Dear Editor,

I have been paying keen interest in what has been published in the media on the situation in the country since the Joint Services’ engagement with armed militants at Christmas Falls. An objective assessment of the views published will show the extent to which Africans’ concerns are under-represented in the country even when the issues have more to do with Africans than any other ethnic group in the country. Why are African Guyanese views on these developments not reflected in the media? Has it anything to do with the views of this group not being sent to the media?  I do not believe that is a reflection of the true picture as regards this matter.

Just recently, on Thursday June 19, 2008, I had cause to send to both Stabroek News and Kaieteur News a letter in which I sought to put on record my views on the crime fight in the country. To date neither of the two media houses has given it any publicity. In my letter I had attempted to bring some balance and a different insight into the developments. In that letter I said that since the PNCR’s return to street marches the political engagement has changed and gave my reasons for coming to that conclusion.

I also pointed out that the regime has redefined what it had previously called ‘crime’ in political terms. I reminded readers that since 2002, when the government declared its war on crime I had written several letters pointing out that at best, the government and the police’s crime fight were more a war on African crime.

In that letter I also posited that subsequent developments including the arrest and detention of Mr Oliver Hinckson, the Joint Services searches of relatives and friends of Hinckson and the unlawful arrest and photographing of African young men in a number of African communities were forms of collective punishment. These and other developments underscore the point that the war on crime in Guyana has become a war on Africans and on the African community.  It is my firmly held opinion that our media houses are now having second thoughts on how to deal with my expressed views on matters of public interest, particularly now that the masses are back on the streets and the PNCR is mobilizing for what its leader has called the “Mother of all Marches” that is scheduled for the end of July. The print media’s treatment of African views on these matters is a good example of ‘free speech’ Guyana style. To all appearances freedom of speech in Guyana to some media houses means the freedom to censor and mute some African voices. However, it is important to note that while African voices are treated with contempt the utterances of President Bharrat Jagdeo continue to be pandered to. Just as importantly, President Jagdeo’s diatribe since his return from the USA has vindicated my interpretation of the political engagement in the country. If in matters important to the African community such as the loss of African lives we have difficulties expressing our concerns in the media, why deny African marginalization?

Finally, Mr Editor, I note that you have not even published recent statements on the killings of Africans. Why?

Yours faithfully,
Tacuma Ogunseye