The Guyana Bar Association (GBA) yesterday called on the government to mount an independent inquiry into the bungled surveillance operation that resulted in the deaths of an army intelligence officer and two civilians, while saying that an explanation is needed for the use of military officers in such activities.
President David Granger last week stated that he sees no need for a full probe of the operation, which resulted in the deaths of Guyana Defence Force (GDF) soldier Sergeant Robert Pyle, his wife Stacy Pyle and truck driver Linden Eastman, along Carifesta Avenue on December 30, 2015. The accident occurred while Pyle, who had been part of an operation being conducted by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), was mistakenly pursuing Alana Seebarran and her brother, Raymond Seebarran, whom he thought were the children of the Head of NICIL Winston Brassington.
“With due respect to the President, the Bar Association fundamentally disagrees with such a position,” the GBA said in a statement, while noting that at the very least the law requires a Coroner’s Inquest into the death of the three citizens.
“The deaths and their surrounding circumstances are cause for the gravest concern among citizens,” it also said.
In light of confirmation that Pyle was engaged in a surveillance operation that was directed at a public servant who is on leave—Brassington—the GBA said an explanation is required for the use of GDF officers to engage in such activities and whether it is legal.
It noted that where there is a situation involving violent crime beyond the capacity of the police, the Police Commissioner may request the Commander-in-Chief to deploy the military in support for specific missions and within specific police divisions. However, it added that the Chief-of-Staff, as Chairman of the Joint Services Coordinating Committee, makes his own assessment known to the Commander in Chief in order to justify the deployment of specific elements of the GDF.
The GDF has said Pyle was deployed on a “legitimate operation” in support of the SOCU. It has also said that it is normal for the army to support the country’s law enforcement and regulatory agencies in operational activities. Currently, the Joint Services are deployed under the ongoing “Operation Dragnet,” which is a massive countrywide anti-crime and counter-terrorism operation that was launched last month.
The GBA said the events of December 30 raise serious questions that go to the foundational principle of the rule of law, including the level of sanctity of human life; the extent of the right to secure protection of the law including the holding of independent inquiries into the loss of human life; the importance of citizens being able to go about their lives and business peaceably; the recognition and regard for the privacy and private life of an individual; the duty of the State to act in conformity with the law and to protect its citizens; the role and function of the Guyana Defence Force, a body established under the Defence Act to carry out its responsibilities set out in the Constitution; the role, duties and functions of the Guyana Police Force and the Commissioner of Police in these circumstances; the establishment and operation of SOCU, its legal underpinning, staffing and reporting lines; wrongful death, criminal liability, civil liability, immunity and appropriate redress; and the scope, operational procedures, reporting lines and accountability of Operation Dragnet, which it noted was announced not by the Commissioner of Police but following a meeting of the Cabinet.
The GBA added that while the Chief-of-Staff of the GDF has announced that the events of December 30 were part of a legitimate operation, the nation waits to hear from the Commissioner of Police Seelall Persaud, who is the statutory authority to initiate the call for assistance from the Defence Force. It added that similarly, since Operation Dragnet was described as a response to concerns about public security, the Bar Association considers it incumbent for the Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan to address the nation on the matter.
“The President is Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces and Chairman of the Defence Board. He would wish to avoid any perception of any conflict of interest, undue influence or political interference in the operations of the Disciplined Services, or of an operation that went horribly wrong,” the statement added.
According to the GBA, operational control of the Defence Force vests solely in the Chief-of-Staff, but subject to the general or specific directions of the President. It further noted that the Defence Force is charged with the defence of and maintenance of order in Guyana and with such other duties defined by the Defence Board, which is chaired by the President and includes the Prime Minister and the Minister of Public Security.
In announcing Operation Dragnet last month, State Minister Joseph Harmon had said that it involved the Guyana Defence Force, the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Prison Service and the Guyana Fire Service, all of which operate under separate Acts of Parliament and exercise different functions.
Against this backdrop, the GBA also said it believes that the State has a duty to explain and justify the role of the Guyana Prison Service and the Guyana Fire Service in the Operation.
Scared
In a statement that was submitted to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) on Thursday and which was released to the press on Friday, Seebarran, who is the wife of PPP/C parliamentary Charles Ramson Jnr, said the plainclothes officers who attempted to detain her before the fatal chase did not properly identify themselves.
“I became very scared as the man had no uniform on, never stated his name nor did he show us any identification so I told my brother to drive away. The man insisted that we must wait and I told him that he could leave a telephone number for my dad to call as I had to get back to my child. My brother tried to get out from there immediately but a white car was blocking us from reversing. The white car started to move forward to a much tighter position to box us in even more but my brother was, however, able to inch [his] way out of the parked position on to the road. He then started to drive away heading in a western direction on Cowan Street,” she said.
Immediately, she noted, another car, silver in colour, drove out from a parked position on the southern side of Cowan Street and drove in front of them in a perpendicular position, blocking their car.
“My brother immediately came to a stop and we became even more fearful. A man came out of the same silver car and started to shout at us and bang on our vehicle’s bonnet with his hands. I started to scream for my brother to drive away and he found a small pathway between the trench located on the southern side of the street and the parked silver car and drove away heading west on Cowan Street,” she added.
Seebarran said the two vehicles continued to pursue them onto Carifesta Avenue, where they were gaining on them.
“I then noticed the white car move towards the southern side of the carriageway to try to overtake us but there was another vehicle which was immediately in front of us in our lane so the white car could not complete the manoeuvre. After we passed the car which was immediately in front of us, the white car again moved towards the southern side of the carriageway and drove along side of us when I felt an impact on the vehicle in the vicinity of the right front wheel area and observed that the white vehicle then careened on the southern side of the carriageway when I heard what sounded like a loud collision. I was still scared and told my brother not to stop and that we must go right away to the Kitty Police Station as my father suggested,” she added.
In playing down the need for a full probe, President Granger on Wednesday adopted the GDF’s stance that Pyle was on an official mission at the time.
“…It was quite an unfortunate accident in which three persons died so we certainly regret the loss of life but I don’t see there is need for a probe at the present time,” he told reporters.
Told that the opposition PPP/C has since accused the government of using the army to do political work, he said that there has always been a pattern of Joint Services collaboration between the GDF and the Guyana Police Force. “Whenever the need arises the police force can call on the defence force for assistance. This has taken place over the last 60 years,” he said.
Asked if it meant putting civilians under surveillance by the military, he stressed that the “Defence Force and the Police Force are responsible for state security.”
When asked who sanctioned the mission that Pyle was on, Granger told reporters that as far as he knows SOCU is conducting some investigations and it is “assumed that the request may have come from the Police Force to the Defence Force.”
