subsequent to the death of Dr Rodney in order to determine as far as possible who or what was responsible for the explosion resulting in his death. It was to “specifically examine” the role, if any, which Smith played in Rodney’s death and to inquire into who may have “counselled, procured, aided and or abetted” him, including facilitating his departure from Guyana afterward.
In addition, it was also mandated to examine and report on the actions and activities of the State, such as the GPF, the GDF, the Guyana National Service, the Guyana People’s Militia and those who were in command and superintendence of these agencies to determine whether they were tasked with surveillance of and the carrying out of actions and whether they did execute those tasks and carried out those actions against the political opposition for the period January 1, 1978 to December 31, 1980.
The final public hearing will be held today at the Supreme Court Law Library.
So far there have been 66 days of public hearings, with 29 witnesses having testified, although some have yet to conclude their testimony. Other key witnesses never took the stand.
