The Private Sector Commission (PSC) yesterday added its voice to criticism of the government-sponsored sympathy motion to mark the passing of convicted terrorist plotter Abdul Kadir, while calling it “highly damaging” to the country’s reputation.
In a press release issued yesterday, the PSC said the motion was completely unrepresentative of the well-established and declared position of both the government and of the parliamentary opposition in condemning any and all forms of national and international terrorism.
“The Commission finds the statement abhorrent to the entire business community of Guyana and indeed to all of the people of Guyana,” it said.
“The Commission calls upon our Government to immediately revisit the position it has taken in the National Assembly and take the necessary steps to correct the terrible and unfortunate message the statement has sent to the international community,” it added.
Two APNU+AFC Members of Parliament (MPs) spoke on the motion: Valarie Adams-Yearwood and Audwin Rutherford, who both hail from Linden, where Kadir spent much of his life.
Kadir was sentenced to life in prison in the United States after being found guilty of plotting a 2007 terrorist attack at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
As a result, the United States, Canada and the European Union have all criticised the controversial motion, which was carried last Friday in the absence of the opposition. The opposition PPP/C, which is boycotting the National Assembly, has also condemned the motion.
Government earlier this week said the motion was a standard practice in the National Assembly for former members.
“It is well known that there is a time-honoured convention of the National Assembly to observe, in a standard and solemn form, the work of former MPs who are deceased. The observance of this tradition has never been selective, and has included, over the decades, persons of all political parties and persuasions who served in the National Assembly,” it said in a statement, while adding that it regretted “the interpretation” given to the motion passed.
“The Government of Guyana asserts that it had no intention of conveying the impression that the motion was designed to honour a former MP convicted of terrorism in another jurisdiction. The motion recognises the member’s service as a parliamentarian,” the statement added.
“The Government of Guyana continues to condemn terrorism in the strongest possible way. The Government of Guyana reaffirms its commitment to continue and intensify the fight against terrorism in any form and is proud of its record to date in this regard,” it further said.
‘Far removed’
On Thursday, Director-General of the Ministry of the Presidency Joseph Harmon said the administration was not prepared to say anything else on the matter, while emphasising that it does not condone terrorist activity.
Asked whether government was willing to amend the existing practice to prevent convicts being honoured, Harmon said those are matters which the National Assembly will have to address. “I’m not prepared to say how they should do and what they shouldn’t do but just to say that we have given an explanation for the motion…,” he said, before adding that he trusts that the “world would see that we have taken a very principled stand on this matter and that to actually attach the honouring of terrorists is something far removed from what our record in government has been.”
Harmon reminded that government passed anti-money laundering legislation which stipulates the death penalty for persons convicted of terrorism soon after taking office in 2015. “We have done very serious review of some of our laws to ensure that we send a very clear message not only to foreign countries but to persons within Guyana that are affected by the law, that any actions which run counter to the law will be dealt with in a very serious manner,” he noted.
The United States Embassy in Georgetown was the first to issue a public statement on the motion. “Members of the National Assembly… chose to honor a man who conspired to kill innocent people from across the United States and around the world. This resolution is an insensitive and thoughtless act, which demonstrates the National Assembly’s disregard for the gravity of Kadir’s actions,” it said.
“With this resolution, honoring a convicted terrorist, members of Guyana’s National Assembly have left a stain on their legacy as representatives of the Guyanese people and on their commitment to the rule of law,” it added.
