Dear Editor,
2007 will be remembered for a number of events, some less worthy of our society than others. Among those that raise fundamental questions about morality, ethical standards, the rule of law, and related role models in Guyana, are the following headline stories:
a) A fatal road ‘accident’ involving the son of a Minister of Government – settled out of court;
b) The reported attempted rape of a young female by a ‘senior government official’ – settled out of court;
c) Juxtaposed to b) above is a convocation on sexual violence which the subject Minister is reported to have described as the start of a ‘conversation’ on the topic – ignoring in the process the behaviour of an abusive colleague. Forty organisations are reported to have participated in this exercise. Did any of them raise their voices protesting the incident at b)?
d) A judicial ruling that the Chief Justice cannot function in both his substantive position and the acting position of Chancellor, being challenged by the Government; while the Chief Justice himself does not honour the ruling, unaware of, or indifferent to, the unethical precedent he has created, not only for the judicial system, but for the society as a whole;
e) A Minister of Government engages in a brawl with an ordinary citizen (a teenager), and by own admission shoots in the air more than once. The media reports that the matter has been settled (at the Minister’s request) out of court.
The police force must wonder what is their proper role, and in frustration of their impotence in proceeding with such patently criminal matters, turn to penalizing jay walkers and red light streakers.
The Bar Association warns of the possible collapse of the legal system, as if the latter has any relevance to truth, integrity and principle.
But the point is taken, the system has been reduced to one Court – that settles matters ‘out of Court’.
f) Finally, the feebleness with which the administration has responded to the Venezuelan incursion, underscored by the former’s dependency on that invader’s oil, raises questions about our diplomatic competence, and self-confidence.
The above shows the types of role models our country has to offer in terms of ethical standards, the observance of the rule of law, and of moral character generally.
What are the lessons to be learnt by a young impressionable generation that by now must be thoroughly disoriented – by the gap between the institutionalised religiosity with which it is continually bombarded, and the contradictory behaviours and malpractices of ‘leaders’ against whom the very religious institutions steadfastly refuse to discriminate.
In the meantime the rest of us hapless witnesses are effectively ‘settled out-of-court’. It may even be argued, that perhaps democracy has come to be settled ‘out-of-court’
Yours faithfully,
Eliah Bijay
