Region 10 Chairman Sharma Solomon yesterday said that he is not to be blamed for the July 18, 2012 confrontation between protestors and police that resulted in the shootings that claimed the lives of three Lindeners and left close to two dozen others injured.
“I take no personal responsibility,” Solomon told reporters during a press conference yesterday to discuss the contents of the final report of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) which was set up to investigate, among other things, the events of that day.
It was the first press conference that the region has held to address the report, which was handed over to President Donald Ramotar last Thursday.
The report, while stating that it was Solomon who made an application for permission for a “peaceful march,” said that the organisers must accept some responsibility for what subsequently transpired on that day. The report stated too that the attitude of the organisers and Solomon was that blocking the bridge was not in breach of the permission which was granted to hold the peaceful march.
Solomon, in responding to questions about this, said that he does not believe that the organisers or he himself should take personal responsibility, since “nothing was out of the ordinary in all of the demonstrations that we conducted.”
He explained that over 15 demonstrations were held up to the point of July 18. “We had shut the town down on April 5, almost four months before July 18. We had a very massive public meeting on July 1. There was nothing out of the ordinary in terms of demonstrations that we had,” he said, while adding that during the four-month period, all the region was asking for was an opportunity to engage the government.
Asked if he believed that blocking the bridge infringed on other people’s rights, he responded, “the region and the people of Linden and Region 10 took the stand that would have ensured that their constitutional rights were respected… In the first instance, the rights of the people were transgressed and they were standing up in defence of those rights.”
He also revealed that the region on Tuesday dispatched a letter to the Commissioner of Police (ag) Leroy Brumell asking him to ensure than the ranks responsible for the death and injuries that occurred on July 18 last are held accountable.
The COI found the police responsible for the deaths but also said that the discharge of ammunition was justified as the police were confronted by a hostile crowd and noted that there was no clear intention to kill or injure anyone.
Part of the COI’s mandate included making recommendations for compensation where necessary for injury, loss or damage as a consequence of the events of July 18, 2012, but the sums recommended for the families of the dead and some of the injured have been criticised as inadequate.
Reading from a prepared statement yesterday, Solomon said that the people of Linden and his administration welcome the COI report with “a sense of victory and disappointment.”
He said, “while we welcome the general outcome of the COI, we are convinced that the criteria used by the COI to assess compensation for death is clearly flawed.” He was making reference to the awards of $3M each to families of Allan Lewis and Shemroy Bouyea and an award of $2M to the family of Ron Somerset. “…The region intends to act with dispatch to ensure there is justice and that there is adequate compensation to families of the deceased and to those who have been injured,” he said.
According to Solomon, the region desires to know what criteria were used to determine the level of compensation given and he questioned if an assessment of what was required to maintain a family, the cost of sending two children to university, the future earning capacity of those killed and what the family of those killed were deprived of, was done.
“Life is priceless and the sums recommended by the Commission to the deceased families and injured are woefully inadequate,” he said, while describing the compensation as unrealistic and an “eye pass.”
He accused the police of provoking the confrontation on July 18 last, noting that for far too long citizens have been brutalised. “The people of Linden/Region Ten chose to stand their ground and confront the uniform tyrants, which ultimately brought international attention to what many at home knew,” he added.
Solomon noted that during a meeting on Monday, the issue of relatives accepting the recommended compensation was discussed and they indicated that they would not support it.
Persons who were injured during confrontations with the Joint Services on August 10 and August 12 in Linden were also in attendance.
“In that discussion on Monday we also said to the families of those killed and those shot that as a collective, the region will be pursuing legal direction in terms of legal advice and legal action if that is required,” he said.
Another meeting is scheduled for today at which all the relatives of the dead along with those injured are expected to be present.
Meanwhile, Solomon also said that the region finds comments by the commission about APNU parliamentarians Vanessa Kissoon and Desmond Trotman appalling. The COI report had said that the events of July 18 could have been avoided if the duo had intervened and advised the protestors to display due respect for the law.
“We believe that MPs Kissoon and Trotman and the people of Linden were promoting and protecting their constitutional rights. We support them and see their actions as correct and wish to chide the COI for missing this important fact,” Solomon noted.
He also said that future COIs must therefore address the critical question of the tension that exists between law and order and rights. According to him, people desire peace and that peace should be built on equal rights and justice as guaranteed under the law. “This is the peace we seek and the peace we settle for. The power rests with the people and will be applied until equal rights and justice are restored for every Lindener, every citizen in Region Ten,” he said, calling the failure to consider the events leading up to July 18 last short-sighted.
