Dear Editor,

I noticed that there is a call for justice on the torture of the teen murder suspect.  The outcry by both the Minister of Home Affairs and civil servants alike is a desperate call against all injustice across the country.

Torture, oppression, injustice, racial divide, discrimination, gender inequality, murder, and nepotism are all reasons for concern. It is a state of decay resulting from lack of leadership in all areas of governance.

Actions that are unchallenged become law of precedence.  When there is lack of oversight and no clear demarcation of the rule of law, a society becomes compliant with the set of informal rules as the law.  This is the result of bad governance and the use of a different set of rules for a select group of people.  A strict interpretation and application of the law where everyone is subjected to the same interpretation and penalty will result in a just society.  The absence of anything less will be injustice for anyone.

The torture of this youth murder suspect is a miniscule incident in a haystack of atrocities and injustices across Guyana.  How can a 15-year- old murder suspect be treated like an adult, tortured and humiliated while a known criminal like Roger Khan was treated with such respect and reverence? For heaven’s sake, this boy is a child.  He needs help.  It is this moral decay that is exemplified and honoured by a government who themselves are inept in applying the rule of law to themselves – a government plagued by cronyism.

The outcry in Guyana should not be about this one incident only but of all injustices across the land to all people regardless of their race, creed and colour, gender and sexual orientation. The message should be about injustices and inhumanity.  A crime committed by one should be seen as a crime against the country.

Yours faithfully,
Steve Hemraj