As members of the Buxton community gathered yesterday to witness the unveiling of a monument erected to memorialise more than 450 Guyanese killed by police over the last two decades, Opposition Leader David Granger promised that a commission of inquiry will be launched into each one.
“The day for one party ruling, the day for murders without commission of inquiries, without inquest, came to an end on November 28, 2011 and there will be a commission of inquiry into every single death on this East Coast,” Granger said yesterday at Middle Walk, Buxton, opposite the Tipperary Hall, where the monument was unveiled.
Granger said Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee will be removed from office one way or the other, making reference to former Minister, Ronald Gajraj, who he said was “pushed out”. Gajraj had left office as a result of local and international pressure on the government over his association with underworld figures linked to death squad activities here.
“Mr. Clement Rohee will be pushed out of office, not only by the motion in the National Assembly but by public opinion. If he doesn’t go, he will be pushed… Many things happened before November 28, 2011 but on that day, you all put power in the hands of A Partnership for National Unity and the Alliance For Change. On that day, 175,000 Guyanese said no more one party ruling… but the PPP doesn’t seem to understand the arithmetic so day by day, night by night, we have to go back into the National Assembly and remind them that fundamental rights will not be trampled upon anymore,” Granger stated.
Morris Wilson, who spearheaded the initiative to construct the monument, said that it was erected in a significant place to remind of the hundreds of persons who lost their lives to extra-judicial killings. “I think that’s enough. I think the time has come to hold the PPP accountable for the brutal murders of innocent Guyanese over the period of the past two decades. This monument represents a struggle, a struggle for justice, a struggle for equality, an end to institutionalised racism. This is time for us to unite like never before. We have to stand up for freedom; we have to stand up for justice,” Wilson noted.
Turning his focus on Linden, Wilson said that the public should take the events that unfolded there recently as a grim reminder “that no one is out of the reach of the vicious PPP regime.”
The artist who was tasked with the design of the Buxton Monument, Barrington Braithwaite, said that this period calls for such a cenotaph since it commemorates “the bloodiest period this country has gone through”. He considered the killings which took place as not just extra-judicial but as a period of organized crime and bravery of young men.
“I was persistent when it came to this monument because we never had a monument to embrace so much misery while the misery was still continuing. It was put up before Linden but when Linden happened we were more convinced that we were doing the right thing,” he added.
Working People’s Alliance (WPA) Executive, Dr. David Hinds, said that the force used by government in the African-Guyanese communities was undeniably high. “The government is the most brutal government, the bloodiest government, the most bad-minded government in the history of post-colonial days,” he stated.
Hinds further acknowledged AFC Executive Member, Nigel Hughes, who he said has emerged as the “peoples’ attorney” assisting them in the struggle.
In his remarks, Hughes urged the community to work towards having another monument erected, only this time it must represent victory. “If we decide to go to another election under the system that continues to exclude us, we will have nobody else but ourselves to blame. The next monument we must put up must be to celebrate our victory,” he said. \
He advised persons to focus on further developing their own community and make it a model for others to follow. “For every dollar that comes into the African Guyanese community, it leaves that community after one transaction. So, in other words, if you earn a dollar, by the time you go at the shop and spend, the man you are spending it with is not from your community, so it leaves. Nobody can be vex with you for building the strength of your own community, so you have to start in small measures by keeping your dollar in your own community, you have to, you must,” he insisted.
Meanwhile, former PNCR Leader Robert Corbin said that the struggle for justice, equality of opportunity and for an end of marginalisation continues.
“The monument that we will be unveiling ought to be a constant reminder to those who have lived through this period and a constant reminder for those who will be told about this period,” Corbin said.
Also addressing the small crowd was Chairman of Foulis/Buxton Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) Randolph Blair, who noted that it was very important to erect such a monument for the honour of persons who perished as a result of extra-judicial killings. “A lot of people have suffered; a lot of families have suffered. They’ve lost brothers, they’ve lost sisters, they’ve lost good friends,” Blair said.
