Dear Editor,
For anyone who ever had a sliver of doubt as to whether the Government of Guyana sanctions and condones the torture of its citizens, all doubts have been erased with the government’s vote to block the combined opposition’s motion in parliament which sought to set up an independent investigation into allegations of torture against members of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF). Torture is a violation of the United Nations Con-vention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to which the Government of Guyana is a signatory.
The PPP government has used its parliamentary majority to not only block a warranted investigation but also to redefine what constitutes torture. According to the UN convention, ‘torture’ means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession. Accord-ing to the government, whose position was argued by Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud, the government’s investigation found “roughing up,” not torture. I searched but was unable to find a definition for “roughing up.” This is an idiom that means giving someone a difficult time. But the minister further argued that given the criminality in the society, the security forces would use “a certain amount of physical and mental pressure” in order to get information.” One wonders who determines what a ‘certain amount’ is, and when a ‘certain amount’ of physical and mental pressure becomes torture. May I remind the Minister that the UN convention clearly states “any act” of torture is a violation, not “certain acts” or a “certain amount” of torture.
When Guyanese citizens, Patrick Sumner, Victor Jones and David Leander, as well as servicemen Michael Dunn, Alvin Wilson and Sharth Robertson emerged from the custody of the Guyana Defence Force, there were visible signs of marks of violence on their bodies. They had been held because the GDF suspected they had information concerning the missing AK-47s from the army. In the case of Sumner, Jones and Leander, they were burnt with corrosive substances about their bodies. The PPP government at the time promised to support an independent probe but this never materialized. It is a shame and a moral degradation that the government would block the motion in parliament which sought to establish an independent investigation. If the government, as it claims, does not condone or support the torture of its citizens, then why is it afraid to allow an independent investigation to go forward? A democratic society is governed by the rule of law. Those who violate the rule of law must be held accountable.
A government ventures into dangerous territory when it begins to condone the torture of its citizens. The fundamental principle of government in a democratic society is to serve and protect the citizens. Often the problem with the PPP government, it seems, is that it governs not in the interest of good governance but merely to win a political argument against the opposition. The blocking of the motion in parliament was to win a political argument against the opposition, therefore cheapening the value of its citizens.
The motion, as tabled in parliament by the opposition MP, Mr Aubrey Norton is reasonable. If there are rogue elements in the GDF that engage in the torture of Guyanese, then these persons must be held accountable. By allowing an independent investigation the government would signal to the society that it does not condone the torture of Guyanese. The fact that the government has blocked this investigation, gives the signal to those rogue members of the GDF that it is ok for them to engage in any act in which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, which not only is a gross violation of the UN Convention on Torture but shows a blatant and contemptuous disrespect for the human rights of the citizens of Guyana.
Yours faithfully,
Dennis Wiggins
