Dear Editor,

Those dear barrel-loving, belly-filling Guyanese who seem to be quite ambivalent on the issue of the torture of arrested crime suspects are in dire need of a basic primer in human rights education. Even if the suspects are as guilty as Eve, Judas Iscariot, Barabbas and the Devil all rolled up in one, they are still entitled to the basic modicum of human and constitutional rights, which include not being subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading punishment or other treatment. There is also the presumption of innocence until proven guilty in a court of law. The days of trial by torture should be history, since it is a known fact that under torture men will confess anything.

Some of us innocent ones, through no fault of our own, might just happen to fit, in some way, the profile of the Barabbases of the world. We might be mistakenly rounded up and arrested along with the group of ‘usual suspects.’ It might be a case of mistaken identity or, while going about our lawful business, just getting caught in the wrong place at the wrong time (as happened to me when, upon attempting to pass a crowd to enter my lawful place of work at Tain on November 6, 2007, I was tear-gassed by the over-zealous police). Has the zeal of the force eaten them up? If we or our loved ones were to be so arrested as a result of mistaken identity, then we would want all of our and their human rights to be respected by the arresting authorities, including the right not to be tortured. Not all of us are ministers of government or even resemble them so as to be quickly recognized by the police who will then not arrest us even if we commit public misdemeanour. Most of us are just unrecognized John and Jane Public, and there is always the small chance that we can be mistakenly arrested. Lord help you if you open your mouth to protest righteously! If your rights are not respected, you might need to visit your dentist or ophthalmologist or orthopaedist afterwards.

The police beating and torture of a ten-year-old Berbice lad that landed him in hospital, as reported by the Kaieteur News of January 12, 2008, is outrageous, and, if true, is yet another indication that the legal coercive arms of the state have no respect for the human rights of citizens.

A state that does not recognize the full human rights of all of its citizens, from the most innocent (children) to its worst (criminals), cannot be expected to deal fairly and humanely with the rest of us bracketed in the middle. Is there hope for the rest of us?

Yours faithfully,

M. Xiu Quan-Balgobind-Hackett