The Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) yesterday expressed “deep dismay” at the institution of a sedition charge against ex-GDF officer Oliver Hinckson and called for its withdrawal while urging the President to act in a statesmanlike manner.
The human rights NGO asserted in a press release that, “the sedition charge is mean-spirited and runs contrary to the spirit of efforts to heal the nation.”
In that light the GHRA called on the government to desist and to withdraw the charge against Hinckson “so that the country can move forward in a cooperative spirit.”
And the human rights body appealed especially to the President “to play the role of leader and healer of the nation rather than the leader of a partisan faction.”
Meantime, the GHRA made it clear that it was not taking a position on the prosecutorial or legal issue involved nor in any way commenting on the legal process.
The release stated, however, that “Guyana is perilously poised on the edge of a precipice and it is the role of government and of the President in particular to act in a statesmanlike manner and to help heal the nation and take it forward on consensual paths towards nation-building for the benefit of all its people.”
The human rights body went on to argue that at a time when civil society is engaged with the President in a process to help Guyana deal with its security and political problems, “a fair measure of tolerance and open speech is required.”
The GHRA contended that it does not assist the process of engagement between the government and other stakeholders to pursue criminal charges of sedition against Guyanese who are expressing their opinions on the different issues facing the nation. It noted too that Guyana had seen previous occasions when similar charges had been used to detain people for long periods of time basically to shut them up, and this is not in keeping with democracy.
“In a democracy striving for freedom of expression and open dialogue in the society, resort to charges of sedition is archaic and particularly distasteful and unhelpful,” the GHRA maintained.
