Complaint filed with UN rapporteur
By Nigel Williams
The Guyana Human Rights Associa-tion (GHRA) says that the credibility of the country’s military was at stake and it should insist that the findings of an investigation into torture allegations by some soldiers be published immediately.
Co-President of the association, Michael Mc Cormack told Stabroek News in an interview on Thursday that he was extremely concerned that several weeks after the report was handed over to the Defence Board, Guyanese are yet to hear what the results are. “For over a month the report is available and with those very disturbing allegations its findings should be published immediately”, Mc Cormack said.
Several soldiers implicated in the theft of a single AK-47 rifle back in November last year had complained to this newspaper about being tortured by officers attached to the army’s Military Criminal Investiga-tion Department (MCID). The soldiers had alleged that they were brutalized by members of MCID, with some of them shocked, immersed in a gutter and whipped with metal pipes. The Guyana Defence Force had launched an investigation following the news items in Stabroek News and earlier this year it submitted its report to the Defence Board, which is chaired by the army’s Commander-in-Chief, President Bharrat Jagdeo.
Jagdeo was asked about the report back in March but he said at the time that the Defence Board was yet to examine it. He however indicated that there was a general discussion that the investigation was done and there is a report, but the report itself was not circulated.
Mc Cormack said when the allegations surfaced his organization had interviewed three of the soldiers who were allegedly beaten. He said he had no doubt that the practices they were subjected to constituted torture, noting that it had all the features of what obtains elsewhere. “There was water boarding, electric shock and whipping,” Mc Cormack said.
He told Stabroek News that the GHRA has since filed a complaint with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture. Stabroek News was told that the UN had written the Guyana government on the issue but it is not clear what the government’s response was.
Among those allegedly tortured were Alvin Wilson, Sharth Robertson and Michael Dunn. Robertson’s grandmother Juliet Fable told Stabroek News that she had become very frustrated with the long delay in the publication of the report. Fable believes that the authorities were trying to hide the report to divert attention from it. “What they are doing is wrong…I want to see what the report says,” Fable declared.
Carmelita Dunn, mother of Michael Dunn said she too was anxious to see what the report contains. The woman said her son went through a lot of embarrassment and pain over the issue and in addition to seeking compensation for his mistreatment, Mrs. Dunn wants the perpetrators to be disciplined. “They should not be allowed to get off with what they did to my son,” the woman said.
In 2006 a series of recommendations were issued to the Guyana government by the UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) in relation to allegations against the Guyana Police Force. These included the need for detailed investigations of these charges, prosecution of the guilty and compensation for victims. CAT had also noted the lack of statistics in relation to torture and had recommended “the State party (Guyana) should provide in its next periodic report detailed statistical data, disaggregated by crime, ethnicity and gender, on complaints relating to torture and ill-treatment allegedly committed by law enforcement officials, and on the related investigations, prosecutions and criminal and disciplinary sanctions. Information was further requested on any measures taken to compensate and provide rehabilitation services for the victims”. The 2006 communication from CAT had come after a 17-year delay by Guyana in submitting its initial report to the committee. Guyana has been asked to submit the second periodic report by December this year.
Doctored
A number of organizations had condemned the action by the GDF and the main opposition, People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) has been in the forefront calling for the report to be published. Speaking at the party’s weekly press conference last Thursday, General Secretary, Oscar Clarke noted that some three weeks ago, the Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force, Commodore Gary Best, publicly informed that the report had been completed and submitted to the Defence Board, but up to now it has not seen the light of day.
“The Party is convinced that the report is being doctored,” Clarke charged quoting a previous article in this newspaper on 21 January 2008, where a senior army source had said that three officers, attached to the MCID were likely to be demoted for torturing the soldiers.
Clarke said it was well known that two of these officers, if not all of them, are close to the Jagdeo government and took orders directly from the Office of the President. “The delay in publishing the report is clearly an attempt to protect them,” Clarke declared, noting that the PNCR has already stated that the delay in the publication of the report undermines its credibility. He said in any case, the party stood by its position that an independent inquiry, into the allegations of torture in the GDF, must be held.
Clarke also referred to an article by former President, Janet Jagan, who urged in the weekend Mirror of January 26-27 that “the sooner the investigation (into torture by the GDF) concludes the better for this nation. A nasty allegation like that can harm Guyana’s name and integrity.”
Two of the tortured soldiers – Robertson and Wilson were eventually charged for conspiracy to steal and possession of the weapon. The stolen weapon was issued to Robertson, but the soldier said that he was not in any way involved in the theft of it. The GDF had recovered the rifle during an operation at Alness, Corentyne in early February.
