Hughes must defend or repudiate the number of deaths he cited

Dear Editor,

Reference is made here to remarks delivered on two separate occasions by the current Leader of the Alliance for Change (AFC), a third party that once hoped to strike a very important balance between the two major political parties. A third party that spoke highly of its credibility and ability to be the difference in a political landscape that it claimed was overtaken by lies, exaggerations, and omissions of the truth.

In the party’s January 3 press conference, AFC Leader Nigel Hughes doubled down on his position that there were 1,200 Afro-Guyanese men that “disappeared” with some or all of the responsibility being laid at the feet of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) that was then in office. Subsequently, a passionate young man named Nikhil Sankar questioned the validity of this number, sharing his view that the inflation of the numbers could be a direct attempt to reopen and even exacerbate the wounds caused by the horrendous crime wave that occurred from 2002-2006. Rightfully, Nikhil challenged the amount highlighted by the AFC leader, as it appears as if he expected Guyanese to believe what he said because he was the one saying it.

This debate sparked a desire for intense research in my mind. I begun to ask myself real questions about these alleged disappearances of young black men like myself, and wondered how something of this magnitude could happen with little to no authoritative and objective documentation of what transpired. After doing some digging, I stumbled upon an impressively detailed article titled Prison Break Carnage: A Stabroek News Investigation. In its preamble, the dossier admitted that there was – and, apparently, there still is – what it terms a “heated disputation” surrounding “the number of persons who died in the violence following the…2002 jailbreak”.

Now, what is very important to note is that this dossier, possibly the only compilation of the deaths during the horrendous crime wave that is published and up for scrutiny, details 420 people who were killed. 151 were murdered by bandits, 239 killed in confrontations with law enforcement and in unexplained circumstances, and 30 security officers who lost their lives. A considerable proportion of those who were killed were of ethnicities other than Afro-Guyanese. At the end of the first paragraph, Stabroek News admits that it may not have been able to capture every single death. However, the newspaper affirmed that those not embedded in the dossier “would only be a small number”.

With this sort of information, one finds it increasingly difficult to understand how a political leader who intends to run for office in some form or the other would be so callous as to blurt out numbers that would only serve to instil fear in those listening about the magnitude of the events that unfolded. But that is not all. On Friday last, after the challenge by Sankar, Nigel Hughes appears to dismiss the original number he doubled down on. In response to a particular question posed to him, Hughes says: “If you’re asking me to argue whether it is 1200, or 1100, or 1400, to me that’s secondary…”

I wish not to impute any improper motives of Hughes or anyone else. But the reality is simple – our young people deserve the truth. If it is that the argument of 1200 Afro-Guyanese men “disappearing” or being the subjects of extrajudicial killings actually forms the basis of fact, do not use yourself as the authoritative source. Compile your list and do not waiver. Show us, the young people whose vote you will clamor for at the end of this year, that you are worthy to be believed and that your word is your bond. Dispute the 420 people that Stabroek News put together in the dossier and point us in the direction of the more than 700 others that you assert were the victims of, in some way or other, politically-supported annihilation.

The young people of this country, especially those of African descent, can no longer be misled. The power of the internet no longer allows us to. Finally, I want to condemn the attempts I have seen on Sankar for his bravery to ask, albeit vehemently, for a detailed breakdown of the numbers that appear to be inflated. I have seen him being called all kinds of names for being an Indo-Guyanese and for looking into this matter as intently as he has. Well, I hope that this letter disabuses the mind of anyone with the notion that as an Indo-Guyanese, he should not be as interested as he is in this matter. He is not alone, and I am asking, as a young man of African descent, for the substantiation of the numbers presented to this country.

It is time we put to rest, once and for all, this continuous reopening of the wound caused by this dreaded period of our country’s history. It is time that we allow the souls of those to get the respite they deserve, and for the families to find solace in the undisputed conclusion of this matter. Let’s start by underscoring that the numbers matter.

Sincerely,

Shaquawn Gill