The PNCR has called again for the government to release the findings of the army’s in-house probe into torture allegations, saying it would name the officers implicated if the report is not made public.

Aubrey Norton

At a press conference yesterday, PNCR executive Aubrey Norton said there is reluctance to release the findings because it fingers members of the army who are close to the government.

In late November last year, three Guyana Defence Force (GDF) ranks, Alvin Wilson, Sharth Robertson and Michael Dunn, who were implicated in the disappearance of an AK-47 assault rifle, alleged that they had been tortured during interrogations. The GDF denied any act of physical abuse during the interrogation and it later launched an official probe into the claims. The army recently stated that it handed in a report.

“The names of the officers concerned are well known and in one particular instance has been placed in the public domain,” Norton said. Previously, the party has identified the officers as a lieutenant and a captain. “If the Jagdeo (government) persists in its attitude of refusing to publish the report, the party will have no choice but to reveal the names of the guilty officers,” he added.
Norton reminded that Guyana is a signatory to international agreements against torture.

He also called on the administration to honour its promise to investigate the torture allegations made by two Buxtonian men, Patrick Sumner and Victor Jones, who said they were tortured over a three-day period after they were taken by soldiers during a joint services raid aback of the village.

The army conducted a probe into the allegations and Secretary to the Defence Board, Dr Roger Luncheon had said publicly that the report was submitted to the board, but the findings have not been publicised.