Torture has become institutionalised

Dear Editor,
Two weeks ago, members of the Guyana Police Force brutally tortured a 14-year-old boy at Leonora Police Station where the Force’s ‘D’ Division is headquartered. They also tortured Deonarine Rafick, inflicting a serious head wound. I condemn these barbaric and evil acts of torture. They are the cruellest crimes against humanity committed by police officers. The two were tortured in connection with the murder of a retired official of the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Ramenauth Bisram. Guyanese citizens are often tortured as an instrument of law enforcement whenever criminal investigations involve the pursuit of justice in the interest of the ruling PPP.

The teen’s torture was especially brutal and sadistic. Having failed to coerce him to sign a statement confessing to the murder, detectives from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) battered him with a baton about the head and ears. Then they doused his genitals with a flammable liquid and lit him afire. He sustained third degree burns in the genital area. These inhumane, evil acts deserve prosecution.

What is even more abhorrent is that the depraved policemen held the teen in prison with no access to medical treatment, his parents or an attorney for four days. He was only taken to a hospital after his torture was leaked to and reported in the press, and was condemned by the Guyana Bar Association and a group of prominent lawyers, among others.

There are indications that the Guyana Police Force (GPF) attempted to cover-up these barbaric acts. They launched an investigation into who leaked the crime to the media and how a photographer gained access to the victim. The police’s immediate reaction was repugnant to the course of justice, and speaks to the priority of the police leadership. Their attempted cover-up constitutes obstruction of justice and malfeasance in office. Those involved should be removed and prosecuted.

The revelation of the brutal torture of the 14 year-old is providential, as President Jagdeo recently boasted that his human rights record can withstand scrutiny and is better than that of any past President. Notwithstanding its refutations, the government has countenanced torture. Dozens of citizens have been tortured amidst implausible denials and cover-ups. Members of the security forces have committed extra-judicial killings; killed and robbed eight diamond miners; acted as enforcers for criminal operations – all with impunity and no investigation. Has Mr Jagdeo no sense of shame and dishonour?

Recently, Guyana’s Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud, had the effrontery to argue in Parliament that two Guyana Defence Force ranks who were tortured by being given electric shocks, pepper-sprayed and beaten with a metal pipe in connection with missing GDF AK-47 rifles, endured treatment which amounted to “roughing-up.”

Caught within their torture chamber, Minister Rohee now claims that the government “abhors” torture. But his postulations are phony, a Rip Van Winkle-like argument of necessity proffered only because the police were caught red-handed.

The lawlessness tolerated by government officials, has manifestly created the enabling criminal milieu in which the torture of 14-year-olds and adults can occur with impunity. Governments which countenance this reckless and depraved disregard for human life – serious crimes against humanity – belong nowhere in public office, and must be held to account.

Certain police and army officers with ostensible political alliance to the ruling party have committed barbaric acts of torture. The evidence against them is compelling but they are being protected. The government fails to realize that it has a constitutional obligation to allow the course of justice to prevail against these individuals. The fundamental tenets of justice and rule of law dictate that such criminals be brought to justice. The PPP government might not allow the law to take its course today. But even if it is twenty years from now, they will be brought to justice.

Minister Rohee has called for the interdiction of the Divisional Commanding Officer, Assistant Commissioner Paulette Morrison, for poor supervision of officers under her command. However, making Ms Morrison the sacrificial lamb will not absolve the government from culpability. She did not commit, condone or cover up acts of torture. It is a national ignominy that on the watch of Minister Rohee and Police Commissioner Greene, crimes against humanity have proliferated. Torture has been institutionalized as a law enforcement technique. Drug dealers operate above the law in full public view and collaborate with certain government and police officials who allow their criminal enterprise to flourish, and officials who commit crimes retain the confidence of the administration.

It is obvious that such corruption will not end until the United States Justice Department or prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC)) begin to nab these individuals. Suffice it to say, that I intend to contact US Attorney General, Eric Holder, about this and other matters.

The officers who tortured the 14 year-old child as well as the other individuals must be arrested and charged. Guyana’s Director of Public Prosecutions, Ms Shalimar Ali-Hack, must now seek indictments in these matters. It is also critical for the matter of torture in Guyana generally, to be publicized in the international community and for torture cases to be filed against the government and against the Guyana Police Force and army officers at the ICC, Inter-American Human Rights Commission and UN Committee against Torture. The time to act is now!
Yours faithfully,
Rickford Burke
President of the
Caribbean Guyana
Institute
for Democracy