Guyana is a cold place. We know that compassion, equality and justice are not guaranteed to all. The charades are hurting us. We are divided into the haves and have-nots, the protected and unprotected, the esteemed and disrespected, those who matter and those who do not; all groups of survivors and enablers of regimes of the past and present that have done little to bridge the gaps.
Guyana is also like a volcanic bubble, occasionally erupting into protests, violence, and killings. Our people continue to perish in the heat of division and racial tensions, while ongoing eruptions calling for peace and justice have not managed to bring about healing. Some seem comfortable with the status quo.
One of the symptoms of our coldness and the volcanic like eruptions are acts of brutality. The murders of Joel and Isaiah Henry are still fresh. No one has been charged. Their relatives are still weeping. I imagine if they were confident that everything was being done to bring the killers to light that they would rest a little easier. But perhaps even then there could be no balm to soothe their wounds or actions to end their sorrow.
Are you not terrified that people who could engage in such barbaric acts are walking free? Are you not terrified that their thirst for blood might erupt again and this time it could be you, your relative or your children?
I know sometimes that it is only while the streets are crowded and the voices are echoing from village to village that some of us pretend to care.
Aren’t you wondering, who murdered these young men? And why? Does it haunt you? Not necessarily nightmares filled with the images we saw, but reminders like the headlines, the conversations with loved ones and colleagues, and the pockets of grief you do not realise are embedded in you?
Haresh Singh was also murdered. Is his murder also baffling you? The mystery surrounding his death. The assumptions. Who murdered Haresh? And why?
The murderers are in their homes. I imagine that they are only sleeping at nights when the dark forces they serve allow them. I imagine, too, that their nightmares are populated with the faces of the boys. I imagine that even during the day the haunting continues; that they constantly hear the boys whispering and screaming and it denies them peace. I imagine that they awake at 3am screaming for the dark forces to have mercy on their souls. I imagine that they feel every ounce of pain the boys felt before they died. I imagine because in this there is comfort for those who continue to suffer for their sons who have been died. Still, even if they are experiencing guilt and are without peace, until now it does not appear to be enough for them to turn themselves in and confess. Cold.
Why has no one been arrested for these murders? We can tell when we are being fed hogwash. We can see the charades of following leads to appease the people but none resulting in charges. We fear that these will become Guyana’s latest cold cases. It is not the first, the second or the last for many have been buried in this country without confessions or convictions associated with their names.
I do not believe they are clueless about who killed those boys. I do not believe that it is not whispered and talked about in the families of the guilty and others who may know. Let’s stop pretending that young men are murdered in a village in the country and no one knows nothing. No one heard them screaming? No one saw their relative with blood on their hands? No one saw bloodied clothing?
Let’s stop pretending that there are not some who are willing to keep up appearances that they are doing everything to solve these murders when they have no intention of doing so. They would question a thousand and release them all without charge. They would pretend that they genuinely want the overseas forensic teams and other investigators to help figure this out.
Let’s stop pretending that there are not people in this country with money and power who have gotten away with murder and will continue to get away with murder. I am not saying that this is the case with the young men who have been murdered, but with nothing but promises and leads the people will continue to make assumptions.
Soon it will be two months since the discovery of the bodies of the Henry boys and a few days later Haresh Singh. People’s pain and anger will not subside.
Last week I watched a video featuring relatives who shared their frustrations about the pace of the investigation. Over and over people have had to bury their children in this country with no one ever being prosecuted. It needs to stop.
Though many may give up, we will not forget. We will continue to write and speak about these murders. Do not expect you can carve into the heads of young men and sever their spines and think you will escape. Do not think that the evil you have brought to this land will not return and destroy you.
But maybe all the doubts I raised in this piece about these murders being solved will be disproved. Maybe the police are doing everything in their power and are indeed clueless as to who the murderers are. I hope the evidence that has been sent overseas for analysis will produce results. I hope the experts will make progress. I hope soon we will see those who are guilty arrested and charged. I hope they solve these murders and surprise me.
