The political parties have essentially agreed on the composition of the Commission of Inquiry into the July 18 Linden protestor killings and it is for President Donald Ramotar to formally approve the names even as the remaining issues are being worked out.
This is according to Alliance For Change Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan who said that government negotiator, Dr Roger Luncheon raised no objections to the five persons proposed at the last meeting on Friday but said that he would have to get back to his principals to confirm. The final decision in approving the composition of the Commission lies with the President.
Ramjattan told Stabroek News yesterday that government and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) had previously agreed for former Chancellor of the Judiciary, Cecil Kennard and former Justice of Appeal, Claudette Singh to sit on the Commission. Subsequently, efforts were made to reach out to other jurists with Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community, Irwin LaRocque playing a pivotal role in contacting those persons.
Those approached were Retired Chief Justice of Jamaica, Lensley Wolfe, Jamaican senator and Senior Counsel, K.D. Knight and former Trinidad senator and Senior Counsel Dana Seetahal. They have all responded positively and indicated their availability, Ramjattan said.
The AFC had wanted a full international commission to be in place but yesterday Ramjattan indicated that they were happy with the names proposed and pointed out that three out of the five are from overseas. “I said that this is a fantastic (composition) that the AFC will support,” he said. The AFC leader said that he wrote Luncheon on Saturday and urged that the five-member team be supported. He suggested that Justice Wolfe be the Chairman and said that work should begin expeditiously on their arrangements so that the deliberations of the Commission can be started quickly.
Asked whether the proposed persons were officially approved, Ramjattan said that the President is the one to do this but pointed out that at the last meeting between the three parties on Friday “all three parties viewed them (proposed members) very favourably.” He noted that Seetahal was proposed by the AFC while Attorney General, Anil Nandlall proposed Justice Wolfe. “We want the thing to be as quick as possible,” said Ramjattan. “We feel that this is a good body and we will support it,” he said, adding that the AFC is happy with the proposed composition.
The AFC leader said that the parties will meet either today or tomorrow to finalise the terms of reference for the Inquiry.
Meantime, in relation to Clause 2 of the TOR which proposes an inquiry “into the role, involvement and other forces in organizing, mobilizing and promoting the protest actions from their commencement and immediately after the shooting on July 18th 2012” and which the AFC has rejected, the negotiators once again discussed this on Friday but did not reach agreement. The AFC is sticking to its position while APNU holds a similar view, Ramjattan said. He stated that Luncheon proposed that “political parties” be excluded but “political forces” would be left in. The AFC leader said that they were unclear as to what exactly this meant and Luncheon indicated that he would have to return to his principals for discussion.
Prior to Friday’s meeting, Luncheon told reporters that the TOR for the inquiry were being given the “final touches.” When asked by Stabroek News when the TOR will be completed, Luncheon noted that by tomorrow or thereafter he would be more informed.
On July 18, three men, Ron Sommerset, Allan Wilson and Shemroy Bouyea, were killed and at least 20 other persons were injured after police opened fire on residents demonstrating against increased electricity tariffs, which took effect at the start of that month. The actions of the police, who said that ranks were provoked, have been condemned because of the failure to use non-lethal measures and there have been calls for murder charges to be laid against the officers who gave the orders to fire.
President Ramotar had given August 2 as the deadline for the TOR to be completed. On that day, there was a parliamentary sitting and the forum was used to announce the TOR, which were not well received by the AFC, which said that it was not a party to the agreement.
APNU MP Joseph Harmon later said that the TOR could be amended in the future, sparking concerns that the deadline had not been met.
At a subsequent press briefing, Luncheon explained that the TOR were complete but based on the objections of the AFC they were being revisited. He had explained that the AFC had declined participation in the initial process. Later, the AFC objected to the proposal for the TOR to include the organisation of the protests, saying that it was unacceptable and an affront to the dead.
