Dear Editor,
I still welcome Lt Oliver Hinckson’s offer to find a way to open communication between the gunmen and official society, and was to learn later that he had been charged sedition or some such absurdity. His prosecutor said in the hearing, before or after her Worship absented herself, that Hinckson was also facing a weapons charge, as we all knew, and a charge of alleged assault of his wife. The assault charge was new to me.
If the State wants to hold a particular man, then it seems to me the assault on his wife , especially in our circumstances, would be an offence causing initial denial of bail. It seems more rational and natural to restrain alleged assaults of that kind by tough bail policies, and even more, than to use tough bail policies to restrain a right given by the Constitution, that is freedom of expression.
Quite apart from this case now receiving world wide attention, there is the record of illegal arrests, arrests without warrant outside of the circumstances permitted. Hundreds are being exposed to such treatment and other forms of personal abuse, the fine print of so called police investigation. How many know, except by chance, that only last week a number of men on the Soesdyke Highway were arrested from a vehicle and held for 24 hours, like stray dogs at Brickdam ? On this matter the Constitution has something to say:
“Any person who is unlawfully arrested or detained by any other person shall be entitled to compensation from that other person.” (Article 139)
The United Nations Code for law enforcement officers, which in the late eighties I brought to the attention of the National Assembly, warns that those who are found to be violating the rights of citizens cannot be excused by “superior orders”. That is, the police man or woman carrying out the arrest is liable, not merely those who may or may not order it from behind closed doors, in briefings and other private meetings. National security and even a state of war are not good excuses.
There have been calls for international bodies to become aware of the problems of vigilante violence and human rights abuses in Guyana. The UN sees the media as vital to freedom. The people of the world, however, will make their quick judgments whether any country is heading towards light or heading towards darkness.
Yours faithfully,
Eusi Kwayana
