Dear Editor,
On Tuesday 15 December 2020, Dr. Luis Fondebrider of the Argentine Team of Forensic Anthropology (EAAF), whose visit to Guyana to offer a preliminary assessment in relation to the murders of Isaiah and Joel Henry and Haresh Singh was co-ordinated by the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA), gave a public lecture and presentation at the Brickdam Cathedral on the EAAF’s work worldwide.
We call on the Guyana Government and the Guyana Police Force to put the interests of the Guyanese people before all other considerations in sparing no effort to have those responsible for the murders of Isaiah and Joel Henry and Haresh Singh brought to justice and bring some form of closure to the agony and pain their families are enduring.
The public lecture by Dr. Fondebrider established clearly the expertise and experience of the EAAF to carry out a detailed, scientifically rigorous and comprehensive investigation into the mutilations and killings of Isaiah and Joel Henry and Haresh Singh based on the best international protocols.
Since early September, all efforts by the Guyana Police Force have failed to produce any clear results and answers to the questions of who carried out the mutilations and killings; where they took place; the motives behind them and who else may have been involved in covering them up.
Guyana is a fractured and divided country and the West Coast Berbice killings exposed the fragility of ethnic relations.
All right thinking Guyanese must not allow this best opportunity to pass.
We call on the President of Guyana, the Commissioner of Police, the Guyana Police Force investigation teams, and the Minister of Home Affairs to immediately make all efforts to have the EAAF return with a full team to carry out a forensic investigation into the murders of Isaiah and Joel Henry and Haresh Singh and to be given full access to autopsy reports and all other evidence collected, including results of investigations so far carried out.
There is no good reason to impede or refuse the expertise of the EAAF to get to the bottom of these gruesome attacks that took the lives of three youths. Any attempt to do so can only be viewed as callous and lacking in humanity.
An additional bonus for Guyana is that the EAAF is ready to offer not only scientific expertise but has also indicated that, in keeping with their practice in other countries which they have worked in, they are prepared to train the Guyana Police Force so that a professional, well trained and resourced Guyanese CSI unit can be established. This expertise is sorely lacking at the moment in Guyana, as has been evident in the many unsolved cases.
The recent actions of the Guyana Police Force towards members of the grieving Henry family who made the journey to Georgetown from West Coast Berbice to attend Dr. Luis Fondebrider’s presentation and to find solace in a cathedral of support, demonstrate clearly a police force who lack rudimentary training not only in the laws of Guyana as they relate to traffic offences but also in the basic human rights of citizens of Guyana. The failing to address such a simple matter by the Guyana Police Force and the callous treatment meted out to members of the Henry family show more than ever the need for the services of EAAF and the imperative of professional training for the police force at all levels.
Let us not forget the outpouring of support and sympathy by Guyanese from all walks of life, including
private sector associations, civil society and faith-based organizations for the Henry and Singh families the calls for those responsible to be brought to justice and the condemnation of the ethnic and criminal violence which erupted in response. This is a matter in which Guyanese have voiced their strong opinions across the race and class divides, demonstrating that this is a matter of national importance.
We also call on the heads of the diplomatic community in Guyana to make all efforts to support and encourage the Government of Guyana to allow the EAAF to carry out a comprehensive investigation of the gruesome murders of Isaiah and Joel Henry and Haresh Singh.
A petition in these terms is being sent to President Ali with copies to the Minister of Home Affairs, the Commissioner of Police and the Crime Chief.
Yours faithfully,
Danuta Radzik – Human Rights Activist
Karen de Souza – Red Thread
Alissa Trotz – Lecturer in Caribbean Studies
Vanda Radzik – Citizen
Vidyaratha Kissoon – Taxpayer
Rev. Patricia Sheerattan-Bisnauth
Bonita Harris – Educator
Raquel Thomas – Social Justice
Frederick Collins, President of Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc.
Alfred Bhulai – Citizen
Cheryl Sampson – Deputy Chair -Women & Gender Equality Commission
Nicole Cole – Women and Gender Equality Commission
Renata Chuck-A-Sang – Women and Gender Equality Commission
Brian O’Toole – Educator
Dave Martins – Citizen, Musician
Terrence Campbell – Citizen
Jocelyn Dow – Businesswoman
Ayo Dalgety-Dean – Child Rights Activist
Mosa Telford – Writer, Journalist
Akola Thompson – Gender Rights Activist
Sherlina Nageer – Public Health Professional & Social Justice Activist
Charlene Wilkinson – UG Lecturer – Languages
Arianne Harris – Citizen
Nichola Joy Marcus – Grassroots Advocate for Women & Children
Wintress White – Grassroots – Social & Gender Justice
Halima Khan – Grassroots – Social & Gender Justice
Vanessa Ross – Grassroots – Rights Defender
Josephine Whitehead – Lawyer
Susan Collymore – Grassroots – Rights Defender
Joel Simpson – SASOD
Alicia Roopnaraine – Public Health Psychologist
Lisa Edwards – Citizen – Researcher
Pauline Bullen – University Lecturer – Director IGS
Omattie Madray – Child Rights Activist
Janette Bulkan – Citizen
