The Supreme Court Registry was channa-bombed early yesterday morning as part of a coordinated campaign in the city, dealing a heavy blow to the judiciary which is currently pushing a sector-wide reform programme including the computerization of its records.
It was the first known arson attack on the Supreme Court and Chancellor of the Judiciary (ag) Carl Singh yesterday condemned the incident as a dastardly act. Chancellor Singh referred to the Court as a symbol of constitutional order and the rule of law, and declared that the perpetrators launched an attack on the rule of law.
Police Commissioner Henry Greene yesterday said the attack was carried out by members of the same group that set fire to the Health Ministry in July. A fire sparked by channa-bombs levelled the Ministry of Health’s main building and an annex at Brickdam, destroying decades-old records, vehicles and a string of key divisions in what was a major loss for the health sector.
The attack on the century-old Supreme Court facility is reported to have unfolded sometime before 3 am yesterday and it resulted in the destruction of records in the northern section. It is unclear whether the records destroyed had been computerized, but an employee told Stabroek News yesterday that it was not likely given how far back some of the records went. It was reported that three armed men stormed the building and held the two female security guards at gunpoint after being confronted. Incendiary devices, some of which were apparently prepared on the spot, were recovered at the Court and a trail of channa was visible when law enforcement officials showed up shortly after.
Based on the accounts of the tramautised security guards, the attack lasted a few minutes as the men quickly surveyed the Court and decided on an angle from which to hurl the bombs. Several of the bombs were flung into the Registry by the men, who fled in a waiting vehicle. Flames erupted within minutes due to the heaps of books and papers, and quickly ripped through the northern wing, but a prompt response from the Guyana Fire Service contained the damage to that section. However, firefighters were forced to pry open heavy grill work to enter the burning building, resulting in considerable damage.
In the aftermath, charred walls and stacks of burnt volumes of records stood as grim markers of the attack. The burnt-out section reeked of an acrid odour yet many staffers pressed on with a massive clean-up exercise, some wearing protective face masks. Water damage was also visible everywhere in the section. “It is not only hard to come to grips with, it is hard to be in the general area and have your nostrils locked off from this air,” an employee said as he carried several charred volumes of records to dry out on the lawns of the Court.
Auditor General (ag) Deodat Sharma and a team from his office were on the scene yesterday surveying the damage. He told Stabroek News that his office is expected to examine such scenes and document them as part of the public record of what has been damaged.
The general atmosphere at the Court yesterday was tense as employees questioned why the Supreme Court was targeted and who was likely responsible. “This is bizarre and you have to wonder why the Court, what is there specifically to destroy. Or was it just to create panic?” a staff member asked.
The general business of the Court continued as per normal with matters being heard before a few judges, but the Registry and a few other sections were closed to the public. The real impact of the blaze is expected to be felt within the coming weeks when an accurate picture of what has been destroyed emerges. “We are certainly concerned because there is no record of anything of this nature occurring within this Court, people are obviously tense,” another employee of the Court commented.
President of the Guyana Bar Association, attorney Teni Housty referred to the incident as an attack on the foundation of the judicial system and said that it must be looked upon with concern. He called for a prompt and thorough investigation. Housty pointed to the current initiatives to reform the sector saying that “incidents such as these” cry out for a back-up mechanism of the court records which includes computerizing the records. According to him, the incident reveals the urgent need to implement stronger emerging management tools.
Housty said the incident shocked him as “it did the judicial community,” recalling the burnt records and the state of the damaged section when he visited the Court shortly after the attack.
Three men have been charged with the attack on the Health Ministry, but Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee has publicly stated that the fire was orchestrated by a ring of “intellectual authors, planners and actors,” all working within an established network. Greene yesterday reiterated that the police was still awaiting assistance from the US government to locate the suspected masterminds behind by the attacks. “We are still requesting their assistance to trace those persons in the United States,” he said, “We have not gotten that as yet.”
