The Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) has announced that it has reached out to the ministries of Home Affairs and Human Services to partner with it in financing a visit by a team of forensic pathologists from Argentina to assist the Guyana Police Force in resolving the recent murders of West Berbice youth Joel and Isaiah Henry and Haresh Singh.
In a statement issued yesterday, the human rights body said a first round of letters requested the two ministries to share the cost, which is a sum in the region of US$40,000. It added that recently a second round proposed that the ministries fund 50% of the cost, with the other 50% to be fund-raised publicly, co-ordinated by the GHRA and the law firm of the families, Hughes, Fields & Stoby.
However, it noted that to date its letters and phone calls await an acknowledgement.
The Argentine team was responsible for finding the body of Che Guevara in Bolivia years after his death.
“In our opinion, every effort must be made to resolve these murders since they have the potential to lie like an explosive device to be activated by those who traffic in racial insecurity when politically convenient,” the GHRA said, while adding that the amount requested of the two ministries is not significantly more expensive than the $3 million currently being offered as a reward for information. “While rewards may be an effective measure in some circumstances, we believe it is more likely to trigger mischief in the particular circumstances of this crime,” it added.
As a result, it suggested that a more judicious route would be for the government to support the Guyana Police Force, which is particularly keen to have the Argentine team come to Guyana. “In demonstrating its willingness to go the extra mile, even if at the end of the day the murders remain unresolved, the Government would be credited with having done everything technically possible. The political venom would have been extracted from the situation to the Government’s credit,” the human rights body argued.
The statement also noted that discussions with the Argentine team have revealed that on visits of this nature they frequently hold training sessions for local police and justice officials. Against this background, it said that of particular interest are sessions on femicide pathology – violent deaths of women and girls. “The GHRA’s approach to the Ministry of Human Services was prompted by the belief that they would welcome building capacity in this area, particularly in view of the recent billion dollar donation from the UNDP/EU Spotlight programme to combat violence against women,” it said.
The main opposition APNU+AFC yesterday demanded that the state provide the funding for an impartial and independent investigation and for justice to be served in the heinous murders. It also demanded the release of the report done by the CARICOM Regional Security System team that came to Guyana to help the police in this matter.
Last Tuesday, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) announced its offer of the $3 million reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the person/s responsible for the murders, prompting calls from the relatives of the Henrys for the money to be used instead to bring the Argentine team to Guyana.
“The fact that they are offering a reward is an admission of failure and an admission that they are unable to solve the crime with their present means and therefore are hoping that with a financial incentive somebody will come forward…clearly after seven to eight weeks of investigation the GPF were in no better position than at the commencement of the investigation and were now resorting to offering money for information,” the attorney for the Henry family, Nigel Hughes, said at a press conference.
Hughes argued that the better investment would be the Argentine Team of Forensic Anthropology (Equipo Argentino de Antropologia Forensica-EAAF), whose offer to aid local authorities was announced a month ago via a joint statement from the GPF, the GHRA and Hughes, Fields & Stoby.
A joint statement on October 1st said the EAAF, which has worked on high profile cases in many parts of the world, offered to send a team to Guyana, including a forensic pathologist, a forensic anthropologist, a forensic radiologist and a criminalist.
The team has offered analysis of the documents related to the case, exhumation and autopsy of the bodies and a final report at the cost of $4 million. This plus $3 million for administrative costs, including return flights, eight day hotel accommodation and meals as well as equipment transport, sees the total expenditure pegged at $7 million.
Isaiah, 16, and Joel, 18, went missing on Saturday, September 5th, after they left home for the Cotton Tree backlands to pick coconuts. Their mutilated bodies were found the next day and triggered protests along the West Berbice corridor. Days after this, another teenager, Singh, was also murdered in what is believed to be a reprisal killing.
