-peace group
Partners for Peace and Development says it is outraged at the senseless murders of the nation’s youth at the hands of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and is calling on President Donald Ramotar to take decisive action to ensure justice and accountability prevail regarding citizen’s fundamental rights.
“Regrettably, we lost another son, another citizen, another brother, another cousin, and another friend, Dameon Belgrave,” the group said in a press release. After listening to the agony of Belgrave’s mother, Donna Sulker, and relatives outside the Georgetown hospital, the words of sympathy and comfort are inadequate as a more urgent response is needed to ensure that she and other mothers get justice for the deaths of their sons at the hands of police who carry out extra-judicial killings, the group said.
Partners for Peace is concerned that the GPF has been in breach of the Constitution of Guyana and the Criminal Law Procedures Act with respect to arresting suspects or someone deemed to be in breach of the law. Two weeks ago, the group had expressed concern that “after millions of dollars of investment under international cooperation and economic agreements with development partners supporting police and judicial reform programmes, we the people have only observed improvements [in] its hardware capabilities.”
The society has not benefited from improved policing and protection services as a result of these reform programmes. It is not desirable for the population to pay for police reforms in return for poor crime-solving capabilities, consistent breach of SOPs in civilian-police relations, disregard for the rights and freedoms of citizens and private investment in protection of property and person from criminals and outlaws.
As such, the group is calling on the president to take action now. “We can no longer postpone the systemic reforms that are needed to provide all persons living in Guyana with effective police services that protects, serves and respects human rights,” it said. As a civil group that works with victims of violent crimes, Partners also urged members of parliament to pursue a coherent victim assistance programme to help survivors cope with and overcome the trauma of their loss. “We remain hopeful of positive responses from all those in authority to act now,” the group said. Members who signed the release were Walter J. Alexander, Iasha Bacchus, Abbas Mancey and Roxanne Myers.
