Dear Editor,
The prevalence of compensation being offered after crimes have been committed has become totally unacceptable, and our laws are being flouted with impunity. The decadence that is accepted in this country for whatever reason should not be tolerated, but instead it is condoned. No amount of monetary reward for silence can erase the physical and psychological scars that the victims of abuse have to endure, especially the vulnerable young boys and girls in our midst.
Sixteen years ago I wrote a letter in your columns condemning this insidious practice; the Women’s Bar Association intervened and two years later the relevant laws were amended to allow for the criminal prosecution of abusers regardless of compensation. The rest is history – but nothing has changed.
The Judicial Review Bill was recently approved, and hopefully will soon receive assent. The usual rhetoric and posturing accompanied the glowing speeches of the main players, but what immediately caught my attention was the mention that all government officials will be held accountable for their actions. The obvious hypocrisy was evident to many Guyanese. Maybe I am being overly pessimistic, but be assured that the business sector as well as thousands of Guyanese both here at home and in the diaspora would be deliriously happy to hear the news that at long last, almost a decade on, Mr Norman Trotz – and others similarly affected – will be compensated for the wanton destruction of the apartment building Toucan Suites by the Joint Services in their pursuit of the notorious ‘Blackie.’ Guyanese should hold their collective breath, and hope that justice will be done.
I am reminded of the words of the late US President Franklin D Roosevelt: “We want a supreme court which will do justice under the constitution, not over it. In our courts we want a government of laws and not of men.”
Yours faithfully,
Lloyd W. Davidson
