The PNCR yesterday said that it is not “impressed” by what it described as the “latest manoeuvre” and attempt by the government “to deceive the world that it is taking some action against the atrocities committed in Guyana.”
The party was at the time referring to the announcement by the Guyana Police Force on Tuesday that it had set up a special investigative unit to enquire into the alleged murders which surfaced during the US court hearing for drug convict Shaheed ‘Roger’ Khan.
The opposition party at its weekly press conference yesterday said the force’s belated call for individuals and groups to provide evidence is “another attempt to fool the public that the police are not in possession of any evidence.” It said it was a serious indictment on the force after more than two hundred gangland-style executions were committed in this jurisdiction.
The major opposition party said it rejects the announcement as it is clearly another attempt to deceive the people of Guyana and to shift the focus of the demand by the opposition for an international inquiry which would not home in on Khan alone, but on criminal activities in Guyana where the force and the government were involved.
“The public is aware that sworn affidavits and taped interviews of potential witnesses were presented to the police by the PNCR several years ago which could have facilitated an investigation,” the party charged while questioning what the force did with the information.
Three days after Khan was sentenced in a Brooklyn Federal Court to 15 years in prison for drug trafficking, witness tampering and a 16-year-old gun- running charge, the police announced their intention to set up a special unit to investigate the charges that he had been directly or indirectly involved in killing locals.
Khan had operated a drug trafficking enterprise here for more than eight years, US prosecutors said, and he headed the violent ‘Phantom Squad’ that was responsible for many deaths. Khan had publicly said that he worked with the security forces to stem the crime wave following the 2002 prison break.
According to the police press release, the special unit will be based at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters, Eve Leary. The force called “on all individuals, organisations or groups who may have information or vital evidence concerning these alleged murders involving the Fineman gang, Roger Khan’s gang or any other gang or individuals who may be involved to come forward and provide whatever information or evidence that may be available.”
It named the force’s Crime Chief, Assistant Commissioner Seelall Persaud, as the person to contact. Persons can also dial telephone numbers 225-2227, 226-6978 or 225-8196.
Reacting to the force’s announcement on Wednesday, Alliance For Change (AFC) Chairman Khemraj Ramjattan questioned the “genuineness” of the move.
He added that he hoped it was an authentic move to do a “thorough and professional” investigation as their behaviour prior to the announcement gave the impression that they did not want to conduct an investigation into Khan’s activities.
Inexplicable deaths
Meanwhile, Co-President of the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) Mike Mc Cormack yesterday said his association would be adding a number of other murders to the list of 60 it plans to submit to the unit.
He said those will include a number of “inexplicable deaths”, noting that while the GHRA’s mandate is to look at deaths that involve state agencies, other murders will be submitted also considering that Khan used rogue cops to commit some of his drug-related killings.
The GHRA will also want the police to look at the deaths that may have political motivation so while some of the alleged perpetrators may have been killed those deaths need to be investigated. He called on the force to come up with “some swift indication” that they are serious about what they are doing and while some of the deaths may not fall under “gang” related murders, Mc Cormack said the force needs to say what has happened with the investigation into those murders.
And while there may be a number of things that are objectionable to the force’s announced investigation, the GHRA member cautioned that all should work with the unit and if it is really a “bluff” then it must be proven to be so.
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Yesterday the PNCR questioned how the force could conduct an investigation as it relates to Khan when it never denied Khan’s claim in full page advertisements in newspapers that he had worked in collaboration with security forces in what he had described as the fight against crime.
The party mentioned the disbandment of the Guyana Defence Force’s Intelligence Unit following their arrest of Khan and others, including a serving member of the force, with the spy equipment and high powered weapons after which Khan was allowed to continue his operation.
Like Ramjattan the party noted the force’s inability to obtain information from court proceedings involving Khan and his former lawyers Robert Simels and Arianne Irving, both of whom are awaiting sentencing, when transcripts are now available to persons and organizations, including the PNCR.
Further, the PNCR questioned how the police could want potential witnesses to come forward when the record shows that all those who came forward before were executed or suspiciously killed.
It noted too that it had called for a witness protection scheme several years ago to guarantee the safety of those who were willing to come forward but the administration refused to act.
“The announcement by the police, in the absence of assurances of protection, is not intended to encourage anyone to come forward,” the party said.
It stated further that it would continue to “agitate” for a wider inquiry by an international body, and called on the force to inform the nation of their witness protection plan which would illustrate their willingness to obtain information that could facilitate such an inquiry.
The Tuesday announcement by the police came after calls by many – more recently by the opposition parties – for an investigation to be conducted into Khan’s activities in Guyana. The calls had been made even as he was awaiting sentencing in the US, having pleaded guilty to exporting large quantities of cocaine into that country from these shores.
The opposition parties had specifically asked that an International Commission of Enquiry be conducted into the many dimensions of Khan’s activities, particularly his alleged links to the government.
